THE PREPS : CIF Gets This Vote to Negotiate : Southern Section Favors Setting Up Contract for Sponsorship, Marketing

The Southern Section general council approved a proposal Thursday authorizing the state’s executive committee to negotiate a 2-year contract that would give a Yorba Linda firm exclusive rights to secure corporate sponsors and market merchandise bearing the California Interscholastic Federation logo.

The proposal is expected to be passed at the CIF federated council meeting Jan. 27-28, freeing the state association to work out the specifics of a contract with School Properties Inc. of Yorba Linda. School Properties would then be responsible for securing additional sponsors to help the association pay for state championship events and for marketing clothing and other items in outlets throughout the state.

The CIF has averaged losses of $90,000 to $100,000 each of the past 2 years and has been forced to dip into its reserve funds to offset losses, according to Bob Packard, past president of the Southern Section executive committee.

“This is a window of opportunity,” Packard said.

Don Baird, president of School Properties, negotiated a $1.3 million, 3-year deal for the CIF with Reebok and the Coca-Cola Co. in 1987. Under the agreement of that contract, the CIF distributed the funds it received to its 10 sections. Under the new proposal, the CIF would keep the funds, which Packard said could enable the CIF to balance its budget, pay for championship events and reimburse schools for travel expenses incurred at state championship events.

Baird, a former Olympic pole vaulter from Australia, also plans to developing a clothing line with the CIF logo. Baird has hired Larry Kent, developer of NFL Properties, to help launch that project.

The CIF currently is marketing some clothing items, such as sweat shirts and T-shirts, with championship event logos. In the past 9 months, the CIF has made $100,000 in that field. Kent is hopeful that effort can be expanded to include other clothing items and a variety of items from key chains to athletic shoes with the CIF logo.

While many league representatives at the Southern Section meeting applauded the move, Dennis Evans, Newport Harbor principal and Sea View League representative, had some reservations. The league cast the only negative vote among the 57 representatives of the council.

“Are we signing a contract without reading it?” Evans asked. “We don’t seem to know a great deal about this deal and its possible ramifications to the Southern Section.”

Packard assured the council that the proposal would allow state officials only the power to negotiate with School Properties, and that any deal must be approved by the state’s 10 sections.

Also at the meeting, Dean Crowley, the section’s associate commissioner in charge of basketball, reported that the state basketball playoffs for boys and girls likely will be scheduled at separate sites beginning in 1990 under a proposal expected to pass Jan. 27-28.

Under the proposal, the boys’ championships will continue at the Oakland Coliseum; the girls’ championships will move to Southern California. Under the current setup, all games are played in Oakland.