HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK : Sag in Attendance Over 8-Week Break Feared for City Basketball

Now that the City Section has decided to keep its traditional winter-sports schedule next season despite adopting a year-round calendar, many area boys’ basketball coaches are concerned that attendance will suffer at games played during the eight-week break from Dec. 21-Feb. 17.

Jim Woodard of Taft, Steve Miller of North Hollywood and Howie Levine of Grant all figure that the closure of the schools during that period--or even if there are a limited number of inter-session courses--would reduce the size of crowds at games.

“The kids find out about the games through school,” Woodard said. “And if they’re not in school, they’re not going to know about them. . . . No school means no cheerleaders and no pep rallies. And that takes some of the fun out of being a high school athlete.”

Levine would like to send out a weekly sports newsletter to Grant students during the break, but he doesn’t think it would be financially feasible.

“Something like that takes money, and I don’t know where it would come from,” he said. “Especially with the budget being the way it is.”

Rebuttal: Reseda boys’ basketball Coach Jeff Halpern is still not decided whether he will coach the Regents next season because of his objections to the eight-week break. However, he had a very definite opinion about statements from Canoga Park Coach Jeff Davis on a local television station Tuesday.

According to Halpern, Davis told the reporter that coaching over the break was not a big deal with most coaches, and more than 50% of them would have done it for free, anyway.

“That’s ridiculous,” Halpern said. “I don’t know where Jeff got his information, if he conducted an informal poll or what, but he certainly wasn’t speaking for me or a lot of other coaches I know.

“If he wants to speak for himself, that’s fine. But I resent the fact that he’s speaking for all of us. . . . He’s young and energetic, and maybe he would work for free, but not me. The older you get, your time becomes more valuable.”

Woodard also was concerned about similar statements in the newspapers attributed to Davis, the vice president of the Los Angeles Coaches Assn.

“I’ve known Jeff for a long time and I like him,” Woodard said. “But I’m going to have to talk to him about what he said. He should not be speaking for all of us like that.”

Flipped out: His tail has been tossed after all.

Taft infielder Sean Collins has been suspended for two games by the coaching staff as punishment for a recent incident in which he flipped a coin to mock what he thought were inconsistent strike calls by the plate umpire.

Said Collins through the backstop screen as he flipped a coin in the air: “Hey ump, it came up tails.”

Teammate Mike Krasner, a junior right-hander and one of the team’s starting pitchers, also was given a two-game suspension for improper behavior.

Quotable: Hueneme Coach Reg Welker watched his team commit 10 errors Tuesday that led to five unearned runs, which also happened to be the difference in an 11-6 loss to defending Channel League champion Rio Mesa.

“If I would have found a sharp object in the fourth inning, I’d have been dead,” he said with a laugh.

Quotable II: Nordhoff High track and field Coach Ken Reeves, on the condition of the school’s track after the recent rain:

“We’re thinking of planting some trout and having some fly-fishing classes here.”

Out of luck: The Notre Dame baseball team should have known better than to take a 7-0 record to Las Vegas last week for the Cowboy Classic Easter tournament. Seven can be bad luck, even in Las Vegas.

Sure enough, Notre Dame led El Toro, 2-1, entering the seventh inning of the Knights’ opening game in Nevada. El Toro then rallied for four runs and stuck Notre Dame with, at the time, its first loss of the season.

Seven and 0, seventh inning. . . .

“We should have seen it coming,” Notre Dame assistant Jody Breeden said.

The real deal: Village Christian Coach Mike Henzie is excited about the play of sophomore first baseman Jeff Deal.

In the Crusaders’ 6-2-1 start, the 6-foot-3 Deal has driven in a team-high 14 runs and picked up two saves on the mound.

“I’ve got a good one there,” Henzie said.

Tournament in limbo: The Visalia Invitational organizers worked overtime so that Thousand Oaks could squeeze five games into two days last week. The Lancers won all five but might not be able to claim a tournament title.

The tournament, postponed because of rain last week, might not be continued, according to Visalia Redwood Coach and tournament director J. D. Fischer.

“Every time it stopped raining, we had people out raking, burning the fields, throwing sawdust around,” Fischer said. “But I think there are just too many teams that have to travel to continue it.”

Fischer said that organizers will meet Monday to decide the outcome of the tournament.

Twice in a lifetime: Kirt Kohlmeier coached Joe Hillman when he was at Hoover. Hillman went on to help Indiana to the NCAA basketball championship in 1987.

Kohlmeier, who also coaches softball at Hoover, envisions an equally promising future for sophomore pitcher Nancy Evans.

“She could be Division I right now and she’s going to lead someone to an NCAA title,” he said of Evans (7-1), who is averaging 14 strikeouts a game. Evans threw her fifth career no-hitter and hit a grand slam against Muir on Thursday.

“Someone like Joe Hillman only comes around once in a lifetime. She is one of those players.”

Injury update: Camarillo freshman Jeremy Fischer, a 5-9 high jumper who has jumped 6-foot-4, might miss the remainder of the season after injuring a hip in the Northridge/Alemany Relays on March 16.

Camarillo Coach Mike Smith originally believed that Fischer would be out only six weeks, but ligament damage and muscle strains in Fischer’s hip, groin and lower back will prevent him from practicing until later this month, Smith said.

Aloha, then aloha: Kennedy became the second area team to cancel plans to play a football game in Hawaii next fall, joining Buena, which canceled a game because of a scheduling conflict.

Kennedy would have been granted permission by the City Section to play the first weekend in September against Kahuku, according to Commissioner Hal Harkness, but the Golden Cougars must stay home because of lack of finances. Kennedy will be unable to raise the required money by the end of the month, a deadline imposed by tournament organizers as a guarantee that Kennedy would make the trip.

To fill the opening in the schedule, Francola added Carson, the City 4-A Division champion.

Fick flick: Newbury Park assistant Chuck Fick, a minor-league catcher for six seasons after helping Pepperdine to the College World Series in 1979, will play the role of a catcher in “Talent For The Game,” a motion picture that will be released in May.

Fick, who also played a catcher in “The Naked Gun,” still hasn’t landed any lines.

“My best work is on the cutting room floor,” he said with a laugh.

“Talent For The Game” is about professional baseball scouts and it questions why scouts are not inducted into the Hall of Fame. Also appearing in the movie is George Genovese, a longtime local San Francisco Giants scout.

Mike Glaze and staff writers Steve Elling, Kirby Lee, Brian Murphy, John Ortega and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.