The 2024-28 East Bay Athletic League will either pretty much remain the same, or have a different makeup by adding a pair of schools.

The North Coast Section last week forwarded on two different proposals to the December meeting -- one from Acalanes and one from Dougherty Valley -- that will shape the EBAL for the four-year span.

In the one proposed by Acalanes (Lafayette), the EBAL would remain the same, save for Clayton Valley no longer being a member of the EBAL for football.

Clayton Valley would be part of the 13-school Diablo Athletic League (DAL), which it is a current member of for all sports but football.

The other league involved is the Bay Valley Athletic League that would be a six-team league.

That would leave the EBAL as an 11-team league with the league kept as is except for Clayton Valley no longer in EBAL football.

One of the listed rationales for the move in the proposal is travel costs as a team like Clayton Valley (Concord) would have excessive travel to half of the EBAL schools. Factor in travel through the I-680 corridor on Friday nights either to or from Clayton Valley and it would be a nightmare.

The Dougherty Valley plan adds Clayton Valley for all sports in the EBAL, and would add Campolindo (Moraga) to the league as well, making it a 13-team league.

There would be two leagues, much the same as now. Adding Clayton Valley for a full season of sports, along with Campolindo into the fold would create the top league in NCS and arguably the top league in the Bay Area.

Mike Hansen, the boys' basketball coach and acting athletic director at Dougherty Valley, as well as the architect of the proposal, explained the thought process for the EBAL.

"Let's make it a super-league," Hansen said. "We would have two divisions set up geographically and our playoffs would be better and deeper."

It is true, but there is validity to the travel issues, although Hansen points out it would not be as bad as some think. "With the two divisions set up geographically, it would not be that much more travel," according to Hansen.

Figure one division would feature Livermore, Granada, Amador Valley, Foothill, Dublin and Dougherty Valley.

The other division would be California, Monte Vista, San Ramon Valley, Campolindo, De La Salle/Carondelet and Clayton Valley.

The way the last meeting went, it appears the Acalanes proposal will be the one NCS adopts.

In the recent meeting, all the 11 EBAL schools favored the Dougherty Valley proposal, with every other school involved in the proposals -- 19 schools in all -- going with the Acalanes plan.

"The Orinda area wants to keep all their schools together and the BVAL and the DAL like what they have as well," Hansen explained. "That would put us back to what we have in the EBAL and that would be fine as well."

The meeting in December is where the final decision is scheduled to be announced.

I will bring you the results of the outcome after the meeting.

Foothill volleyball

The Falcons kept the train rolling, winning a pair of EBAL games, as well as going 3-1 in the tough Oak Ridge Tournament.

The week started with a 27-25, 25-22, 25-15 win over Dublin.

The highlights came from Paige Bennett (19 kills, 13 digs), Kaycie Burdick (15 kills, 13 digs) and Katie Salonga (32 assists, 11 digs).

Second up was a match with Livermore, with Foothill posting a 25-8, 25-9, 25-18 win.

Some of the top players were Ema Okuhara (10 assists, 4 digs), Maddy Snodgress (3 kills, 2 aces) and Helena Greene (2 kills, 2 blocks).

On Saturday, the Falcons made the trip to El Dorado Hills and took on some of the top teams in NorCal. They beat Tracy 2-0, Ponderosa 2-0 and Folsom 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals where they fell 2-1 to Vacaville.

Amador-Foothill football on TV this week

It's high school football season, and TV30 is back with all the local action.

TV30's award-winning coverage will include games showcasing Tri-Valley high schools Amador Valley, Dublin, Foothill, Granada and Livermore.

Live televised broadcasts of the high school football games will be shown on TV30 starting at 6:45 p.m. with Amador Valley at Foothill scheduled this Friday night (Sept. 23).

Editor's note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.