____________________________
____________________________
By Loren Kopff
Sport Editor | Follow X
July 9, 2026
This is the fifth in a series of stories on the new Suburban Valley Conference which involves 20 schools from the 605 League, Del Rio League, Gateway League and Mid-Cities League. The SVC will begin with the 2026-2027 school year and over the next month and a half, I will be getting comments from the athletic directors of the area schools on what it has been like the past year and the effects the new SVC will have on their respective schools this upcoming school year and beyond.
JOHN GLENN HIGH-INSIDE THE NUMBERS OF THE EIGHT MAJOR SPORTS WHILE IN THE 605 LEAGUE SINCE 2018
Football: 7-15 league record, one league title, second place once, third place twice
Girls volleyball: 16-54 league record, third place once, fourth place once, fifth place twice
Boys basketball: 8-67 league record, third place once, fourth place once, fifth place once
Girls basketball: 3-72 league record, fifth place once, sixth place seven times
Boys soccer: 26-41-6 league record, second place twice, fourth place twice
Girls soccer: 0-62-0 league record, fifth place six times, sixth place two times
Baseball: 21-43 league record, third place once, fourth place four times, fifth place twice
Softball: 19-49 league record, second place once, fourth place twice, fifth place once
CIF-Southern Section divisional championships: None
CIF-Southern Section divisional finalist: Once
CIF-Southern Section semifinalist: None
CIF-Southern Section quarterfinalist: Twice
When John Glenn High was in the original Suburban League, its athletic teams were constantly ridiculed for their futility, finishing above fourth place in the eight major sports a combined 14 times from 1999-2018. Of those, the Eagles were crowned league champions three times-the 2001-2002 boys soccer team, the 2006-2007 girls basketball team and the 2015 baseball squad. Glenn’s athletic teams also finished in second place four times-1998 and 1999 (girls volleyball), 2010-2011 (girls basketball) and 2018 (baseball).
Glenn athletic director Linda Lastre was the head coach of the girls basketball program from 2002-2014 when she was known as Linda Weil, then Linda Parra, and after seeing little success in the 605 League the past eight years, Lastre is excited about the upcoming years of the new 20-school Suburban Valley Conference.
“It got better in some ways,” said Lastre on forming the 605 League, “We created something that showed works in competitive equity when it was first established, and it worked. You could see teams that had never made the playoffs before were now making the playoffs and doing well when they made their playoff run. So it wasn’t just football driven; you saw success in other areas. Even though John Glenn wasn’t dominating in the 605 League, we did have success that we hadn’t seen in a long time prior to the 605 League.”
Lastre cited the 2024-2025 boys soccer team which advanced to the CIF-SS Division 7 championship game after three straight fifth place finishes in the league. Last season, the team finished in second place and posted the most league victories since the 2011-2012 season. She also turned to the school’s enrollment numbers as to why Glenn hasn’t had as much success in the 605 League outside of wrestling as it had the previous 20 seasons.
“I do believe school enrollment plays a factor,” she added. “Our numbers are low when you look at it. I haven’t seen the official numbers yet because we don’t get them…they should be coming out soon [in terms of] what’s projected. But we are a declining enrollment school. We’re always trying to think outside the box, but we’re definitely one of the smallest.”
In fact, it has been the declining enrollment that created rumors of the school closing, but Lastre is quick to squash those rumors saying nothing had ever been formally stated regarding a potential school closure. She added that the rumors simply surfaced because the numbers were declining. But the school has had the support of from the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, which recently hired a new superintendent, Tania Magana, at its May 18 school board meeting. In fact, Lastre recently had a conversation with Magana and nowhere in that conversation was there any mention of a school closure.
For at least the first year of the SVC, it’s confirmed that Glenn will find itself in the lowest of the four leagues, or three leagues, in 14 of its athletic teams. Both 11-man football and girls flag football will have only three leagues and yet to be determined are the league configurations for boys and girls wrestling, boys and girls track and field and girls beach volleyball. It’s believed that the boys wrestling program will find itself in either the Gateway League or the Mid-Cities League because of the recent success of the program. Glenn also does not field a boys or girls golf team, a girls beach volleyball team or an aquatic team.
“I hope it levels some of the playing field,” said Lastre of being in the bottom league of the SVC. “We’re still going to have some difficulty in some sports due to just the numbers. But a lot of our coaching staff is excited with the thought of not having to play the dominant teams anymore in certain sports, like tennis. We were a very competitive league in tennis in the 605 League with Oxford [Academy], Whitney and Cerritos and Artesia, Pioneer and Glenn weren’t.”
The Eagles will still have Artesia High and Pioneer High as league opponents for girls tennis along with Firebaugh High and Lynwood High while for boys tennis, Glenn will be grouped with Firebaugh, Norwalk High, Paramount High and Pioneer.
Another sign of brighter days for Glenn athletics is the thought of not facing perennial 605 League power Cerritos High, except for boys soccer and potentially wrestling, as league opponents. With that said, one would think the odds of Glenn grabbing one of the top three automatic berths to the CIF-SS playoffs in any sport could be substantially greater than in past.
“We’ll have to see, honestly,” said Lastre. “It’s hard to gauge because at Glenn, one year, you have a ton of kids playing soccer and then the next year, there’s not as many. You’re trying to build consistency. You would hope to predict if you had 30 kids one year, that you would have 30, if not more, the next year. But it hasn’t always been that way.”
One program that hopes to benefit from the SVC is girls soccer, which lost all 62 league contests under five coaches in the eight seasons of the 605 League, 99 straight dating back to the old Suburban League since tying Norwalk High 3-3 on Feb. 6, 2015, and 131 of 133 since defeating Cerritos High 1-0 on Jan. 9, 2012. During that stretch, the program has gone through eight head coaches including two different stints from Jennifer Ibarra.
“Our new coach, coach [Luis] Ramirez…he knows how young his team is,” said Lastre. “We’ve all had conversations; it doesn’t mean we’re going to have immediate success. We’re still going to have to work; we’re still going to have to build and teach fundamentals across the board because the kids come in as beginners. And I’m sure other schools have the same type of situation, but we’re hoping we can have some success.”
The one sport at Glenn, which happens to be the most successful program but doesn’t get much attention because it isn’t as popular as football, basketball or baseball, is wrestling. However, despite the low numbers and the youth of last season’s wrestling team coupled with past performances, the team will be in either the Gateway League or Mid-Cities League for this upcoming winter season.
“We know the reality, but you can’t say we won’t have many returners next year because we had such a small team [last season], which is the truth,” said Lastre of the wrestling program. “But based on past performances, that’s how this league operates, right? I have one of the best wrestling coaches around.”
The past year had been filled with monthly meetings with the athletic directors of the 20 schools and at times, even the principals, going over the preparation of the schedules which leads to transportation scheduling, putting together a new league, or in this case, a new conference constitution, the allotment of All-League representatives in each sport and other issues. According to Lastre, there weren’t many disagreements on what should or should not happen or what a particular athletic director would like to see changed from the past eight years.
“At the end of the day, you’re always going to want what’s best for your own school,” said Lastre. “You can see where that is occurring; where principals and A.D.’s were…you’re voting for what’s best for the current school year we’re working on. And that’s where I think it could be challenging because we’re all not always going to agree because we’re all different.
“That’s where I kind of giggled because I could see it,” she continued. “I get why they voted the way they voted, because it’s what is best for that school. There’s 20 personalities in room, too, and we’re all trying to work together. I think it’s done well. Sean [Steward] over at the Whittier Union [High School District] has done a great job facilitating and moving meetings effectively.”
Lastre will find herself busier this upcoming school year beyond her athletic director and teaching obligations as she is also the conference president and will be in charge of setting up the monthly conference meetings. Last year, Gahr High hosted the old Suburban Valley Conference meetings and now that there’s been an expansion and staying in alphabet order, this season falls to Glenn hosting the monthly meetings with the other athletic directors.
Within the SVC, there are CIF-SS representatives who will be attending all the CIF-SS meetings as well as doing all the paperwork needed for the playoffs for each of the four leagues.
“Sean has kind of debriefed me and filled me in on what [is expected from me],” said Lastre. “Actually, I just have to host; I love hosting meetings, and Sean promised he’ll be there [with me] the first year because again, this is a big deal. It’s our very first year. But I feel a sense of relief knowing that number one, I’m the first school, so I can’t mess it up that bad, right? And number two, I do have Sean assisting us and kind of guiding this the first year with us.”
The four CIF-SS representatives for the SVC are Bryce Christensen (Bellflower High/Mid-Cities League) Mark Rand (Downey High/Gateway League), Matt Soriano (Artesia/605 League) and Steward (Rio Vista League).
Lastre said she was pleased with how the meetings went the past year, adding the dialogue was good, everyone had equal weight to give their input, and everyone agreed with each other and worked together. She thought the meetings went well considering no one knew what they were getting themselves into with a new conference. In her opinion, she added that it’s been so far, so good.
While the league opponents have already been decided long before the school schedules were put together, Lastre said some events between Glenn and the five former 605 League rivals from the past eight years have already been scheduled.
“You’re going to see us play our former friends,” she chuckled.
With that said, do not expect to see Glenn face crosstown rival Norwalk in football in the near future, In fact, she went as far to say that the Mayor’s Cup no longer exists between those schools in that sport. Replacing the Mayor’s Cup in football is the District Cup, which will pit La Mirada High and Norwalk in a non-league contest.
One reunion Lastre is looking forward to will come when Glenn faces La Serna High in a non-league contest because former Glenn athletic director Randy Castillo is now the assistant principal at the Whittier-based school.
Glenn’s enrollment may be declining, and fewer students may be trying out for its athletic teams, but the chances of the Eagles being competitive in either the Rio Vista League or the 605 League seem to be greater than ever. It’s likely that Glenn will finish in the top three in more sports, if not this school year, then next year.
“I love my coaching staff I must say,” said Lastre. “I think I’m very blessed with the people I get to work with at Glenn who coach our kids. I’m thankful that those who we hired are returning in almost all sports. We have a few new hires, so hopefully that creates some excitement on campus. I hope that having more people on campus get involved with coaching excites things because there’s a different connection.”
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
