Sierra Canyon could be headed to the Mission League for the 2022-23 season

Sports powerhouse Chatsworth Sierra Canyon is expected to be placed in the Mission League for the 2022-23 sports season.

“It will be great. We’re excited,” athletic director Rock Pillsbury said.

Matt Luderer, the athletic director at St. Francis, said the Southern Section has moved Sierra Canyon and Paraclete into the parochial placement area for the next formation of leagues, which means they will both get relief when proposals come forward. Their football teams have played in the Gold Coast League and have been given automatic playoff berths because the other teams in the league couldn’t be competitive.

The Mission League, made up of private schools primarily from the San Fernando Valley, along with Loyola, has powerhouse programs in a variety of boys and girls sports. Sierra Canyon would fit right in from a competitive standpoint with top programs in football, basketball and baseball.

It means basketball standout Bronny James of Sierra Canyon will likely get to play his senior season in 2023 against the likes of Harvard-Westlake, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Bishop Alemany, Crespi, St. Francis, Chaminade and Loyola.

The addition of Sierra Canyon to the parochial grouping is expected to lead to lots of new league proposals but in the end, most expect the Trailblazers to end up in the Mission League.

“The Mission League is the best league,” Luderer said.

“It is what it is,” Harvard-Westlake head of athletics Terry Barnum said. “I can’t imagine they would go anywhere else from a geography standpoint and competitive equity standpoint.”