From the desk of Humboldt-Del Norte League Commissioner Jack Lakin:

For many decades the HDNL has identified their two high school sports leagues as the Big 5 and Little 4. These names identified the number of schools in each League (5 and 4).

Additionally, based on enrollment, the teams in each League remained the same from sport to sport and year to year. The five largest schools Arcata, Del Norte, Eureka, Fortuna, and Mckinleyville in the Big 5. The four smallest schools Ferndale, Hoopa, St Bernard’s Academy, and South Fork in the Little 4.

In the past few years, the dynamics of the HDNL have changed and the North Coast Section has put greater emphasis on competitive equity and league alignment. This resulted in many of the current HDNL sports not reflecting the traditional Big 5 and Little 4 Leagues.

Soccer has a boys league with 7-8 teams and two girls leagues each with 4 teams. Football and wrestling both have two leagues each with 4 teams. None of these sports resemble the traditional Big 5 and Little 4, nor are any two alike.

With these discrepancies and the possibility additional HDNL sports may also experience future realignment, school administrators and athletic directors began expressing an interest  in changing League names.

To further the discussion, the Student Athletic Advisory Council (SAAC) was asked for input. This group expressed support for new names and prepared a prioritized list of three options; Pacific and Redwood, Lost Coast and North Coast, HDN1 and HDN2.

At the last HDNL meeting of 2025-2026, the member schools voted unanimously to rename the Big 5 as the Pacific League and the Little 4 as the Redwood. Similar to the student group, they were drawn to the appeal of these defining physical characteristics of our area.

The HDNL is currently in the process of transitioning to the new names on the League Website (Humboldtdelnorteleague.com), the North Coast Section, MaxPreps, and local news outlets.

Your continued support of our student-athletes as they continue to represent our communities under these new League names is greatly appreciated.