Football: City Section facing issue with depleted rosters

A week ago was the 10-week report card in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and lots of football teams in the City Section lost players to academic ineligibility.

That’s one reason four schools _ Jordan, Animo South Los Angeles, Sun Valley and Locke _ have forfeited games with depleted rosters.

Los Angeles, Franklin, Gardena, Rancho Dominguez and Washington have discontinued their junior varsity teams.

City Section Commissioner John Aguirre said discussion must take place about what to do with schools having depleted football rosters and being unable to complete their season.

“It’s becoming a big issue and schools are going to have to consider do they have enough kids for a team and should they be offering a program,” Aguirre said.

Lots of new charter schools have joined the City Section in recent years, taking away enrollment from other schools. Rosters have been dwindling at certain schools.

Losing players for academic reasons is something coaches should be heavily involved in trying to prevent, Aguirre said.

One school making progress is Sotomayor, where Coach Gary Parks announced that out of a roster of 28, only one became ineligible due to grades.

“We’ve had students sit themselves to focus on their academics,” Parks said.

There’s two weeks left in the regular season, and it will be interesting to see if any more City Section schools can’t finish the season.

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