SoCal Leagues, sections, divisions etc...

Hey 2016,

Be prepared to be confused.  Some of the detail may not be 100% right but you'll get the idea...

In the CIF Southern Section, for baseball, Div 1 is highest level and Div 7 is lowest.  For now, your league dictates your division.  Each team/league is reviewed for re-alignment every couple years.  Factors include size of school, competitive success and others.  Other sports are organized in a similar fashion but a school may be in a different division for different sports.  Also, there are not necessarily seven divisions in every sport.  Also in other sports, you may have a school in a given league be in a different division than another school in the same league.  Privates are not always lumped into the same division but in some sports, there is an effort to place most privates in the same division.  In baseball, there are CIF Southern Section championships for each division.  You can find that playoff schedule on the same CIF site you posted when the end of the season rolls around.  The Maxpreps page you pointed to is simply a listing of all schools in that division ranked by overall record winning %.  The Southern Section, which includes most of SoCal up into the Central Coast, has far more schools than any other section in the state.  Other states use entirely different nomenclature.  Often, the smallest number is the smallest school size instead of biggest.

So, you see, it's really best not to get caught up in all that.  Just root for your son's team to do well against his league opponents and then you can track who he may be playing against in the same division in CIF playoffs.  Only varsity competes in CIF playoffs.

BTW, it is not uncommon for teams in lower divisions to be ranked higher than teams in higher divisions.  Our area has a D2 league, a D5 league and a D7 league.  There are years when the D5 league gets the better of the D2's in non-league play.   

Cabbage...You are right, it is very confusing.  However, you are 100% correct and could not have explained it any better.

Thanks IE.  Your thread revival made me realize I didn't answer OP's last question.  So 2016dad, if you're still out there and haven't figured out by now...

Regarding non-league scheduling - AD's coordinate scheduling in most instances, usually with feedback of HC (I think).  Non-league matchups are usually determined by geographical and competitive logic.  Currently, the Southern Section has special allowances for double-headers and tournament games as they relate to the total maximum number of games allowed.  So, many schools will play a non-league Saturday DH or two and a tourney or two so they can get closer to 30 games as opposed to the lower allowable allotment (I believe 21?).  Several other schools will play a lighter schedule due to budget issues.  The number of league games a school plays will dictate how many slots they can fill with non-league games.  Start and finish dates are clearly defined by CIF.  Another common practice is the reciprocal (home/away) agreement - non-league opponents will agree to play each other at one place the first year and the other the second.

When we first took over our program, we looked for weaker teams where we can build player confidence and actually have a chance for a win or two.  Now, we have eliminated those schools so that we can play a tough non-league schedule to prep us to compete in league and playoffs.  But, we still have to be sensible with budget and logistics, so we don't go very far from home.

And BTW, now that the season is in full swing, you can go back to the CIF site and see rankings by division.

Thanks! Your explanation helps. While choosing our HS had little to do with how competitive their baseball program was I often hear people mentioning divisions or how tough a league is. I kept it simple, nice field, long term coach, win more than they lose. Sounds good.

When they say "Coaches Poll" I assume that's a sampling of coaches opinions on who they think are the best teams? They don't seem to always follow a win/loss record.

Funny about tournaments at Freshman level, over spring break there was a 3 day tourney scheduled. I couldn't attend because of work. Here I am thinking brackets and runs allowed, etc. When it was over I asked my son who won. He said I don't know. We won 2, lost 1 so we tied with another team. No fanfare, no trophy, not even a pin. This isn't travel ball.