With the reconfiguration of the Ivy league, Poly and Arlington are set to play each other in sanctioned matches for the first time in over half a decade. The reignition of this historical cross-town rivalry is a big deal to the players and the coaches, these matches will be well attended and highly energized.
Poly and Arlington both won their first pre-season tournaments of the 2024/25 campaign. Poly defeated Roosevelt 1-0 in the Norte Vista Tournament and Arlington beat hosts Citrus Hill on their home field 3-1.
In High School Soccer, pre-season tournaments give teams an opportunity to get much-needed minutes on the field before going into regular season play. These tournaments may not be important as far as entry into post season play but they give teams chances to compete against good teams from all over Southern California.
There is a lot to this rivalry, from the coaches being neighbors to Arlington’s coach being the director of Albion Riverside. A highly successful organization that is producing some of the best players at each of our local high schools including a significant part of Poly’s squad. These boys know each other, they play together on weekends and bragging rights for these two matches is a very big deal.
Arlington soccer has been a juggernaut, a dominant force in Riverside soccer. They are well trained, well coached and talented kids who play like they love each other as much as they love to win. Poly has a good squad with some excellent young talent that would love to put a dent in the Lions crown.
The Lions v Bears matches are scheduled for January 14th and 30th and I encourage you to attend. I will keep you posted as those dates approach. Riverside is becoming a hot bed of soccer talent and many of our high schools have teams competing at a high level. You can find the schedule for your favorite school at https://www.maxpreps.com/.
CBU Basketball
CBU Men’s and Women’s Basketball will be hosting five home games between December 17th and January 4th. These are being billed as the “Holiday Series” and offer an incredible opportunity for a family night out during the kid’s break from school. Tickets for all CBU Athletics events can be found here and discount tickets for the “Holiday Series” can be found at participating Stater Brother’s locations. Ticket bundles for all five games can be purchased, in advance, here.
Holiday Series
December 17, 2024 @ 6 PM – CBU Women’s Basketball vs. Middle Tennessee
December 19, 2024 @ 1 PM – CBU Women’s Basketball vs Texas Southern
December 28, 2024 @ 5 PM – CBU Men’s Basketball vs Jackson State
December 30, 2024 @ 7 PM – CBU Men’s Basketball vs UC Irvine
January 4, 2025 @ 5 PM – CBU Men’s Basketball vs Seattle U
