3 Valley Teams Lose 4 Weeks Off Summer Practice Time

A rule forcing sports and other co-curricular groups to take a four-week break from organized activity during summer has been adopted by the Conjeo Valley Unified School District.

The new rule will allow coaches to select the period of inactivity for their teams, but it must fall on four consecutive weeks between June 20 and Sept. 8.

Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake are the Valley-area high schools affected by the rule that also stops band and drama from practicing. All three schools are members of the Marmonte League.

The rule, adopted in May, has drawn considerable criticism from a number of coaches from district schools.

“The main thing that we’re very upset about is our administration and board arbitrarily coming out and saying, ‘We’re going to do this’ when they haven’t even asked us,” said Ken Cook, football coach at Newbury Park. “We’re supposed to be the specialists at our activity.”

James Fraysier, Newbury Park principal, said coaches “directly involved” were consulted prior to the board’s vote.

That didn’t seem to appease Cook. “Six or seven years ago, the Conejo Valley was considered one of the best districts to coach in. Now, I’d say it’s one of the worst,” he said.

“It goes a little bit deeper than just practice time and the dead period during the summer. We’ve got a hostile board and a hostile administration as far as extra-curricular activities are concerned. I think right now we need to fight for a certain philosophy. We at least have to have a chance to be successful. There’s nothing more frustrating, or more disheartening to kids, than to be perennial losers.”

Cook believes that the athletic programs will deteriorate unless the Conejo Valley School District Board of Education develops a new attitude. Cook has been selected along with eight other coaches from the three schools to evaluate and recommend to the board adequate practice lengths for each sport at a meeting later this month.

Ellyn Wilkins, board president, said the policy was adopted because of complaints from parents about the amount of time required to fulfill co-curricular commitments.

“I know there are coaches who are concerned about being put at a disadvantage,” Wilkins said. “They are dedicated people, and I’m with them. But winning isn’t everything when you’re dealing with children. We want the program for the altruistic reasons. If they win, that’s frosting on the cake.

“It’s getting out of hand, the whole co-curricular thing and particularly athletics. We’re putting so much on kids that is a lot of pressure on them. When do they have time to be kids? In the final analysis I have to look at what’s good for these kids on the whole.”

George Contreras, Westlake football coach, said he had never received a complaint, nor heard of anyone else who had.

“I don’t think there’s an abuse pattern going on, and again, parents have not been calling and complaining about that,” Contreras said. “So we think if what we’re doing is not bad, not abusive and is not being complained about by other people, then why change it? You know the old saying, ‘Something was fixed that wasn’t even broken.’ ”

Wilkins said the board’s action was not directed solely at athletics.

“There are people on the outside who are saying we’re attacking athletics,” said Wilkins, whose five sons participated in Conejo district athletics. “It might look like were trying to disseminate the program, but it’s absolutely not true. I encourage my kids to participate, and I encourage all kids to participate.”

Said Contreras: “We’re being eroded a little bit, step by step by step,” he said. “Step one is the summer down month. Now discussions are going into effect as to limiting practice times next year. We feel this puts us at a real disadvantage and our concern is, what’s next?”

The board has already notified Dr. David Woodruff, the district’s assistant superintendent of instruction, by letter of its other concerns regarding athletics.

Among them are the amount of events, length of practices, scheduling of games in conflict with final exams, mid-week night games, coordination and control of walk-on coaches, fund-raising procedures and parity between boys and girls sports.

Many athletes will stay active nonetheless, participating in summer leagues.

Chris Mann, who played football and ran track for Westlake last season, said there is a difference between practicing on your own and practicing with a team.

“When you first start to think about having a month off, it sounds pretty good,” said Mann, who has a 4.0 grade-point average. “But, when you start to think about a dead month, the team would be hurt. I know from experience that if I don’t have a coach pushing me, I won’t work out. Especially in football. If you’re out of shape, you’re going to get hurt.”

Parents also have voiced concern about the board’s decision.

Frank Simone has been an educator for 22 years. His daughter, Dana, has a 4.0 grade-point average and was a member of the Westlake volleyball and track teams last season.

“I applaud the board’s intent,” Simone said. “But if they’re going to start making those kinds of decisions without the total involvement of the Marmonte League, it puts the Conejo kids at a disadvantage. There are a number of kids that look to sports as the cherry on top of the ice-cream.”

Contreras, who has coached Westlake for eight seasons, said the fall sports will suffer most from the rule.

“If you’re a winter or summer sport, where your season of sport is so far away from the summer, I think you can easily afford to take a consecutive month off,” he said. “For fall sports, that’s kind of critical, taking an entire month off when you’re trying to get ready for the season to start again.”

Teams that were already scheduled to play in summer leagues this year have received exemptions from the board. They must still take four weeks off but not consecutively.

Tom West, football coach at Royal, had already given his players a minimum of two weeks off this summer. He doesn’t believe the affected schools will be at a disadvantage.

“You’d still have plenty of time to get a group of kids to an optimum level of conditioning,” West said.

Wilkins said a letter has been drafted and will be sent to the other Marmonte League schools--Camarillo, Channel Islands, Royal and Simi Valley--asking them to comply with the rule.

Simi Valley’s baseball team was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season, while the boys basketball team finished second in the Southern Section 4-A playoffs. Would Simi Valley comply?

“I doubt it,” said Terry Dobbins, Simi Valley athletic director. “I don’t think it’s necessary. I don’t think it’s a problem. We feel none of our kids are being exploited at Simi Valley.”