River Islands High will become a full-time member of the Mother Lode League starting in the spring 2027 season.
The Sac-Joaquin Section Board of Managers approved the move at its meeting Monday morning in Elk Grove. This comes ahead of the next league realignment cycle set to begin in the 2028-29 academic year.
Now in its third season with varsity sports, River Islands has teams across five different leagues, though most are in the six-school Central California Athletic Alliance with Holt Academy, Hughes Academy, Millennium, Turlock Christian and Venture Academy.
Athletic Director Justin Graham said that he and Principal Carey Simoni began these talks last January and presented their case to the MLL and CCAA. Both leagues approved the move unanimously, according to Graham. The goal was for River Islands to gain full-time membership in the MLL for this entire school year, but its proposal to change leagues did not make the SJS Board of Managers agenda last April.
With a growing student population nearing 1,000 and increased offerings in scope of sport, school administrators believe a full move to the MLL makes the most sense competitively and logistically.
“Carey and I talked about the size of our school and where things are going and just thought, ‘Let’s take a look at surrounding leagues and see if they might be a better fit,” Graham said. “We have great relationships with other schools in the CCAA, but they are smaller schools that struggle to fill novice-level programs and even JV programs, which causes challenges for us. And with us participating in five different leagues, there are challenges dealing with different league schedules.”
The Riptide already compete in the MLL for football and girls golf, but is also represented in the Trans Valley League (coed tennis), Southern Athletic League (flag football, wrestling) and Western Athletic Conference (swimming). The wrestling program enters its inaugural season with an expected turnout of 50-60 athletes.
“We have about 32 teams across the different sports, and CCAA schools have about, on average, 14 teams. It’s not a good fit for us anymore,” Graham said. “When you go back four years when we had 115 kids in three sports, sure, it made sense for us to be in the CCAA. We have since outgrown the league.”
River Islands enjoyed some milestone moments in its first two varsity seasons while with the CCAA, including its first league titles in boys basketball and boys volleyball. Last spring, the boys volleyball and baseball teams earned the first postseason victories for the school. The girls soccer, girls basketball and boys soccer teams have also made playoff appearances.
Three Riptide athletes made a splash individually last spring: Christian Dell’Osso earned a second straight CCAA boys golf title, freshman Olivia Kohn took first in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events at the WAC Swimming Championships and Pranad Sai claimed the TVL boys tennis crown.
River Islands has explored joining other leagues in the region, but some were already full with eight members, while others are deemed to be at a higher level competitively compared to the fledgling Riptide.
The MLL is sure to offer River Islands stiffer competition across the board. Charter members Bret Harte, Calaveras and Summerville have remained since the league’s formation in 1932-33. Linden has been a longtime, off-and-on member since the 1950s. Big Valley Christian and Riverbank are recent additions.
“We’re not going to come in and dominate, but I don’t think we’ll be bad either,” Graham said. “I think we can provide quality competition, and the Mother Lode League has welcomed us unanimously.”
