Narrow Vote Approves Central Suburban League Team Swap

GLENVIEW, IL — Administrators from Central Suburban League member schools approved a realignment plan that would swap a pair of schools between its two divisions every three years beginning in the 2019-20 school year.

A vote by the league's athletic directors was ratified by 7-5 vote from principals at a meeting of the league's board of control during the 2016-2017 school year, according to Audrey Haugan, board president and principal of Maine West High School.

Two teams will be selected for the biennial division swap according to a formula involving size and success across all 20 sports league members compete in.

The goal of the realignment is to create a more competitive balance across the league, according to Chris Livatino, athletic director at Evanston Township High School and president of the CSL's conference of athletic directors, which he said voted 10-2 in favor of the plan.

The equation takes into account two out of every three years of athletic results across all sports to promote the team with the most sporting success in the CSL North into the CSL South division. Meanwhile, the program in the South division with the least athletic success for its size will move to the league's North division.

The changes will result in more exciting matchups and a better experience for student athletes, Livatino suggested.

"The underlying expectation is that the more competitive contests your kids are involved in, the better that's going to help them improve – as competitors and as athletes," he said. "If you're always winning by large margins that's not making your team better, but when you have those more competitive games it's making you a stronger program."

Historically, the league's largest schools competed in CSL South while those with smaller student bodies tended to be grouped in CSL North.

"What we realized is that doesn't really work anymore because there's a lot of other factors that go into your success in sports other than just enrollment," Livatino said.

The league's directors have been discussing possible changes to its division structure since Waukegan High School left to join the North Suburban Conference to be replaced by Vernon Hills. That left CSL North with an extra team, so Niles North switched into the South division as a result.

But the new realignment plan divided some of the league's members. One athletic director suggested it was unwise to make a historic change such a narrow vote.

"This is an existential change and we are not all in agreement," Glenbrook North Athletic Director John Catalano told Pioneer Press.

_{Top photo: Central Suburban League Logo}