TCAL: A New Athletic League for Albany High

Starting with the 2012-13 school year, the Bay Shore Athletic League will cease to exist. Albany High will move to a new combined league called the Tri-County Athletic League.  The high schools in this new league include:  St. Mary’s, Richmond High, St. Joseph’s Notre Dame, Kennedy of Richmond, St. Patrick-St. Vincent’s, De Anza, John Swett, Hercules, Salesian, El Cerrito, and Pinole Valley.

To increase the competitive equity among the teams in the different sports, two divisions were created, the Rock and the Stone divisions (the names are derived from historical league names in this part of the Bay region). Divisions will be in effect for team sports that have 10 or more schools participating and for which teams qualify for NCS playoff berths.  The Rock division is for the schools that have the best demonstrated records over the past two years while the Stone division is for the schools that have not had very much success in a sport.  This arrangement benefits both the high level teams who can hone their skills against similarly skilled opponents while the less competitive teams have a better chance to enjoy success and not risk injury against faster, bigger, and stronger teams.

The winner of each division receives an automatic berth in the NCS playoffs while other schools may qualify for at-large berths.  To reduce the cost of transportation, boys and girls records for a particular sport were combined to determine which school was in each division. The divisions will be reevaluated every two years and realigned according to competitive equity criteria that will be developed over the next year.

For the next two years, Albany High’s divisional placement is as follows:

·         Rock division: Girls Volleyball; Baseball/Softball; Boy’s and Girl’s Soccer; Boy’s Golf.

·         Stone division: Boy’s and Girl’s Basketball; Football 

·         Non-divisional: The rest of the sports won’t be divided into divisions and the scheduling of matches will be coordinated by the coaches and Athletic Directors.  Those sports are Wrestling; Cross Country; Track; Swimming; Boy’s and Girl’s Tennis; Girl’s Golf. 

In addition to divisional competitions, coaches are free to schedule games against both the other division as well as schools from other leagues.

We are excited about our membership in the new league.  We fought long and hard for this alignment and feel that it is fair, equitable, and financially sound. Most importantly, our athletes will be able to compete at a level that is most appropriate for them.

If you have any questions, please email Principal Ted Barone at tbarone@ausdk12.org or Athletic Director Andrew Strawbridge at astrawbridge@ausdk12.org.

Go Cougars!!