A Relatively New Theory : Einstein Academy Shows an Open Mind Toward Athletics

The varsity jocks at Golda Meir High didn’t get much of a break when the school changed its name this year. Einstein Academy. Great, if you’re a chess player.

“It sounds like a wimpy school,” said Danny Djavaheri, a senior basketball player.

Albert was a smart guy, but he didn’t know anything about sports. This is a tough image to shake in competitive athletics.

“My friends think I go to a gifted school,” said Joe Kar, a 5-foot, 8-inch, 230-pound senior who plays on the basketball team.

“But we’re not brains. Some of us are really dumb,” said Djavaheri, adding mischievously, “Mostly we’re just normal kids. We ditch school, talk back and take steroids. Ben Johnson’s a close friend.”

When the school’s Board of Directors decided to loosen the school’s conservative religious philosophy and pick a new name to reflect the change, it wasn’t thinking of the athletes’ self-esteem.

“We were looking for someone who symbolized intellectuality and happened to be Jewish,” Headmaster Ron Davis said.

Nobody asked the players. They might have suggested Sandy Koufax. “I myself wanted Woody Allen,” Davis cracked, “but I didn’t have any support.”

The Einstein Academy in Van Nuys, with only 50 students in the high school and a small faculty, takes classroom work seriously but has a casual approach to sports.

“If winning doesn’t become your only goal, sports can be a wonderful part of growing up,” Davis said.

Although a majority of students play on varsity teams, interscholastic competition was a new experience for most of them, and even sports like basketball and volleyball were foreign. The 11 girls on the volleyball team, for example, had never played the game until 2 years ago.

“For some, it’s the first time they’ve had real coaching,” Athletic Director Mike Lann said.

About half the students are immigrants from countries such as Israel, the Soviet Union and Iran. “Mike sometimes calls out the plays in two or three languages,” Davis said. “That confuses the other team as well as ours.”

Lann has problems that don’t exist for other athletic directors. His biggest problem, he says without reservation, is the students’ lack of athletic skills. “That girl over there,” he said, pointing to a volleyball player, “couldn’t tie her shoelaces before she began playing volleyball.”

Another problem is size. “There aren’t many 7-foot Jews,” Davis observed. Only one boy on last year’s 2-8 basketball team was taller than 6 feet. This year, nobody is.

Unlike most schools, Einstein doesn’t set aside the last period for varsity practice. The students go to school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. In 9 or 10 periods, they study basic core curriculum as well as Jewish history and culture.

“Whenever we can get a break from school, we go out and play,” Djavaheri said. Without an indoor gym, practice is always outside on asphalt. And players sweat at their own risk--there are no showers or locker rooms.

“Our biggest dream is to build a new school with the athletic facilities that most people take for granted,” Lann said.

Lann started the athletic program from scratch 3 years ago. There are now 3 varsity sports--girls’ volleyball and softball and boys’ basketball. Soccer and baseball are scheduled to begin this school year and there is also the possibility of 8-man football. “The kids are asking,” Lann said, “but football is a financial drain.”

Lann can schedule only an hour or so of organized practice 4 days a week. For religious reasons, the teams can neither work out nor play from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. His is not a program that attracts the cream of the area’s athletic talent.

“Our kids never in their most remote dreams thought they’d be playing high school sports,” he said. “I had to twist their arms and make them, but they really have a good experience.”

The students voted to nickname the teams the Rockets, which probably would have pleased Einstein. Atoms and Quarks also would have been acceptable.

A recent girls’ volleyball game typified the sports program at Einstein. Like all their games, it was played on the road. Because the school doesn’t have a bus, the girls were driven in private cars to West Los Angeles Baptist Church for a game against Newbridge School, like Einstein a free-lance member of the Southern Section.

During practice before the match, the small gym was a dangerous place to be as balls flew in all directions. Dressed in blue uniforms, the girls often played as though volleyball was as mysterious as the theory of relativity. Serves bounced off the back wall. Bodies collided. Nobody called for the ball and it hit the floor.

But even though the girls lost all 3 games, they acted and sounded like athletes. High fives, hand slapping and shouts of “sideout” were part of their repertoire.

“They enjoy it so much,” said Aliza Benitah, who has 2 daughters on the team. “It’s good for them to learn that even if you lose, it’s only a game, and you have to be happy.”

Although a cheerleading squad has not been formed, varsity teams have begun enjoying the phenomenon of having fans attend their games. About 8 boisterous boys, plus a few parents, showed up for the volleyball match.

“We never had other kids come to games,” Lann said. “This was all so new to them. They never thought of being fans.”

Winning remains an elusive event at Einstein. The school’s first victory in any sport was a softball game against Highland Hall 2 seasons ago. “The score was something like 22-20,” Lann recalled. “It was a walk-a-thon.” It wasn’t until last year that the school won its first varsity basketball game, against Los Feliz Hills, 47-39. “The place went nuts,” Davis said. Overall, Einstein teams won slightly less than half of their games last season.

Lann feels that the Rockets have achieved parity with the teams they play. “We’ve caught up,” he said. “We can walk on the court and feel secure.”