Some have been waiting for this day for years. Some have waited for decades and in some cases even a lifetime.
The Foothill Area, a group of 55 CIF Southern Section schools, which includes the entire Pacific League, as well as schools from surrounding areas, met this past week to resolve a matter that has plagued local high school sports for years.
In the end, it was decided that beginning in the 2026-27 school year, 16 schools will be part of the Pacific/Rio Hondo Conference.
In addition to current Pacific League members Burroughs, Burbank, Glendale, Hoover, Muir, Pasadena, Crescenta Valley and Arcadia, the conference will now also include La Canada, South Pasadena, San Marino, Blair, Temple City and Monrovia highs. Those six schools have formed the Rio Hondo League for decades. Two other schools, Marshall of Pasadena and Gabrielino of San Gabriel, will join the Pacific/Rio Hondo Conference.
By having a conference, the groups will be broken up into two or three leagues and will attempt to create a level playing field and eliminate one-sided contests.
It is no secret that some schools have dominated the landscape and continually won over schools that have struggled to maintain teams as student populations have dropped significantly.
For example, in this year’s Pacific League Swimming Finals, out of 42 events contested, just five were won by someone who wasn’t competing for Arcadia or Crescenta Valley.
Arcadia and Crescenta Valley have dominated in many sports. In baseball, the Apaches have gone 117-12 in league play over the past 10 seasons. The Falcons have gone 103-25 over the same span.
Under the new format, for example, La Canada, which has a strong tradition in swimming, would compete against Arcadia and Crescenta Valley, giving the Apaches and Falcons some competition that isn’t against just one another.
For football, the four top teams will compete together in a league for two playoff berths. The next six teams will make up another league and the bottom six will play each other.
This will benefit teams like Hoover and Glendale, which have struggled for decades.
By the enrollment numbers
(These numbers are based upon the 2023-24 school year as reported by the California Department of Education, not the CIF Southern Section. Numbers reflect students in grades nine through 12)
Arcadia 3,004 students
Crescenta Valley 2,532
Burbank 2,471
Burroughs 2,358
Glendale 2,006
Hoover 1,538
Pasadena 1,355
Muir 1,133
Temple City 1,758
South Pasadena 1,494
Monrovia 1,479
La Canada 1,359
San Marino 837
Blair 592
Gabrielino 1,483
Marshall 1,019
