Student-athletes in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League won’t have a postseason this spring after its Board of Managers on Thursday affirmed its decision to pull out of the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The board voted unanimously to maintain the decision at a special meeting Thursday morning after discussing the possibility of opening up CCS playoffs for the 15 sports currently playing in Season 3 of the league’s calendar. When the board devised its original calendar in January, it took an unconventional approach, splitting sports into three seasons rather than two, and disqualified its member schools from a potential CCS postseason.
“It was a hard vote,” SCVAL commissioner Brad Metheany said. “A lot of people gave us their opinions and thoughts over the past two months, and I know I listened. I heard them all. This is not a win-win situation. It’s a real tough call by my board. … I don’t think they dug in their heels and said they’re not going to change. They took in information and made a reaffirming vote. They listened and took in information and made a decision.”
While the CCS opted to follow the California Interscholastic Federation’s two-season calendar, the SCVAL was alone or close to it in its choice to veer from that model. At the time, near the height of the pandemic in California, the SCVAL board voted to delay the start of as many sports as possible to preserve their chance at a season. But the decision also meant teams in Season 2 sports would fall out of line with the CCS calendar, and that sports in Season 3 were also disqualified from postseason play.
Outcry from parents and coaches followed — and the league had to revisit its decision under the threat of a public-disclosure lawsuit — but the board held up its decision Thursday with no public comment. Metheany said a lone email from an upset parent was all the feedback he’d received thus far.
“Way back when, when we went to the three-tiered system, this was part of the plan,” Metheany said. “We were going to push everything back and try to save all the sports. We had very small windows of competition. … Looking back at what we were able to accomplish with this season in all of our sports, I’m pretty pleased. Is is the best season we’ve ever had? Not even close. But from where we were to where we are now, I think we accomplished a lot.”
