Each Rio Hondo College sports program will join a new conference for the 2016-2017 school year. Rio Hondo will no longer be a member of the Foothill Conference and is now a member of the South Coast Conference.

In most sports, it is a larger competitive and more competitive conference compared to the Foothill Conference. The conference includes larger schools with higher profile sports programs.

The members of the conference include Cerritos College, Chaffey College, East LA College, El Camino College, Long Beach City College, Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles Trade-Tech College, Mt. San Antonio College and Pasadena City College.

Most of the schools in this conference are located closer to Rio Hondo compared to the schools that were members alongside Rio Hondo in the Foothill Conference.

The Foothill Conference is no longer in existence as each school that was formerly a member has now dispersed into a different conference. The Foothill Conference is smaller in comparison to the South Coast Conference.

It only included Chaffey College, San Bernardino Valley College, Barstow College, College of the Desert and Victor Valley College.

Now that Rio Hondo is a member of the South Coast Conference, most conference games will be closer and easier to attend for Rio Hondo students.