Different sports, different leagues

Miles Ozorio

Most people don’t know how Carlmont’s sports leagues work. Most don’t know each team’s league is formatted differently, includes different schools, and varies in competitiveness. That being said, my hope is that together, we can shed some light on how different sports at Carlmont operate uniquely in their respective leagues.

If you’ve ever played a high school sport, you probably know how it works for your team to win its league or make it to Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs. For most teams, qualifying for CCS playoffs includes winning a large number of matches, hopefully against high-level competition.

However, being that Carlmont has such a wide variety of sports teams, the way each team qualifies for CCS playoffs is unique.

It all comes down to competitive equity. Competitive equity ensures that teams are placed in leagues with other schools that are about the same level. So if a team is great, they’re likely to be in a league with other great teams. This way, you don’t end up with a soccer team that beats everyone in their league 8-0.

At least, that’s the idea. Attempting to ensure competitive equity in all leagues is an imperfect science. With teams’ rosters changing every year, the prowess of any team is likely to fluctuate season to season.

Nonetheless, the CCS tries for competitive equity through two different types of leagues: power leagues and regional leagues. Most sports at Carlmont are in power leagues, and so it is important we talk about them first.

If you play a sport at Carlmont, it’s probably part of a power league. With the exception of lacrosse, all these power leagues are under the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL). The PAL separates its teams into a maximum of three divisions: the highest, filled with the PAL’s best teams, is the Bay Division; below the Bay is the Ocean Division; below the Ocean is the Lake Division. At the end of each year, a team at Carlmont, along with the other schools in the PAL, may have the opportunity to change divisions based on how competitive the program is.

However, this doesn’t happen too often, as various boards and CCS officials must give a final OK. When a Carlmont team does change divisions, it’s a pretty big deal. The team will be playing all

new schools and will likely perform very differently against the new level of competition.

This is what happened to Carlmont’s varsity football team in 2019. After finishing off their extremely successful 2018 season with a league trophy and CCS playoff run, the Scots advanced from the Lake to the Ocean Division. Upon entering the Ocean Division, the football team earned an 0-5 league record, eventually moving back down to the Lake Division for the 2020 season.

Carlmont’s football team is a great example of competitive equity at play. In power leagues, everybody works to ensure that teams are placed in divisions where they are most competitive. Many power leagues are also ranked A, B, or C to help CCS playoff seeding. Unlike the PAL’s Bay, Ocean, Lake distinction, the A, B, or C ranks can be assigned to any

number of divisions.

For example, Carlmont’s boys volleyball team is in the PAL Bay Division, the PAL’s highest division for that sport. However, it is also a C division. Compared to the other leagues within the CCS, the PAL’s boys volleyball is not the best.

Conversely, girls volleyball at Carlmont is also in the PAL Bay Division, but theirs is an A division. This means that, with respect to the other volleyball leagues in the CCS, the PAL has a very strong girls league and a relatively weak boys league. The A, B, C distinction is another way that power leagues work to maintain competitive equity, specifically in CCS playoffs.

Out of all of the sports at Carlmont, only two participate in regional leagues: cross country and basketball. For cross country, the PAL traditionally holds meets with all its teams at once. These huge meets get rid of the need for any separation. Basketball is a regional league, as well. Unlike the power leagues that are separated into Bay, Ocean, and sometimes Lake, PAL basketball is divided into the PAL North and PAL South. Carlmont basketball is part of the PAL South Division.

Whether your sport is in a power league or regional league, understanding the CCS’s complexities provides a new perspective on Carlmont sports. Hopefully, this new perspective allows you to enjoy Carlmont’s athletics even more.

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