Johnson May Take Trip to Title

This is a big week for Robert Johnson of Wilmington Banning High.

One of Southern California’s top prep tennis players, he was one of 20 young players picked for an expenses-paid weeklong workout with Nick Bollettieri, Andre Agassi’s coach, in Bradenton, Fla.

Johnson, who reached the quarterfinals in the City individual playoffs last year, is one of the hottest young players around.

He has lost only twice in singles over the last two years and is ranked 33rd in Southern California in the 18-and-under division. He also is ranked third in Southern California in doubles with partner Greg Breuckner, a freshman at Wichita State.

“He has really been progressing as a player,” Banning Coach Nora Legaspi said. “I think that he is the best player in the City and that he has a great chance to win the City title.”

Johnson, 17, has drawn attention with his strong serve-and-volley game. He has dominated play in the Southern Pacific Conference the last three seasons, winning 41 of 42 matches. He was the Pacific League’s most valuable player in 1989 and 1990.

When Johnson entered Banning as a freshman in 1988, he tried other sports--swimming, baseball and basketball. But, tennis was his love.

He began playing tennis at Anderson Recreational Park in Carson when he was 9. After winning several age-group tournaments, Johnson started considering himself a tennis player.

Since then, he has had a private coach and has steadily climbed in Southern California’s age-group rankings. Johnson says that his improvement could have been even faster if he had not been so concerned about his education.

“I’m into school as well as tennis,” said Johnson, who signed a letter of intent with UC Santa Barbara. “I put in a lot of time in school. I know if I put many of those hours into tennis, I would be on the circuit right now.

“I want to go professional after I graduate with a math degree. I know that I need some work but I feel that I’ll be ready then.”

Being black in a sport that does not have large numbers of successful black professional players, Johnson hopes to inspire others.

“When I first started playing, it felt kind of strange being the only black,” he said. “But, I knew that if I had confidence in myself, I’d do well. Now, I want to have an impact on others.”

One of Johnson’s goals is to win the City singles title, as his friend Jason Clark of University did last year. Johnson hopes that a week’s training under Bollettieri will give him the edge he needs to win the title June 5.

“I was pretty excited when I found out that they had chosen me,” he said. “Hopefully, this gives me a chance to work on my game before the City playoffs.”

Baseball player Nathan Voytek of Woodland Hills Taft has an appeals hearing at the City athletic office today to try to regain his eligibility.

Voytek was removed from the practice field last week by a school administrator after an inquiry into his transfer from Pennsylvania last summer showed the move violated CIF rules.

Voytek, a sophomore right-handed pitcher, is 4-1 this season with four shutouts.

City commissioner Hal Harkness said Voytek was ineligible since his parents did not accompany him during his change of residence. He has been living with Larry Schneiderman, a coach Voytek met while playing in the 1989 Pony League World Series. Schneiderman was manager of the Encino tournament entry.

Harkness said that in a transfer situation in which there is a change of guardianship, the athlete is ineligible for one season unless a hardship waiver is granted. Voytek never filed for hardship.

“It’s no fault of the kid,” Harkness said. “There has been a massive breakdown of the system.”

If the ruling is upheld, Taft will forfeit victories over San Fernando, Granada Hills, Cleveland and Venice.

The Mission Viejo boys’ volleyball season has been canceled and first-year Coach Mark Booth has been fired in the wake of discovery of several rule violations.

Among them, school officials found, was a party at a player’s home at which alcohol allegedly was served. “All we know is that one of the players’ parents invited the kids and coaches over to their house to watch the (George Foreman-Evander Holyfield) fight last Friday and a bunch of (players) had beer,” said Pete Hartman, the superintendent of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

Booth also apparently got into a shoving match with one of his players at the UCLA Tournament of Champions the day of the party.

Mission Viejo was 6-4 this season and challenging for a Southern Section playoff spot.