Citrus Belt League

Citrus Belt League (C.B.L.) is a high school sports league in the Inland Empire region within the Greater Los Angeles area of California's CIF Southern Section. The Citrus Belt League was one of the first leagues in 1913 when the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) was established under a different name. The league dates back to the 1890s, with founding members Chaffey High School of Ontario, Redlands High School, Riverside High School (now known as Riverside Poly) and San Bernardino High School. It was the only Division I league in the San Bernardino-Riverside County area since its inception, until 2006, when CIF Southern Section releagued it to Division II. The league also organizes an Academic Decathlon competition.

History[]

The original CBL included Pomona High School, Riverside High School, San Bernardino High School, Redlands High, Colton High, and Ontario's Chaffey High School. Other past members include Corona, Palm Springs, Moreno Valley, Riverside's Rubidoux and Poly High Schools, San Gorgonio, Pacific, Ramona, Rialto, and Fontana's A.B. Miller. The early 1990s saw a four-year stint in which high desert schools Apple Valley, Hesperia, and Victor Valley combined in a six-team league with Redlands, Fohi and Eisenhower High.^[1] Beginning the 2014–15 season, the league expanded to an eight-team realignment, adding Rialto's Carter High School, and Redlands Citrus Valley High School. When the Citrus Belt Area leagues realigned for the 2018-2020 period, Eisenhower left for the San Andreas League, ending a 45-year membership in the CBL, while Fontana's A.B. Miller left for the Mountain Valley League, ending its 22-year run in the CBL. Trivia: Redlands and Chaffey played in football 68 times between 1903 and 1986, making it one of the state's longest running and oldest rivalries in the sport.^[2]