After Two Years of Organizing, It’s Time to Let the Games Begin : California State Games

Two years ago, Sandi Mabry, a transplanted Texan who had just completed work on her master’s in sports administration at USC, thought it might be fun to become involved in the California State Games.

“I was familiar with the state games from other states,” she said. “So I tried to find out about the state games here.”

It didn’t take long. There were none.

Two years later, thanks to the determination and persistence of Mabry and a handful of others, the first California State Games will be held this week in San Diego. An estimated 3,000 athletes from throughout California, ranging in age from approximately 9 to 60, will participate in 13 sports at about 25 venues around the city, today through Sunday.

According to Mabry, similar events have been held in the past in 30 states, beginning with the Empire State Games in New York in 1977. The state games, which are patterned after the Olympic Games, are multi-sport festivals for amateur athletes of all ages. The athletes compete in their states of residency, and gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the top three finishers in each event.

Among the sports in the inaugural California State Games are badminton, baseball, basketball, cycling, diving, gymnastics, soccer, tennis, water polo, bowling, roller skating, track and field and team handball.

The state games are a part of the United States Olympic Committee’s developmental program. Although the USOC supports the games, it does not fund them.

And that has been a problem. Because money is not readily available, it has taken Mabry and her staff--a public relations director, a couple of interns and “a lot of volunteers”--two years to prepare for this weekend’s event.

“New York and Florida run the two most successful state games,” Mabry said. “They each get more than $1 million from the state.”

Mabry received nothing from California this year.

“Hopefully we will (be funded) next year,” she said. “They kind of took the attitude of, ‘What is this thing?’ They don’t know what we’re doing yet. It’s like we have to show them what it is and that it’s worthwhile first.”

Mabry got International Event Management of San Diego, which helped organize the 1984 Olympics, to sell sponsorships to the California State Games, and IEM agreed to underwrite the portion of the games that is not sponsored. When IEM agreed last summer to become involved, Mabry knew the games would go on.

Each state runs its games independently, but the USOC has a full-time staff person to coordinate among states and set guidelines. To be supported by the USOC, Mabry had to follow a set of 10 guidelines, the most important of which is that 80% of the sports in the state games must be played in the Olympic or Pan-American Games.

Although the USOC does not fund them, the games still seek the organization’s recognition.

“Otherwise, there could be a million state games in every state,” Mabry said. “The recognition is great for us. It helps out a lot in organization, planning and working with the national governing bodies in each sport.”

In many sports, such as water polo, the national governing body has already geographically divided up the state for team purposes. Others weren’t so organized. The most interesting breaks are in baseball, in which all-star teams were formed according to area code. For example, 415 is playing 209 in the first baseball game today at 10 a.m. at San Diego State University’s Smith Field.

The two most visible sports not in this weekend’s schedule are swimming and volleyball. Each sport’s national governing body is broken down into local associations and, according to Mabry, the local swimming associations failed to organize in time for the games’ deadline. The organizers ran into a similar problem with volleyball, although Mabry said the organization has committed to participating next year.

Most of the sports being held this weekend will be played in the Olympics in Seoul in September. Some of the athletes participating in team handball and cycling this weekend are still attempting to qualify for this year’s Olympics. Many more are hoping to qualify in 1992.

“The bulk of the athletes participating this weekend are high school age,” Mabry said.

One of the highlights this weekend promises to be the opening ceremonies, scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. in SDSU’s Aztec Bowl. The athletes will parade into the facility by sport, led by past Olympians carrying that sport’s banner. A handful of Olympians also will speak, including Pat McCormick, a two-time diving gold medalist, and Brian Goodell, a swimmer who won two gold medals in 1976.

After that, there will be a special show produced by Sea World, and then the lighting of the torch by Megan Murphy, a 10-year-old gymnast, and Evelyne Hall Adams, who finished second in the 80-meter hurdles in the 1932 Olympics to Babe Didriksen. Afterward, there will be fireworks.

“It should be a lot of fun for everybody,” Mabry said.

Competition begins at 10 a.m. today and at 9 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All events are free to the public.