Freeway, Garden Grove Moving to Division VIII

The Southern Section football playoffs will have a different look next year after realignment to make the divisions more competitive and regionalized. The Southern Section Council also added a 12th division for its smallest schools that play 11-man football, and added a second division for eight-man football.

The big news locally is that the Freeway and Garden Grove leagues will depart Division VII and compete in Division VIII, currently occupied by the Suburban and Pacific Coast leagues; the Valle Vista League also will join Division VIII.

The Olympic League will get all new opponents in Division X with the addition of the Camino Real, Frontier and Tri-Valley leagues.

Southern California Christian, which was in the Arrowhead League, will compete in the Freedom League in the newly formed Division XII, along with the Christian, Desert Mountain, Prep and Victory leagues.

Division I and the all-Orange County Division V are the only divisions unaffected.

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For those prep football teams that never seem to have enough time to run all their plays during the course of a game. . . . Among the 12 rule changes approved for the fall by the National Federation Football Rules Committee: Stopping the clock after a change of possession and starting the clock on the snap rather than when the referee determines the teams are ready to play.

Other changes include coaches being allowed on the field during an official’s timeout in instances of high heat or humidity, and a rule that prohibits a defensive player from charging directly into the snapper until the snapper is able to defend himself (the penalty is 15 yards).

The Southern Section Council also amended a rule that disallowed teams with losing records into the playoffs; whenever there is an opening in a bracket, the next best team shall be added to fill the draw and eliminate the bye.

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Craig Fransen was named girls’ water polo coach at Capistrano Valley, the school announced Monday. Fransen, who teaches science at Capistrano Valley, was formerly the boys’ water polo coach at Laguna Beach.

The Capistrano Valley girls’ water polo team will play its inaugural season in winter and will compete in the South Coast League.

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Ryan Owens of Sonora High has been invited to try out for the USA Baseball Junior Team trials. Owens, who hit .512 with 10 homers and 28 RBIs this season, was one of 54 players selected to try out July 21-28 in Joplin, Mo.

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Trabuco Hills goalkeeper Todd Abdalla, a two-time Times’ All-County second-team selection and the South Coast League’s MVP this year, has committed to UNLV to play soccer, his father Tony said.

Times staff writers Paul McLeod and Wendy Witherspoon contributed to this report.