One Sparks Gets Extra Year of Eligibility : Mater Dei: Southern Section grants Leland another season, but he might not make the grade. His cousin, Derek, could be eligible to play tonight.

Leland Sparks, a fifth-year senior at Mater Dei High School, was granted an extra year of athletic eligibility on Wednesday, which could clear the way for him to compete for the Monarchs in the 1990-91 school year.

A three-member panel of the Southern Section executive committee waived the section’s eight-semester rule, which allows a student to compete only four years at the high school level.

Sparks, 18, and his cousin, Derek Sparks, also a senior, attended Van Nuys Montclair Prep last year but enrolled at Mater Dei Monday. Both played football at Montclair Prep last season.

However, Leland Sparks probably will be academically ineligible for the fall semester unless he meets Southern Section academic requirements. Sparks’ transcripts indicate he did not meet minimum academic requirements this past spring to be eligible this fall.

Leland Sparks could regain his eligibility in time to play baseball for the Monarchs. Sparks was a starting outfielder at Montclair Prep, which won the section’s 1-A championship last season.

Derek Sparks might be able to play football for the Monarchs as early as tonight if he meets the section’s residential and academic requirements. Mater Dei Principal Lyle Porter said Wednesday the residential requirement had been approved by the Southern Section.

The three-member panel voted unanimously to waive the section’s eight-semester rule and awarded Leland Sparks an extra year under the hardship rule. The rule states that a student can be given an extra year of eligibility if the hardship is “unforeseeable, unavoidable and uncorrectable.”

The committee decided Sparks and his family had been misled by officials at Montclair Prep.

Leland Sparks repeated the 11th grade when he came to Montclair Prep from Wharton, Tex. But Jerome Sparks, Leland’s uncle, said in Wednesday’s hearing that Montclair Prep Principal Vernon Simpson assured him that Leland Sparks would still have two years of eligibility even though he was held back one year.

“Dr. Simpson guaranteed me that there would be no problem with Leland’s eligibility,” Jerome Sparks told the executive committee. “He said he had dealt with the CIF (Southern Section) many times before in this type of situation.”

Simpson was unavailable for comment.

“From what we’ve heard today, Leland Sparks meets the three stipulations under the hardship rule,” said Coachella Valley Athletic Director Richard Ramirez, a member of the executive committee. “He and his relatives were assured that everything was A-OK by an administrator at Montclair Prep. There is no reason for them not to believe that.”

Leland Sparks attended Wharton High School in Texas for three years before coming to Montclair Prep. He was the starting quarterback for the Mounties, who reached the semifinals of the Division IX playoffs.

Sparks completed 14 of 35 passes for 202 yards and four touchdowns. He also gained 136 yards rushing.

Derek Sparks was a standout running back for Montclair Prep, gaining 1,944 yards and scoring 35 touchdowns.

Both anticipated playing for Montclair Prep again this year. However, hours before the Mounties’ season opener, Leland Sparks learned he was ineligible because he already had completed eight semesters at the high school level.

Derek Sparks, an all-Southern Section selection in 1989, played in Montclair Prep’s game against Honolulu Farrington in Hawaii. Both then left Montclair Prep and enrolled at Mater Dei this week.

Porter said Derek Sparks met the section’s residential requirements when he moved to Santa Ana to live with his mother, June Sparks, last week. June Sparks, who Porter said is Derek’s legal guardian, moved to Santa Ana from Wharton, Tex., last week.

All that’s needed to clear Derek Sparks to play tonight is a legal transcript of his grades. Mater Dei officials had transcripts with them Wednesday, but they had not been signed by the proper Montclair Prep official.

Porter said he hopes to have signed transcripts for both students today. He also said that according to the transcripts in his possession, Derek Sparks is a B-minus student.

“We’re going to do everything possible to make that happen tomorrow,” Porter said.

* MONTCLAIR UNDER FIRE: The eligibility hearing of Leland and Derek Sparks generates charges of improprieties. C6