The City Section board of managers is expected to approve the realignment at its next meeting. The new league alignments will be Arleta, Van Nuys Grant, Monroe, Panorama, Reseda and Verdugo Hills in the East Valley and Canoga Park, Chavez, Granada Hills Kennedy, North Hollywood, Poly, San Fernando and Sylmar in Valley Mission.
At Tuesday’s City Section executive committee meeting, it was revealed that Pasadena City College is the likely site for the City Section Open Division semifinals and finals in boys’ and girls’ basketball on Feb. 18 and Feb. 25, pending approval of an insurance requirement.
Roybal High, which has the largest gym in the Los Angeles Unified School District, declined to make its site available. The same situation with Roybal, whose gym was built bigger with the intention of using it to host district events, happened last year until intervention by LAUSD. The City Section also wanted Roybal to host wrestling championships but that too was rejected by the school’s principal. This time the City Section decided to move on.
In other news:
• The executive committee voted to recommend approving girls’ flag football as a new sport for this fall. The board of managers is expected to give approval at its meeting, and then it will be up to the CIF State Federated Council for final approval Feb. 2.
• The Animo Jackie Robinson eight-man football team is facing sanctions from a playoff incident last fall in which the school refused to tell officials the name of its coach.
• The City Section is considering changes to the way it seeds teams for football playoffs after what commissioner Vicky Lagos called a “barrage of complaints from coaches and schools.” The City Section primarily has seeded teams based on rankings from CalPreps.com. Any adjustments will be up to the Games Committee, in consultation with a football advisory committee, to decide.
• The girls’ water polo finals will be held Feb. 16 at Valley College.
• The soccer finals will be held at Valley College and Lake Balboa Birmingham High.
• The site for the wrestling finals has yet to be determined, with Venice and San Fernando under consideration.