City Baseball Coaches to Boycott Games in Event of Strike

A group of City Section baseball coaches said Thursday that they would honor picket lines and boycott the conclusion of the regular season next week if teachers carry out a proposed strike against the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The group of 11 coaches also joined United Teachers-Los Angeles in criticizing the Los Angeles City Coaches Assn., which has recommended that coaches in all spring sports continue to supervise their teams even if they participate in the strike set for Monday.

The position of the coaches’ association was unanimously approved by 19 representatives from the 49 City high schools at an emergency meeting Wednesday at Belmont High. The recommendation conforms to a directive issued this week by the district, which has reversed its field since the last strike 19 years ago when coaches who participated in the walkout were forced to the sidelines.

The coaches’ association gave its recommendation at the same time the baseball coaches struck their position. After a seeding meeting for the City 4-A Division playoffs, the coaches agreed to honor picket lines. They also said that they will meet Monday to discuss plans for the playoffs if a strike is not averted. Baseball playoffs begin May 24. The district plans no change in its athletics schedule and has devised no contingency plan in the event of a strike.

The union endorsed the baseball coaches and urged the association to change its stance.

“We’re proud of the baseball coaches who took the right stand and are disappointed in the other coaches,” union representative Helen Bernstein said. “I hope they change their minds. I just don’t think they understood the impact this would have on their colleagues. We’re urging the same thing for all activities, including band and drama. It’s not fair to make exceptions for one group.”

Association President Paul Knox, the Dorsey High football and track coach, lists himself as a strong union supporter. Like most coaches, he has examined his loyalties this week, weighing his ties to his colleagues against those to his players. He said that he will strike Monday but will cross picket lines to coach his athletes in next week’s City track semifinals.

“We were trying to come up with something that everyone could live with,” he said. “This is only a recommendation, not a mandate. We’re trying now to get this information out to every school so that this position can be explained. We don’t want people to think we’re deliberately doing something detrimental to the strike.”

Some already have reached that conclusion. Chatsworth baseball Coach Bob Lofrano, the vice president of the coaches association, attended the seeding meeting instead of the association’s emergency meeting. He questioned the right of the association to make recommendations without consulting more coaches.

“How could they make that decision without having a vote of the rank and file?” he said. “This is an individual thing, but we don’t want coaches to sit on both sides of the fence. You have to strike as a teacher and a coach. I don’t know how you can differentiate between the two.”

Baseball coaches have criticized the district’s stance, saying that the directive was designed to shift parental complaints if sports events are canceled from the board to the coaches and to undermine union solidarity. Board and district officials have rejected those charges, saying that the move was made with the interests of students in mind.

Chatsworth volleyball Coach Steve Berk said that he would urge the other three coaches whose teams remain alive in the 4-A Division playoffs to honor picket lines next week at the expense of the semifinal and final rounds.

“I’d love to play and the kids haven’t come all this way for nothing. But I hope the other coaches agree not to play,” he said.

Although all coaches believe that the dilemma they face if a strike is called is severe, those most troubled may be golf and track coaches. A City championship marks the end of play for other sports, but track and golf finals also serve as qualifiers for state meets. Taft golf Coach Ray O’Connor and Birmingham track Coach Scott King said that they will accompany their athletes next week despite their loyalties to their colleagues.

“For me to walk on my athletes would hurt me for years to come,” King said. “There’s no way I could do that. If I have one athlete left, I’ll stay with him. I will come to school because I expect them to come to school. You can’t just walk in in the afternoon and still coach.”

Still, some coaches expressed faith in the players’ ability to understand should the coaches boycott events. “The issues here are greater than any one game,” Poly baseball Coach Jerry Cord said. “I know we’ll have to face some seniors who aren’t going to be around after this year, but I truly feel the players will understand.”

Some coaches may get the chance to test that understanding Monday.