MISSION VALLEY ATHLETIC LEAGUE

The 'Mission Valley Athletic League' (commonly abbreviated 'MVAL') is a collaboration of 7 schools in the Tri-Cities area of Fremont, Newark and Union City, California. The MVAL is part of the Bay Shore Conference in the North Coast Section (NCS).

Contents
Affiliations
Sports Affiliations
School Classification
League Play
MVAL Commissioner
Successful Programs
References

Affiliations


Sports Affiliations

There are seven participating school in the athletic league. The league sponsors football, girl's and boy's cross-country, girl's tennis, girl's and boy's water polo and girl's volleyball in the fall. In the winter, the league sponsors girls and boy's basketball, girl's and boys soccer, and wrestling. In the spring, the league sponsors girls and boys track and field, baseball, softball, boy's tennis, badminton, girl's and boy's swimming, golf and boy's volleyball.
School Classification

The North Coast Section maintains a classification system based on school enrollment as the primary determinant of qualification for certain sports competitions, specifically the NCS playoffs brackets. [1] This classification system is updated by the NCS Board of Governors every year based on the prior year's CBEDS enrollment report. The sports of baseball, football, soccer, softball, track and field, and boys’ volleyball use these rankings within the NCS playoff structures.
For example, in the case of football, out of the seven schools, James Logan High School and Newark Memorial High School qualify for the NCS 4-A tournaments in football. Four schools, American High School, Irvington High School, Mission San Jose High School and Washington High School are eligible for NCS 3-A tournaments, and one school, John F. Kennedy High School is eligible at the NCS 2-A level.
However, the NCS 4-A, 3-A and 2-A, etc. structure is primarily used for football competition. Under a slightly modified classification system, James Logan, Newark Memorial, American, Washington, Irvington and Mission San Jose all fall under Division I in some playoff structures, such as basketball, while Kennedy is the only school that remains in Division III in these such playoff structures. This structure is utilized in Boy's and Girl's Basketball.

League Play


In football, cross-country, wrestling, and track and field teams face each other once during the MVAL season. In all other sports, teams face off twice during the MVAL season. The school with the best record in MVAL play in a sport ends up with an automatic berth to whatever tournament it qualifies for. If there is a tie at the top of the standings, then a playoff usually decides the winner.

MVAL Commissioner


The MVAL Commissioner is usually selected by the previous commissioner, and generally holds office until he or she decides to step down. The Commissioner holds the final discretion in all MVAL League matches, and is responsible for holding meetings with MVAL coaches and athletic directors of the individual schools from time to time. The Commissioner also works with the schools and the coaches to develop a schedule for league play every year.
The current commissioner is Frank Gygax. Gygax is an anatomy and physiology teacher at American High School, and has been the coach of American High's swimming team for the past 30 years. Gygax was selected by the previous commissioner, Robert Vares, Jr, who was selected to be the vice principal of American High School. Vares chose to step down from the post due to the high level of involvement of his new post. Vares remained very prominent in the League however, continuing to guide Gygax, as well as attending MVAL matches until his death in September 2003 after a long battle with cancer.
Frank Gygax announced at the end of 2006 that he would be stepping down after four years in the post of Commissioner. He is currently accepting applications for a new commissioner until January 1st of the new year. Gygax commented that he will likely remain a figure around the MVAL for the next year. [2]

Successful Programs


In the latest years, the MVAL has shown its greatest strength in football, wrestling, track and field, and badminton. Some of the more successful schools have been James Logan, in football, girl's tennis, girl's volleyball, wrestling, track and field, baseball, softball and boy's volleyball. Newark Memorial has been successful in girl's and boy's basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball. American High has excelled in cross country, boy's and girl's basketball, girl's soccer, boy's tennis and golf. Irvington has been successful in football, baseball and softball. Mission has excelled in girl's tennis, wrestling, boy's tennis, badminton and swimming. Washington has been exceptional in football, girl's volleyball, girl's and boy's water polo, girl's and boy's soccer, baseball, softball, boy's volleyball, and girl's basketball. Kennedy High, although somewhat competitive in basketball, has a very meager program, and has not really found many strengths, leaving it as the cellar team of the league. Most likely because of its low enrollment. Thanks to high school coaching legend, the great Pete Michaletos, JFK made the playoffs for the fourth time in school history this past year. Coach Mike has been there for what seems like 50 years.

References



1. ''Alignment & Classification Handbook''
2. The Argus: New MVAL commissioner 5 Dec 2006



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