The Avocado East League will have a lot of new faces during the 2018-2019 sports year. El Camino High, Oceanside High, and Rancho Buena Vista High are now in Sage Creek’s league, with only San Dieguito Academy and Vista High returning to the Avocado East.

After this school year, Sage Creek sports teams will no longer face foes such as Carlsbad High and La Costa Canyon. Rivalries bring out the best competition in each school, and following this school year, it will have been 5 years of intense, back and forth games against Carlsbad High, La Costa High, Vista High and even Canyon Crest Academy.   

A change in scenery was being called for, as Sage Creek will now be competing against familiar, yet different opponents, such as El Camino High and Oceanside High.

The decision to relocate leagues and to insert new teams into leagues was made by North County Conference, the conference elected to place Sage Creek into a new league, the Avocado East.

Principal Morales, Sage Creek’s voting member in the conference, casted his vote to relocate into the Avocado East League.

Sage Creek’s Athletic Director Cory Leighton, who also has a vote in the North County Conference, is looking forward to the new rivalries and new experiences Sage Creek will encounter.

“It’s very exciting, it’s a start of a new era, the excitement for me is the proximity. We are a lot closer to the schools that we are going to be playing, and closeness forms new rivalries which provides for exciting competition,” Leighton said.  

The class of 2019 will be tasked with setting the tone in Sage Creek’s new league, and they seem up to the task.

Junior Preston Buscher, plays baseball for Sage Creek and was shocked to hear the news of the league changes.

“I am disappointed that we won’t play Carlsbad anymore, that rivalry was just starting to get good, but I am happy about the Avocado East and I believe we are the best team in it,” Buscher said.

Sophomore Lela Buda, runs for Cross Country and was excited to learn of the change.

“Honestly I am a fan of change, I’m glad that Sage will be playing against new schools and I’m looking forward to competing against new teams,” Buda said.

However, not every student is pleased with realignment of the leagues, Nick Naccarato, a sophomore that plays basketball and baseball, does not like the changes being made.

“I have friends that play for Carlsbad and I’ll only have one more year to compete against them. I’m just not a fan of it. I liked being in the Avocado West,” Naccarato said.

Change is inevitable, some people like it, others don’t. Sage Creek will be in the Avocado East starting in the 2018-2019 school year. Sage sports will be stacked against El Camino High, Rancho Buena Vista High, Vista High, Oceanside High, and San Dieguito Academy when league rolls around in their respective sports.