Poly Faces Two League Forfeits If Rule Upheld

Van Nuys High basketball Coach Kevin Duford knows how Poly Coach Al Uyemura feels. Last year, practically the same thing happened at Van Nuys.

According to a City Section administrator, Poly--currently tied for first at 4-1--likely will forfeit East Valley League wins against Van Nuys and Sylmar because senior guard John Kang illegally participated in a community basketball tournament during a holiday break in December. City administrators are expected to rule on the forfeits before next month’s playoffs.

Van Nuys forfeited a league game last year because a player violated a City rule mandating attendance on the day of a game.

“Sometimes it seems they nitpick about small things like this when you know that other schools are getting away with murder,” said Duford, whose team would improve to 4-1--and a share of first--with the forfeit win. “I’d rather have won the game, but when someone offers you a piece of cake. . .”

Kang, a reserve who played sparingly in the two games, violated a City rule prohibiting competition in extracurricular leagues.

“Anytime a kid plays in an outside game, whatever games he plays in after that are automatically forfeited,” City administrator Lee Joseph said. “It’s been that way for 40 years.”

Poly officials are hoping that a 1984 ruling in a case involving an El Camino Real baseball player--who also played in an outside league--will be invoked. Joseph said the forfeits were reversed because the player was competing in a Los Angeles-area league, outside the area where a coach could be “expected to keep track of his activities.”

If the forfeits are upheld, Sylmar (0-11, 0-5) will be awarded its first win of the year.