Histories of SCCAL Schools
The SCCAL started operations in the fall of 1976. Over the years, through realignments and/or supplemental leagues, many local schools have been SCCAL members at different times. This is a brief history of the SCCAL schools.
Note: Athletes are not included in the Famous Alumni sections below, they are included in the other pages on this website.
Current SCCAL Members:
| Aptos High School – Aptos first opened in the fall of 1969. It is a grade 9-12 public school in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. Sitting a couple miles from the Pacific coast, their mascot is the Mariner, and their school colors are Midnight Blue and White. Highlights – Beginning in 1996, the Aptos Girls Track & Field team did not lose a dual meet for 18 years, the 2nd longest win streak in CA history, and their Cross-Country and Track & Field teams have combined to win 76 SCCAL titles. In football, led by coach Randy Blankenship, between 2010 to 2023, the Mariners won 8 SCCAL Championships and 4 CCS Championships, and Coach Blankenship became only the 8th coach in CA history to win 300+ games. Swim coach Jim Triplett, with 35 SCCAL titles, is the winningest coach in SCCAL history, and Girls Tennis coaches Gay Finch and Linda Hitchcock combined to win 23 of Aptos’s 31 girls tennis championships. Famous Alumni include jazz saxophonist Donny McCaslin, SI swimsuit cover model Marisa Miller, White House Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, musicians Chaska Potter (Raining Jane & Jason Mraz) and Keith Greeninger (both AHS athletes too), and Grammy winning singer Esteli Gomez. Aptos was an inaugural member of the SCCAL. |
| Harbor High School – Harbor opened its doors in the fall of 1968. It is a grade 9-12 public school in the Santa Cruz City Schools district. Their mascot is the Pirate, and their school colors are Green and Gold. Highlights – From 1991 to 2005, coach Gerald Pleasant led the Pirates to 10 SCCAL titles in Girls Soccer, and Coach Jack Dufour’s teams dominated the 80’s and 90’s in the pool, winning 25 SCCAL Championships in Swimming and Water-Polo. In 1992, Harbor Girls Volleyball won the 1st State Championship in league history. Girls Basketball coach Nick Adams guided the Pirates to 10 consecutive SCCAL titles in the 90’s. Famous Alumni include Emmy nominated actor Adam Scott, actor and producer Wali Razaqi, and singers and songwriters Oliver Tree and Jennifer Otter Bickerdike. In 2025, Adam Scott was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Harbor was an inaugural member of the SCCAL. |
| Mount Madonna School – Mt. Madonna is a small private pre-K thru 12 school which opened in 1979. It sits on 380 acres of wooded foothills overlooking the Monterey Bay in south Santa Cruz County. Their mascot in the Hawk, and their school colors are Royal Blue, White & Black. Inspired by the teachings of Baba Hari Dass, Mt. Madonna promotes, among other things, virtuous living, a respect of and support for nature, and the exploration of the role of Spirit in life. A highlight is their annual senior trip to India, where students gain insights and perspectives on different cultures. Highlights – Despite being one of the smallest schools in the SCCAL and in the CCS, MM has exhibited excellence in Volleyball. The Hawk boys have won 8 SCCAL Championships and 2 CCS Championships, and the Hawk girls have won 4 CCS Championships. Famous Alumni include authors Aki’o Nanamura and Shruti Swamy. Mt. Madonna joined the SCCAL in 1992. |
| San Lorenzo Valley High School – SLV opened in 1905, when it was known as the Boulder Creek School. It was renamed San Lorenzo Valley High School in 1947, and moved into its current location in 1954. The campus, surrounded by towering redwoods, is located in the mountain community of Felton. SLV is a grade 9-12 public school in the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District. Their mascot is the Cougar, and their school colors are Red and Black. Highlights – Coach Doug Morris put SLV football on the map by winning 13 SCCAL titles in the 90’s and 00’s, including eight-in-a-row from 1996 to 2002. His Cougars also won 3 CCS Championships. The Girls Cross-Country team has won 3 State Championships, and SLV distance runners have won 6 individual State Championships, including 3 by 2001 grad Alejandro Barrientos. Famous Alumni include attorney Casey Gwinn, a pioneer and founder of the Family Justice Center principles. SLV was an original member of the SCCAL. |
| Santa Cruz High School – Opening in 1897, Santa Cruz is one of the oldest high schools in California. Prior to 1897, students attended high school on the 4th floor of Mission Hill Middle School, and its 1st graduating class, in 1878, had four students. To offer some perspective, whereas Scotts Valley opened in 1999, Santa Cruz has been playing Watsonville High School in football for over 100 years. Santa Cruz, a member of the Santa Cruz City Schools district, is a grade 9-12 public school. Their mascot is the Cardinal, and their school colors are Cardinal Red and White. Highlights – Focusing only on their SCCAL tenure, boys basketball coaches Pete Newell and Lawan Millhouse have combined to win 20 SCCAL titles, including Coach Newell’s 2005 State Championship. In 2004, Coach Newell was inducted into the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Dennis Mullen’s Boys Tennis teams owned the courts in the 70′ and 80’s, winning 16 SCCAL Championships, and the Girls have won 15 SCCAL titles. Famous Alumni include actress ZaSu Pitts, Steely Dan & Doobie Bros. saxophonist Cornelius Bumpus, 4-star Marine General Oliver P. Smith, ESPN analyst Jeremy Green, and TV writer and producer Michael Shipley. Santa Cruz was an original member of the SCCAL. |
| Scotts Valley High School – Scotts Valley opened in the fall of 1999. It is a grade 9-12 public school in the Scotts Valley Unified School District. It sits on the upland slope on the western side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Their mascot is the Falcon, and their school colors are Maroon, Gold & Black. Highlights – Under the leadership of football coach Louie Walters, the Falcons have won 7 league titles, and coach Todd Hoffman’s Cross-Country teams have become dominant, winning 9 SCCAL Championships in the past few years. Girls Golf has won 8 SCCAL Championships, including 5 in a row starting in 2019. Scotts Valley joined the SCCAL in 1999. |
| Soquel High School – Opening in the fall of 1962, Soquel is the 3rd oldest school in the SCCAL. It is a grade 9-12 public school in the Santa Cruz City Schools district. Their mascot is the Knight, and their school colors are Blue and Gold. Highlights – Soquel football owned the early years of the SCCAL, winning 9 of the 1st 12 league titles, and Soquel also established two other mini-dynasties, winning 12 SCCAL Baseball Championships in the 80’s and 90’s, and 10 Girls Basketball titles in the early 2000’s. But it’s in the pool where the Knights have truly dominated. The Boys Water-Polo team has won 25 SCCAL Championships, including 20 in a row at one time, and the Girls have won 24 league titles. In addition, in 2023, the Knights won the league’s 1st State Championship in football. Famous Alumni include author Kyra Davis, poet Lisa Bernstein, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Cay Johnson, Alice Cooper & Billy Idol keyboardist Derek Sherinian, award-winning jazz vocalist June Cavlan, and video game artist and designer Edmund Charles McMillen. Soquel was an original member of the SCCAL. |
Past SCCAL Members:
| Live Oak High School – The Live Oak Acorns, playing in the water-polo-only supplemental Coast Counties Water-Polo League, which included Aptos, Harbor, Santa Cruz and Soquel, plus RLS, Gilroy, Salinas, Hollister, Watsonville and Carmel, were the 1982 league champs. 1981 and 1982 were the only years that this supplemental league existed. |
| Marello Preparatory High School – Marello Prep, a small private school offering grades 9 thru 12, was situated not far from Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz. It opened in 1970, and it was an original member of the SCCAL. It closed its doors in 1988, filing for bankruptcy in July of that year. In 1977, the Panthers earned an SCCAL Co-Championship in Baseball. Norm Costa, who went on to win 16 league championships and 7 CCS titles at Palma HS, was their head football coach for 7 years. |
| Monte Vista Christian School – MVC is a private Christian day and boarding school, offering grades 5 thru 12, sitting on 100 acres of woodlands in northwest Watsonville. It originally opened in 1926. In 1926, tuition for day students was $10.00 per month, and $30.00 a month for boarding. The original Administrative Bldg. was built in 1928 and is still being used today. MVC was a league member in the 90’s and early 00’s, and the Mustangs won 3 consecutive SCCAL Boys Golf titles from 1996-1998. |
| North Monterey County High School – Opening their doors in 1978, the Condors were league mates from 1981 to 1993. During that time, they won 10 Boys Track & Field titles and 8 SCCAL Football Championships. NoMoCo is located in Castroville, the Artichoke Capital of the US. |
| Pacific Collegiate School – Opening in 1999, PCS is a grade 7-12 public charter school on the westside of Santa Cruz. In 2007, the US News & World Report named it the #1 charter school in the country, and it was #3 in 2009. During its brief tenure in the SCCAL in the 2010’s, the Pumas were particularly strong in Boys Volleyball, winning 2 SCCAL titles, plus a CCS Championship in 2017. |
| Pajaro Valley High School – PVHS, a grade 9-12 public high school which opened in 2004, sits on the west side of Hwy. 1 just outside the beautiful Harkins Slough. Their only year in the SCCAL was the Covid-condensed 2020-21, when local schools were not permitted to play outside SC County. Their mascot is the Grizzly Bear. |
| St. Francis Salesian College Preparatory – SFSCP, which opened in 2000, is a private Catholic high school on the southside of Watsonville that embraces and teaches the philosophies of the Salesians of St. John Bosco. During their SCCAL tenure in the 2000’s, the Sharks won multiple SCCAL titles in Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, and Baseball. |
| Watsonville High School – Like Santa Cruz, Watsonville is one of the oldest high schools in California. It opened in 1892, joined the SCCAL in 1983, and left in 2006 as a result of CCS realignment. The Wildcatz, under the direction of coach Tom Leikam, won 16 SCCAL Cross-County Championships, and Roland Hedgepeth, their legendary boys soccer coach, won 19 Boys Soccer titles. Their Boys Wrestling program won 14 SCCAL titles during their time in the SCCAL. |