Local association votes against Oaks Christian

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According to Oak Park Athletic Director Dick Billingsley, the Tri-Counties Athletic Association voted in favor of ousting Oaks Christian from the association on Tuesday. Of the 12 school representatives who cast e-mail votes on the matter, eight voted in favor of pushing Oaks Christian out of the TCAA in a move designed to eventually stop the Westlake Village-based school from playing league games in its area.

However, the non-binding, informational vote in no way forces a move -- it simply lets the administration at Oaks Christian know that some of its neighbors do not support the school in its bid to play in a TCAA-member league.

‘Basically, they know where we stand,’ Billingsley said. ‘But the CIF has got to step in and do something about this.’

It seems Oaks Christian is a victim of its own success. Travel concerns along with the fact no other league seems willing to take in such a successful sports program (48 league titles, 22 divisional titles since 2001) are the main reasons Oaks Christian doesn’t want to move when league realignment occurs for the 2010-11 school year.

And now that the TCAA has voiced its support that Oaks Christian should play in another league (such as the Mission, or Serra for football), it is highly unlikely the Lions will be accepted in the Channel, Marmonte or Pacific View leagues. In fact, it looks as if the Marmonte League coaches are doing everything they can to make sure Oaks Christian can’t make a move into their league.

‘This is a football-driven issue,’ Oaks Christian Athletic Director Jan Hethcock said. ‘We’ve already said we want to move the football team out of the [Tri-Valley League] and that we would like to play in the Marmonte, but nobody would allow us.’

-- Austin Knoblauch