Division Changes

[gator19]

The NCS has recently collected the current enrollment of all NCS schools. Based off this data they have completed a rough draft of what new division aligments will look like based off enrollment. They will vote on these drafts in the next few weeks. From what I have been told there will be the most movement between div 2 and div 3. The two teams I know on the move list are Eureka and Piner which will both be moved down to division 3. Eureka wil be at the top end of div 3 with just under 1400 students. Piner has dropped from approx. 1400 students to approx. 1100 students. There will be teams moved up to division 2 from 3 but I dont know what teams. I will provide more information when I get it.

[Ben Herrington]

Wow, putting Eureka at the Div. III level might not be the best idea. I would hope Coach Montana petitions his program to the Div. II level.

Seeing Piner move to the Div. III is not surprise considering they were Div. III in 2008 and have recently been on the bottom of the Div. II requirements.

Any idea when the classifications will be released?

[scobserver]

It will be interesting to see how much the SR school enrollments plummet this summer--parents of kids who are athletes cannot confidently predict the district will keep any sport following the SR school trustee's naked ploy to force the community to raise a quarter million dollars so they don't have to cut another 25g from each of the campuses. El Molino especially and Analy could really benefit if there is a large exodus of athletes from SR district. CN will pick up a few of the star players, too, but won't have room on their rosters for the lesser talented. Perhaps RVC and even SR Christian will benefit if they are on the ball. Is Elsie already D 3?

[Ben Herrington]

Elsie has been Div. III for a few years I think.

[firemanbill]

Elsie has been Div 2 but I cant imagine with their enrollment around 1200 that they wont be dropped as well. The interesting question is who will be raised. I believe Analy's enrollment is up could they get moved to Div 2? They have to keep the divisions close to equal in number of schools if they want to have 16 team playoff brackets.

[bella]

I don't think putting Eureka DIII will be that bad. They seem to drop up and down every couple of years anyway (old 2A and 3A). I don't think there is a huge gap between DII and DIII. Some of the top DIII over the years (Novato, MC etc.) have been just as good as the to DII teams.

[dynomite]

I wouldnt worry about Eureka too much. They had a great team/season the last two years but before that they've been VERY average in a soft league.

[bella]

Yes, Eureka seems to go in cycles. Every 5-6 years they have some great teams, then fall back for a few years. Not knocking the coaching staffs, but it seems like if they are loaded with some great players (Mealugla, Purify etc.) they are very good. If thye don't have great talent they seem to fall back.

Of course having great players should make any coaches look good and if you don't have players it is a little tougher. But at this level, coaching can make a huge difference. It's tough to guage a team like Eureka consistently. As dynomite pointed out, alot of it has to do with the HD-N, which generally is not really a great league.

[ladylogger]

My understanding is that NCS will look to re-align all of the divisions, all of course, based on enrollment. I think people will be surprised at where some schools end up. Enrollment is dropping here in Humboldt County as in other places.

As for Eureka, the past few seasons we have been at the bottom of DII enrollment wise. This year we had a very FOCUSED TEAM that ended up winning a division title against a school that has about 350 more students.
Last year Eureka lost in the first round of NCS in overtime. The year before missed out on NCS but had it been the expanded bracket could have been in, maybe?

This was the fourth season for Head Coach Montana. This year's group of seniors were freshmen when he took over the program. It takes time to build a program. Many things have changed since Montana took over. I look for EHS to be a strong program for years to come.
Bella & Dynomite you are correct that the HDN is not very strong and that is one of the reasons Eureka plays such a tough preseason to gain some experience against bigger or same size schools.

I discovered this forum during the playoffs and am glad to have done so. I find the discussions here both interesting and informative.

[Ben Herrington]

Eureka's non-league schedule is crazy tough. I still think they should have won the two games they lost. Shasta and Pleasant Valley werent that tough and could have been beat. Turnovers did the damage against Shasta, and Pleasant Valley was a close one. I look forward to seeing them in 2010.