OUTLOOK ON NEW FOOTHILL AREA RELEAGUING – Norwalk athletics in a perfect position with new 20-school conference on horizon

July 1, 2026

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

This is the fourth part 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. This is the third time since the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year that area schools have been involved in releaguing.

When Norwalk High was in the seven-member Suburban League up to end of the 2017-2018 school year, most of its athletic programs were in the middle of the pack. When the 605 League was formed, it left the Suburban League with four schools-Bellflower High, La Mirada High, Mayfair High and Norwalk.

In a four-team league, only the top two would get automatic berths to the CIF-Southern Section playoffs and Norwalk was on the outside looking in more times and not. Things got better when the league joined forces with the San Gabriel Valley League and the Lancers found themselves playoff contenders even more.

Now that a new 20-school mega conference has been approved for the start of the 2026-2027 school year, Norwalk feels it can find more playoff opportunities with more top three league placings.

David Snyder, who has been Norwalk’s athletic director for the past 10 years, admitted he had mixed feelings when talks of the new conference were first mentioned. He was excited about his athletic teams again being put into desirable leagues based off competitive equity. But, at the same time, it was another, ‘holy smokes, how are we going to do this’ situation?

From the fall of 2007 and for the next 10 years when Norwalk was in the original Suburban League, Snyder said he felt the Lancers were not in a good place even though the fall teams had racked up more league titles than the other two seasons. The 2009-2011 and 2014 boys cross country teams won league titles while the girls claimed first place in 2015 and 2016. The football team and girls volleyball team each had one league title, both coming in 2013, while girls tennis shared first place with Cerritos High in 2014.

In the winter, the boys wrestling team won the 2012 title, the 2012-2013 girls basketball team shared first place with Mayfair while boys soccer were champions in the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons. In the spring, the 2009 and 2016 softball teams were tri-champs with La Mirada and Mayfair, the 2010 boys volleyball team were co-champs with Mayfair and the 2008 boys track and field team shared first place with Cerritos.

Once the 605 League was formed, the Suburban League had dropped to four schools and Snyder said his athletic programs across the board were in a worse position because the Lancers struggled to make the playoffs in many sports. With two automatic berths earned, La Mirada and Mayfair would grab them. In fact, from the fall of 2018 to the spring of 2022, only boys soccer and girls basketball finished in first or second all four years while the 2019 boys volleyball team and the 2022 softball and boys tennis teams grabbed one of the two automatic berths of the major sports.

“When we joined the Suburban Valley Conference (for the 2022-2023 school year), it was actually better for us,” said Snyder. “Because we’re not a top tier [with] any team. We’ve had runs of luck with girls and boys volleyball; we’ve had runs of luck with baseball and softball. But football has always been a middle-tiered sport for us, and it was apparent that most of the time we weren’t going to make the playoffs in the old system. In the Suburban Valley Conference, we made the playoffs in [two of the three years], so it was a good system for us. Now, with the 20-team conference, this is going to be very interesting because we’re going to have to divvy up between three different leagues within the conference.”

For 11-man football purposes, there will be 18 teams that realistically should be put into three leagues of six teams as Oxford Academy and Whitney High do not field programs. For the other sports, minus a few that Norwalk doesn’t field like boys and girls water polo, the thought is that there will be four leagues of five teams each, making it better for 12 teams in a particular sport to get an automatic berth in the playoffs. For football, that number would be nine.

While nothing has been determined yet when it comes to the number of leagues for each sport, Snyder said he doesn’t believe it will go to a four-league conference because it would create, as he described it, a logistical nightmare.

“I mean, could it work,” he pondered. “Sure, it could work. But, no matter what, there’s going to be issues; there’s going to be a lot of issues.”

Since the Suburban Valley Conference was formed and broken off into the Gateway League, or top five teams in each sport, and the Mid-Cities League, for the other six teams in each sport, the Lancers have won a Mid-Cities League title four times amongst the major sports and tied for two others. On each occasion, it has been a different sport.

“I was happy about [the Suburban Valley Conference],” said Snyder. “I know my bosses weren’t too happy about it because they thought Norwalk would be left behind. But I looked at the numbers and I looked at the quality of the leagues Norwalk would be in, especially in football. So, I felt we were in a much better position in the new league.”

Whether it has been in the Gateway League or the Mid-Cities League, the Lancers have experienced a relatively consistent status with their major sports, finishing in first place seven times, second place six times, third place eight times and fourth and fifth place five times each. Only boys tennis in 2023 and girls flag football last season did Norwalk finish in the final two spots.

With that said, when the powers that be decide on how many leagues they would like in the new conference, figure on Norwalk to be in the middle league, or middle two leagues in many sports while football may be grouped in with powerhouses like Downey High, La Serna High or Mayfair depending on how this upcoming season goes.

“It’s been very successful for us in the Suburban Valley Conference,” said Snyder. “And sports that get left out of it, like cross country…the first year of the Suburban Valley Conference our girls were chasing down an impressive Warren team and came in first place. Cross country has always been something Norwalk’s been good at, boys and girls.”

When it came time for the Foothill Area releaguing vote on May 1, Snyder was unable to attend the event. But Norwalk principal David Olea and assistant principal Christina Moreau were in attendance. What came as a surprise to Snyder was that El Rancho High was allowed to leave the Del Rio League and join the Almont League instead of becoming a 21^st school in the new conference.

With the new conference, Snyder believes his boys and girls volleyball programs, for sure, will benefit from being in a better place while he thinks his baseball and softball programs won’t feel the impact from it.

“Football could end up screwed,” he added. “They could end up in the upper [league] with La Serna, La Mirada and all those schools. La Mirada has been left lobbying heavy to get out of that upper [league]. Time will tell; we’ll know after this season is over. I just get this distinct feeling that Norwalk is going to get screwed on this.”

When it comes to the challenges that the 20 schools will face, Snyder believes the biggest challenge will be combining the 605 League, the Del Rio League, the Gateway League and the Mid-Cities league into one big conference which eventually will be divided accordingly sport by sport. He continued by saying each league has been used to doing things their own way until next school year.

“Now, we’re more familiar, of course, with the 605 League teams,” he said. “But the Del Rio League is coming in; it’s a lot of sports, and you never know what you’re going to get as far as the A.D.’s, [and] with the coaches. In some leagues, coaches have a lot of say. We had to clamp that down this [past] year because some of the teams in the old San Gabriel Valley League…the coaches had a lot of say. They’re not the ones putting their necks out for this stuff. This is the A.D.’s.

“The A.D.’s need to have the final say on everything,” he continued. “I think it’s going to be kind of a power struggle between coaches and A.D.’s, and then A.D.’s and the other A.D.’s from the other leagues coming in. That’s what I think. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s what I think.”

One transition into the new conference that should not have much of an effect on Norwalk is the fact that many of their non-league contests in any given sport have been against the schools from the 605 League and the Del Rio League. So, when the Lancers face them in league competition, it won’t be anything new. Snyder says that it smooths things over a lot that Norwalk has played California High, Pioneer High and Whittier High a lot.

Then there’s that better than 50 percent chance that Norwalk will renew old Suburban League rivalries with Artesia High, Cerritos and John Glenn High in every sport for league games.

“We always have the rivalry with Glenn, except in football now,” said Snyder. “The [Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School] District office wants us to play La Mirada for football for the Mayor’s Trophy. We do what we’re told, but I am friends with all those A.D.’s. Todd Denhart for Cerritos is a great guy; he’s a standup dude.

“I can work with those guys; I’ve been working with those guys,” he added. “So, it’s not a bad situation to be in with this coming together of teams because with these schools, we all know each other.”

One thing Snyder was adamant about is that he looks to see what is fair for everyone and has never put his team first. He said that he’ll look to see how he can get them what they need. But no matter what happens, Snyder said he’s looking forward to seeing what happens with the new conference.