Confused about Sacramento-area high school sports leagues? Here’s our guide
If you follow high school sports, you know that the teams can fall into a maze of leagues, divisions and acronyms. This is a guide to help you keep all that straight. And the local preps sports scene has a lot to follow.
The Sacramento-area preps sports scene includes nearly 100 high schools, and the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section has 204, stretching from Yuba City to the north, Fairfield to the West, Golden Sierra to the East and Turlock to the South.
Every four or so years in this section, the governing body CIF realigns schools to make for the best possible fit, factoring in enrollment and scope of programs — and how successful they are. The intent is to create leagues that make sense enrollment-wise, geographically, and, in some instances, to place struggling programs with others in similar situations, including low participation numbers or small school enrollment.
For football, the section breaks the leagues down by division with Division I representing the largest-enrollment schools and Division VII the smallest.
Teams that win a Division I league are automatically qualified for the Division I playoffs. Other teams in a Division I league may qualify for the D-II playoffs based on enrollment.
Here’s a quick guide to the Sacramento-area leagues:
For those not in Sacramento city limits, we have added cities and towns:
Delta League
Division: I
Common reference: Delta
Schools: Cosumnes Oaks-Elk Grove, Elk Grove, Franklin-Elk Grove, Laguna Creek-Elk Grove, Monterey Trail, Sheldon
Sierra Foothill League
Division: I
Acronym: SFL
Schools: Davis, Del Oro-Loomis, Folsom, Granite Bay, Jesuit, Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills, Rocklin, Whitney-Rocklin.* All-girls school St. Francis is an SFL member that does play flag football but not tackle football.
Capital Valley Conference
Division: II
Acronym: CVC
Schools: Bella Vista-Fair Oaks, Christian Brothers, Inderkum, Ponderosa-Shingle Springs, Rio Americano, Vista del Lago-Folsom, Woodcreek-Roseville.
Metropolitan Conference
Division: II
Common reference: Metro
Schools: Antelope, Destiny Christian Academy, Cordova, Grant, Kennedy, McClatchy, West Park-Roseville. (Destiny Christian Academy, or DCA, replaced closed-down Capital Christian at the start of this academic year. DCA competes in the Metro only in football and basketball.)
Foothill Valley League
Division: III
Acronym: FVL
Schools: Del Campo-Fair Oaks, Nevada Union-Grass Valley, Placer-Auburn, River Valley-Yuba City, Roseville, Twelve Bridges-Lincoln, Yuba City.
Monticello Empire League
Division: III
Acronym: MEL
Schools: Pioneer-Woodland, River City-West Sacramento, Rodriguez-Fairfield, Sacramento, Vacaville, Vanden-Fairfield, Wood-Vacaville.
Golden Empire League
Division: IV
Acronym: GEL
Schools: Casa Roble-Orangevale, Dixon, El Camino, Natomas, Rio Linda, Sutter, Woodland.
Greater Sacramento League
Division: IV
Acronym: GSL
Schools: Armijo-Fairfield, Burbank, Fairfield, Florin, Foothill, Johnson, Valley, West Campus.
Pioneer Valley League
Division: V
Acronym: PVL
Schools: Bear River-Lake of the Pines, Center, Colfax, Lincoln, Marysville, Mira Loma, Oakmont-Roseville, Wheatland.
Sierra Valley Conference
Division: V
Acronym: SVC
Schools: Argonaut-Jackson, Amador-Sutter Creek, Bradshaw Christian, El Dorado-Placerville, Galt, Liberty Ranch-Galt, Rosemont, Union Mine-El Dorado.
Sierra Delta League
Division: VI
Acronym: SDL
Schools: Golden Sierra-Golden Valley, Highlands, Lindhurst-Olivehurst, Mesa Verde-Citrus Heights, Rio Vista, San Juan, Vacaville Christian, Woodland Christian.
Central Valley League
Division: VII
Acronym: CVL
Adams Academy-Roseville, Encina, Forest Lake Christian-Auburn, Foresthill-Auburn, Futures, Sacramento Waldorf, Victory Christian-Carmichael. (Only Encina and Foresthill play football.)
Northern Pacific Athletic League
Division: VII
Acronym: NPAL
Schools: Delta-Clarksburg, Elite-Vallejo, Esparto, Fortune, Leroy Greene, Trinity Prep-Napa, Westlake Charter. (Only Delta, Elite and Esparto play football.)