The Trinity League: Southern California’s Football Country
The Trinity League is a high school athletic conference in southern California. While they are generally good for a lot of sports, it is considered to be the toughest and most competitive high school football league in the nation. It comprises seven schools, the most notable being Mater Dei and St. John Bosco. They have gone back and forth for the league title for the past 9 years, with Mater Dei most recently winning it this year. Every year multiple 4 and 5-star football recruits come from the schools in the Trinity League, many of whom are considered to be the best high school prospects in the state.
The number 1 prospect in the country from the entire 2020 recruiting class, Bryce Young, went to Mater Dei. He will be the starting quarterback for Alabama next season, the reigning college football national champions. The number 2 prospect in the entire 2020 recruiting class, DJ Uiagalelei, went to St. John Bosco. He will be the starting quarterback for Clemson next season, who won the national championship in 2016 and 2018. Nine of the top 20 California high school prospects from the 2022 recruiting class are from the Trinity League. In the title game between Mater Dei and St. John Bosco, there were over 50 players with Division 1 offers between the two schools. There might not be an official high school national championship game, but this is about as close as it gets. The talent pool in the Trinity League, and for Mater Dei and St. John Bosco in particular, is honestly insane. There’s nothing else like it on the entire west coast.
The west coast in general isn’t a big football pipeline. Most of the good college football programs are in the South and spread around the midwest like Michigan and Ohio. The fact that Clemson and Alabama scouted Uiagalelei and Young from across the country to lead their championship-caliber programs, and sought out Southern California versus schools in their area which are full of great players and other popular college football feeder areas like Texas and Florida, speaks volumes of the Trinity League and the disparity between the football there and most other places.
It already looks like Mater Dei has found their next star quarterback in Elijah Brown. He led them to the title this past season as just a freshman, and he has 3 more years to continue growing and leading the Monarchs to multiple more league titles. St. John Bosco also will be getting ready for their revenge next season, as will the other schools in the league like Servite and Orange Lutheran, and Santa Margarita. The Trinity League’s reputation for being a high school football factory is not going away anytime soon, with next season set to have many exciting games featuring future NFL stars in the making. If you’re looking for the best of the best from the west coast, Southern California is where you will find it.
Written by: Siddarth Srivastava
