Marmonte League

The Marmonte League is a high school athletic conference in California affiliated with the CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS). The league is composed primarily of schools located in eastern Ventura County with some in Los Angeles County.

Schools

As of the 2018-19 academic year, the league consists of the following schools in most sports:

Calabasas High School (1998-present)[1]
Newbury Park High School
Oaks Christian High School (2010-present in football, 2014-present in all other sports)
Thousand Oaks High School
Westlake High School

Future member

Agoura High School (joins in 2020; previously was member 1990-2018; currently in Coastal Canyon League)[2][3][4]

Former members

Camarillo High School (through 1998; joined Pacific View League)[5]
Channel Islands High School (through 1998; joined Pacific View League)[5]
Moorpark High School (1998-2014; joined Coastal Canyon League)[6]
Royal High School (through 2014; joined Coastal Canyon League)
Simi Valley High School (through 2014; joined Coastal Canyon League)

Football association

In football, the Marmonte Football Association is composed of 14 schools from the Marmonte and Coastal Canyon leagues as well as Bishop Diego, Grace Brethren, and St. Bonaventure high schools. Established in 2014, the association assigns each school to one of three leagues in a system of promotion and relegation for a two-year period. (Oaks Christian and St. Bonaventure joined the Marmonte League for football only in 2010, predating the association's founding.) During the April 2019 releaguing process in the CIF-SS Northern Area, administrators of area schools approved the following plan that takes effect in 2020, with leagues listed in order of strength from greatest to least:[7]

Marmonte League

Canyon League

Camino League

Sports

The Marmonte League sponsors the following sports:

Fall season

Winter season

Spring season

Baseball
Boys' golf
Lacrosse
Softball
Swimming/Diving
Track and field
Boys' tennis
Boys' volleyball

History

Early years

The Marmonte League was established in 1970. Originally, the league consisted of six schools in Los Angeles and Ventura counties: Canyon, Hart, Newbury Park, Oxnard, Royal, and Simi Valley high schools.[8]

Westlake frosh/soph girls' basketball perfect season

In the 2009-2010 girls' basketball season, the Westlake frosh/soph team finished with a perfect record of 21-0 overall and a 14-0 in the Marmonte League. The team won its own Westlake Winter Invitational Tournament as well as the Camarillo Winter Classic. Coach Nick Kindel was selected as the 2010 F/S Marmonte League Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.[9]

Denial of Derrick Brown transfer

In 2011, the CIF-SS and the Marmonte League denied Derrick "Deejay" Brown a hardship transfer request that would have allowed him to play basketball at Thousand Oaks High School. TOHS coach Richard Endres had become Brown's guardian. The student-athlete from Brooklyn, New York was a victim of domestic violence in 2009, when his stepfather attempted to kill both him and his mother.[10] At the hearing to determine Brown's eligibility, principals of Marmonte League schools barred Endres from speaking or arguing on behalf of Brown. "They don't like it that he's living with me", said Endres, regarding Marmonte principals.[11]

Westlake boys' basketball forced forfeit

On January 5, 2012, the CIF-SS required Westlake's varsity boys' basketball team to forfeit a win over Agoura. The Marmonte League victory was ruled invalid due to the fact that Westlake's junior varsity coach, John Elliot, sat on the varsity bench after having been ejected in the preceding junior varsity game. The ruling came despite the fact that the game official approved Elliot's presence at the varsity contest.[12]

2014 releaguing and Coastal Canyon League spinoff

Plans to revamp the entire Northern Area of the CIF Southern Section, which includes the Marmonte League, were in place for 2014. Those plans were quashed when Oaks Christian and St. Bonaventure high schools challenged the plan that would have them move out of Ventura County-based leagues into a league consisting of parochial schools in Los Angeles County. In March 2013, the two schools each won their appeal, allowing them to remain in local leagues. In April 2014, a new plan was approved that added Adolfo Camarillo and Oak Park highs to the league, then split the Marmonte League into two circuits, one of which would retain the Marmonte name.[13] The newly created league later was named the Coastal Canyon League. St. Bonaventure remained in the Tri-County Athletic Association for all sports except football.