I believe that 2016 will be always be known as a year to remember. I say that because we ushered in the new year on January 27, when the CIF Southern Sec on Council voted to implement a compe ve equity playoff model for several of our sports. That issue became the domina ng theme for this par cular year and gener- ated a tremendous amount of discussion among all of our stakeholders. Now that 2016 is coming to a close, I thought it would be fi ng to end my last message of this year with not my words, but the words of others who experienced and observed the compe ve equity playoff model for the first me. So, in their own words…
Orange County Register, Corona del Mar coach Dan O’Shea said this a er losing 36-35 to Sierra Canyon in double over me last night in the Division 4 Cham- pionship Final, “These playoffs were unbelievable,” said O’Shea, whose squad rallied to edge Lompoc 35-34 in the semifinals and held off Colony 49-48 in the second round. “So proud of our kids. So proud of our coaching staff. We will live and die with these kids every single day…(This) just tells you how compe ve these divisions are now with the compe ve equity (model), and we love it.”
Russell Ingold, Writer – Fontana Herald News – “The new system, geared toward achieving the laudable goal of compe ve equity, made its debut this past week for football teams (including three from Fontana). So far, the results of the experiment appear to be posi ve. One of the key concerns about the compe ve equity model was whether the new system would eliminate teams from the playoffs that would have automa cally qualified under the former system of picking the top three teams from each league. But, as it turned out, the new system actually increased the number of par cipants; ten more third-place teams qualified this year.”
Loren Ledin, Writer, Ventura County Star – “If the CIF-SS’s new playoff structure taught us anything this fall, it’s that virtually everybody has a chance in the right postseason division.”
Louis Brewster, Columnist, San Gabriel Valley Tribune – “This year, like most others, there have been events – major and minor – that we will remember and be forever grateful for, including reorganizing the CIF Southern Sec on football playoff structure. It was a bit of a gamble on the sanc oning body’s part to change where teams were placed, but it seemed to work out very well.”
Nathan Brown – Writer, The Desert Sun – “Friday was a success for the CIF Southern Sec on’s new com- pe ve equity divisional system set in place star ng this fall.”
Steve Fryer, Writer, Orange County Register – “The new system worked out for Orange County foot- ball. In past seasons, there were the Southwest and Southern Divisions that were made up of Orange County leagues and teams. Now, those teams are spread across several divisions. The result was that Orange County had teams in seven different CIF-SS finals. That’s a record.”
Aram Tolegian, Writer, San Gabriel Valley Tribune – ”Here’s something you don’t hear very o en: CIF got it right. The first full set of results as it pertains to the new divisional grouping format for football are in and one doesn’t need to wait for all the data to be crunched to determine it was a rousing success.”
As always, I sincerely thank you for your con nued help and support, it is truly appreciated, and I wish you and yours a joyous holiday season and a Happy New Year.
All the Best