OUTLOOK ON NEW FOOTHILL AREA RELEAGUING: Artesia could see more sports fighting for playoff spots in future new conference

June 11, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

This is the first in a series of area schools involved in the upcoming Foothill Area releaguing that will begin for the 2026-2027 school year. The 20 schools involved, in what will be a new conference are from the current 605 League, Del Rio League, Gateway League and Mid-Cities League. The name of the new conference and potential leagues will be determined during the 2025-2026 school year. This is the third time since the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year that area schools have been involved in releaguing.

When Artesia High, and two other area schools, broke off from the old Suburban League after the 2017-2018 school year to form the 605 League with the addition of three other schools, it was meant to create more competitive equity in its athletic program. In the past seven years, the Pioneers have seen some success while other sports continued to struggle.

Now, those struggling sports will have a chance to do something that was not possible in the former Suburban League, or even the 605 League-compete for a CIF-Southern Section playoff berth.

Artesia athletic director Matt Soriano, who hasn’t been in his position as long as the other athletic directors, wasn’t as skeptical when the process began leading up to the May 1 Foothill Area releaguing vote.

“To be honest, I don’t think I had the most positive favoritism towards a 20-team league”, said Soriano. “As a new A.D., I just heard, ‘oh, it’s time to revote for bylaws and see if anyone’s open to releaguing’”.

The initial buzz amongst the athletic directors was to simply keep the 605 League together and not add other schools. But all six proposals which were brought to the table last month involved a 20-school conference.

“We kind of sat down as A.D.’s and said, ‘hey, we like the six of us staying together in most sports’ even though we would get killed by Cerritos and Whitney in some tennis events or golf events,” said Soriano. “We’re competitive in every other sport, and I like the six of us about it.”

The 2018-2019 school year had mixed feelings around the 605 League with Artesia winning two league titles and sharing one of the major sports in the inaugural year. The most notable one was the football team where the Pioneers won all three league games and advanced to the Division 12 championship game. Since then, the program has finished in second place and earned a playoff spot.

Boys soccer won its first 605 League title in 2019 and the softball team tied Cerritos High for first place that spring. Since then, the Pioneers have won 11 league titles, six coming from boys soccer, three from boys basketball, and one each from girls flag football and girls soccer.

Soriano went to the first meeting with the plan of just moving for football only because he thought that’s how Orange County schools did their releaguing.

“We sat down as A.D.’s and said if we’re going to support something, I need to know number one, we’re all in this, or if we’re going to be against this, we’re all against it,” said Soriano. “The one commitment we couldn’t have was that Glenn would still field a football team.”

With the new 20-school conference, Artesia may not face ABC Unified School District rival Cerritos in league competition, but the program figures to be in a desirable place for playoff contention every season.

“We were not the best team in [the 605 League], but every school had a chance to qualify for the playoffs every year,” said Soriano. “And I think that’ s the way we wanted it to be. There were years where we won on the last play on a double reverse against Pioneer to qualify for the playoffs. There were years that Glenn was up there in the top two; there were years where they weren’t in the top two. Pioneer didn’t get an automatic bid this [past season] but they went to the [CIF-Southern Section] finals. The 605 League gave people what they wanted out of it, football-wise.”

Soriano says other than boys basketball and some of the other major sports, which has been near or at the top of the league consistently, the other sports aren’t nowhere near the other schools. Part of that reason, which the league has looked at and voted together as a league, is some schools in certain sports have a lower level team.

Since the 605 League was formed, the Artesia girls volleyball program has finished no higher than third place while the other two fall sports, boys water polo and girls tennis have finished in fourth place or below. In fact, of the major sports, the Pioneers have finished in fourth place 18 times, fifth place 10 times and last place nine times.

Boys basketball and the two soccer programs have done quite well as has the softball program and should be grouped in with the upper to ‘middle of the pack’ schools once the new conference begins. Sports like boys tennis, boys volleyball, boys water polo, girls basketball and girls tennis are projected to be situated in the last of the three or four leagues in two years and be with other fifth and sixth place teams from the Del Rio League, Gateway League and Mid-Cities League. It should be noted that in a six-team league, the top three get an automatic playoff berth.

“It is going to be every sport on a per sport basis,” said Soriano. “So, just like in Orange County, your football team may be in this league, but your basketball teams will be in a different league. The model, I think, that makes the most sense…is if there are 20 teams in every place but football, you do four leagues of five [teams]. That would make the top three all get an [automatic] berth. Technically, you would get 12 automatic spots out of your 20 teams.”

Soriano believes that the new conference will benefit Artesia in a lot of the sports that aren’t mentioned on an everyday basis. For example, Artesia’s girls basketball team most likely wouldn’t have to play Cerritos, Pioneer or Whitney twice every season in league competition.

“I’m not even saying it will help us get wins, it will just help the games be more competitive,” said Soriano. “The big part about it is we have to sit down as a group and decide…I guarantee the first year is going to be based on CIF rankings. But they talk about some relegation or promotion. If you’re in the middle league, hey, you won and you get to move up to the top league. I would prefer to see two teams [go] up and down every time.”

He continued to add that since this will be a conference, divided into three or four leagues, technically by the rules, the conference can do whatever it wants regarding the movement of teams to other leagues every year instead of going off power rankings.

This upcoming school year will be a stressful one for the athletic directors and principals for the 20 schools. When the 605 League was formed, there were four school districts involved and transportation, while difficult at times, wasn’t as big as an issue as it will be in two years. The scheduling of sporting events will be a nightmare, especially during the winter season as your traditional girls-boys basketball doubleheaders could be compromised.

“When we started meeting as the 20 schools, that was the whole 605 League’s contention; is how do you guys do it,” asked Soriano. “La Mirada kind of looked at me and was like, ‘well, when we ask for a bus, my district gives us a bus’. Well, my district doesn’t. Every bus that we took as a sports team was an overtime payment to a bus driver. My transportation [bill] is huge, and that’s with me sending boys and girls basketball to the same place.”

Another issue that schools will have to navigate through is the splitting up of cheerleaders during basketball games or other school functions. Soriano was quick to mention that Artesia decided to have its senior prom on a Thursday night in the middle of league. He worked with the other five athletic directors to have the games off that Thursday so the players could go to the prom and admitted he doesn’t know if he can get that same commitment from the other 14 schools that will be part of the new conference.

One bright area of the new conference will be schools reuniting with old rivals from previous leagues. It’s a fact that Artesia will face Bellflower High, La Mirada High, Mayfair High and Norwalk High in many sports. Those four schools were in the Suburban League prior to 2018.

“I don’t come from a time when all the rivalries [happened],” said Soriano. “I know I can just look up scores and see the main ones; the football, the soccer and basketball. We had some battles with Mayfair, but some of it is if we wanted to renew rivalries and things like that, we would have called them earlier and played non-league [games].

“We, as a 605 League, didn’t even want to play Gahr in anything anymore, even though they’re a part of a school district that had three of us in it,” he continued. “It took a long time for Cerritos football to say [they’ll] play Gahr. When we were playing Gahr and the scores weren’t very close…if Gahr is with us, then it should say that we should be competitive with them, and I think that’s the point of a conference.”