Davis High student athletes look forward to league change
GRAPHIC: Davis High, along with Jesuit and St. Francis, will be joining the Sierra Foothills League for the 2024-25 athletic season under Sac-Joaquin section proposal 3A.
By Sean Campbell & Declan Fee
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–
Davis High athletics will be moving to the more competitive Sierra Foothills League for the 2024-25 athletic season under the current Sac-Joaquin section proposal.
DHS, Jesuit and St. Francis would be moving into a league with powerhouse schools including Del Oro, Folsom, Granite Bay, Oak Ridge, Rocklin and Whitney.
“This is a very positive change for the majority of DJUSD programs,” athletic director Jeff Lorenson said. “The league will be highly competitive, especially for our programs that have not had a full league schedule in the Delta League due to many of the schools not offering the same sports.”
Water polo is only offered at three current Delta League schools so Davis’ two teams often look elsewhere for greater challenges. “I have been coaching water polo at DHS for 35 years; most of the time the league isn’t very competitive,” men’s varsity water polo coach Tracy Stapleton said.
Last year, the men’s team beat Rocklin and Granite Bay, who were numbers one and two in the Sierra Foothills League. “It will be more competitive and thus a lot more fun,” Stapleton said.
Though the new league will increase the average distance for away games by 7.5 miles, DHS coaches do not think it will be an issue.
“If you want to get better you travel to where the competition is. We already travel a lot to the Bay Area and Southern California because we want to be pushed. It can challenge your ego, but only by this challenge can you get better,” Stapleton said.
Varsity mens baseball coach Ethan Guevin is not worried about the increase travel to away games.
“The distance may be more as the crow flies, but travel will allow us to stay on (highways) 50 and 80, which will hopefully let us avoid bad traffic on 5 or 99,” Guevin said.
Guevin is excited to compete in the new league. “We want to play against the best teams possible and in the most competitive league possible,” Guevin said. “The Sierra Foothills League would keep us in the most competitive league from top to bottom, which is where we want to be.”
Across all sports the new league will be on average more competitive. “We will be going against the top teams in California,” sophomore football player Alexander Gasca said.
This increase in competition is good for some programs, and less so for others. “Some of our programs are rebuilding and could feel the challenges of highly competitive schools more than other programs,” Lorenson said.
In some circumstances one program can participate in a different league then the rest of the school. One example is Capital Christian. Under the new proposal the school will play Division 1 for basketball and Division 4 for all other sports.
However it is usually reserved for programs playing up.
“The section has never moved one school program down into a league at a lower division due to the lack of success,” Lorenson said.
DHS football in its only matchup against the Sierra Foothills League last year lost to Granite Bay 74-6. Granite Bay finished fifth with a 1-4 record in their league last year,
This does not deter the optimism of the players though, as they are excited for the new challenge and opportunity.
“I believe this would be a major change for Davis football because this league is viewed more by colleges. It will get our players more spotlight from college recruiters, giving them a chance to make it to the next level,” Gasca said.
League realignment is decided by a committee of athletic directors, school administrators and representatives from the major geographical areas in the section. “(The committee) bases their decision on historical success of all sports, scope of program and school enrollment,” Lorenson said.
Two meetings have already been held and according to Lorenson, “it is very likely that the current proposal will be approved.”
