Goodbye Buena Park and Fullerton Union high schools.
A one-and-a-half-year of discussions broke a tradition of four decades: the Freeway League.
On Tuesday, Jan. 20, officials representing 77 schools voted to disband the league for the next school year and reorganize it into the Century Conference for all sports teams excluding football, which will play in another division known as the Lambda League which is not affiliated with the Century Conference, athletic director Paul Jones said.
“Unfortunately, it’s kind of historic for all the league championships that we win because it’s the last time we will have the official Freeway League with just the Fullerton Joint Union High School District schools,” Jones said about the decision.
Beginning next school year, Sunny Hills will join 14 other high schools in the new conference: Sonora in La Habra, Troy in Fullerton, La Habra, Villa Park, Canyon in Anaheim, Esperanza in Anaheim, Yorba Linda, Foothill in Tustin, Crean Lutheran in Irvine, Cypress, Pacifica in Garden Grove, Brea Olinda in Brea, El Dorado in Placentia and El Modena in Orange, he said.
Buena Park and Fullerton will join the Golden Empire Conference along with Calvary Chapel in Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Godinez in Santa Ana, Katella in Anaheim, Kennedy in La Palma, Laguna Hills, Ocean View in Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Segerstrom in Santa Ana, Tustin, Valencia in Placentia and Westminster, according to OC Sports Zone.
Teams in the Century Conference will be placed in one of the three leagues based on the CIF power rankings from the last season to ensure a similar skill level among competitors. Within the Century Conference, the Crestview League will consist of the highest-ranked teams from the previous season, followed by the Freeway League and finally the North Hills League, Jones said.
Fall sports and winter sports have been sorted into their respective leagues for the 2024-2025 school year, but spring sports are yet to be announced as of April 5, since they are still finishing their season.
“I hoped we would be the second or third tier,” said junior Raeden Bobadilla, a guard on the boys basketball team that held a record of 4-6 in the Freeway League, being first-round exits in CIF. “Realistically, we are now in the bottom tier because we didn’t go too far in the playoffs.”
The boys basketball team was one of the SH sports that placed in the North Hills League, the lowest tier in the Century Conference.
“Since they chose the leagues based on a point system from all the schools based on last year’s performance, I think it was a fair way to do it,” boys varsity head coach Joe Ok said. “I’m not too worried about [our ranking].”
Fall sports have also been sorted into their leagues for their new season.
“Now that our seniors are gone, we are going to have to do a lot of rebuilding for our team,” said sophomore Dante Gelles, a field player on the boys water polo team that held a record of 2-6 in the Freeway League, getting eliminated in the first round of CIF. “So I think it’s for the best that we are in the second tier because it gives us a good opportunity to analyze the plays of other schools and get better ourselves.”
Boys water polo head coach Jordan Jaime expects fewer league games since only five schools are playing in the Freeway League of the Century Conference.
“When I played here, it was 10 league games and then it shortened to eight,” Jaime said. “So maybe in 10 more years, we will play one league game and decide the championship right there.”
With new schools joining the conference, traveling distances will vary based on the schools that each sport is set to compete against for the new school year. Student-athletes will have to miss more class time — much more than they already do.
Since the SH girls volleyball and basketball teams will compete against Crean Lutheran in the Crestview League, the farthest school in the Century Conference, the traveling distance between the two schools comes to about 24 miles, while all of the original Freeway League schools came within a five-mile radius.
“It will be worse for student-athletes because we will have to do a lot of self-studying and make-up work,” girls volleyball outside hitter Kayla Thienprasiddhi said. “I like the releaguing idea and playing against more competitive schools, but I do not like missing classes.”
Since the new schools are further away, the district will have to supply Sunny Hills with charter buses for sports with high enrollment, almost doubling the budget of transportation costs for each school.
“Typically, the district allocates some money to us for transportation,” the athletic director said. “The great minds at the district are going to figure it out and make sure that our students have transportation.”
Jones said since students are not required to pay an enrollment fee to participate in a sport, the money will be raised through funding from the district and entry fees from spectators at the sports events. Unfortunately, since the schools are now farther in proximity, Jones said he thinks viewership may also face a sudden decline.
Nevertheless, Jones said this new conference is here to stay, with the district still navigating the intricacies of the releaguing process.
“Will we ever have the opportunity to get the Freeway League back?” Jones said. “Probably not — this is the kind of thing that once it happens, it happens.”
