7/25/2011
Equity league
The TCAL and MBL will become an Equity League next fall. It's not a big hit with football coaches in the MBL.
One coach told me he'd likely be fired if he said what he really felt about the possibility of an MBL team being forced into the TCAL because it finished in the top two.
I stress possibility because nothing is locked in without a discussion.
Depth is an issue in football. Not one MBL football roster will suit up over 40 players this year. Four teams in the MBL will hover around 30.
By comparison, at least three TCAL teams will have rosters of 50 or more, and interior lines of 250 pounds or more -- not to mention enrollments twice the size -- Watsonville the exception.
I think an Equity League can work in most sports. In fact, I think it's a good idea. But in football, it could set a smaller program back five years.
2 comments:
Kind of crazy not to go to equity league. San Jose's BVAL did it with MHAL, Santa Theresa and West Valley Leagues. It has worked out great. I think the TCAL and MBAL will be more competitive as a result. Only reason some coaches don't want in is because they will have to face Palma. Palma is going to be Palma no matter what, and San benito will be strong in most years, and Salinas will range. The rest will be pretty competitive and I think the top MBAL teams will surpise how competitive they will be. The TCAL needs to get better to compete in the playoffs and this is a good start. Teams will be better prepared for playoffs. The level of play should increase as a whole with the league. This isn't Marina playing in the TCAL. I think a team like Carmel can play in the TCAL in recent years. Depth is going to be a factor no matter which league the team plays in. I hear Palma is fielding only about 45 players this coming season. Lots dropped out from seniors. Juniors lost a few players to transfers out from the JV squad.
What sets the BVAL and PAL equity leagues apart is that there are 24 teams in the BVAL and 18 teams in the PAL. And three leagues in each of those equity leagues. Perhaps a better comparison is the SCVAL where there are just 15 teams and two leagues. And I am not sure how well it has worked out for the SCVAL. Certainly the Deanza league is strong and I doubt most of the El Camino teams would really want to play in it, but the El Camino league has long been one of the weakest leagues in CCS...ranked lower than even the MTAL since at least the 2006 season. When there are two leagues in the equity league and a limited number of teams, does the upward movement of the stronger "lower leageue" teams and the downward movement of the weaker "upper league" teams dilute and diminsh the strength of the "lower league"? Will the TCAL get stronger and solidify their position as an A league...but will a weaker MBL sink to become a C league?
Taking this one step further, the San Jose equity leagues have all redistributed their automatic play-off qualifying spots. Before the equity league, the TCAL and the MBL both had two automatic qualifiers. With the equity league, the coaches can decide to give the TCAL three automatic bids and the MBL one automatic spot. (Once that happens it further dooms the "lower league" to C status as fewer teams in that league will get LCI "bonus" points for participating in the play-offs.)
I'm not using this to say the equity league idea is bad. I'm just not sure everything has been thought through. If I am an MBL coach with a perennially good team I am NOT looking forward to being moved up to face TCAL competition...with little or no shot at a league title and a greatly diminshed possibility of making the play-offs. Or if I am an MBL coach with an average team, while I like the fact that I have a better shot at the league title now that the stronger teams have been moved up, I'm probably not too excited about the fact that "my league" is going to be fighting just to be a B league...and if they take away one of those automtic qualifier spots that my team will have a tough time making the play-offs.
Frankly the only teams that the equity league benefits are the weaker teams in the TCAL. They will get bumped down to the MBL and will have a much improved chance at a league title and a play-off spot.
John says that "the TCAL needs (the equity league) to get better to compete in the playoffs". But isn't the equity league idea supposed to benefit all leagues that are members of the equity league? I'm not sure it has in the SCVAL. And I think the reason is because there are only 15 teams in the SCVAL. With just 14 teams in the new TCAL/MBL equity league I don't think the equity league idea will benfit both leagues here.
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