School Forfeits Game Over Fear of Gang Violence

The principal of Banning High School in Wilmington said Tuesday that his football team will forfeit a crucial game--and possibly a league championship--rather than play at Dorsey High School, in a Southwest Los Angeles neighborhood where two apparently gang-related shootings have occurred in the last month.

Augustine Herrera, principal of Banning, said his decision followed a Monday night meeting in which more than 150 parents, booster club members and school district officials discussed their concerns about the game, scheduled to be played Friday.

“The parents were adamant in their stand that they did not want their youngsters to go,” Herrera said in an interview. “There was no alternative but to notify the senior high school division that we would forfeit the game.”

On Oct. 4, in the closing moments of a Dorsey High game, gunfire erupted between rival gangs in Jackie Robinson Stadium, sending spectators and players scurrying for cover. Two students suffered minor wounds from bullets that ricocheted across the field, located across the street from Dorsey on Rodeo Road.

On Monday morning, a 16-year-old Dorsey student, who is a purported gang member, was shot once in the head while standing near the school’s athletic field, where students were attending physical education classes.

The upcoming Banning-Dorsey game was to be a showdown between two of the top teams in the county. With only two games remaining in the regular season, Banning’s forfeiture jeopardizes its chances of staying in the No. 1 position and ultimately winning the league championship.

Some school officials said they are disheartened that the threat of violence is interfering with sport.

“This whole thing saddens me,” said Dorsey Principal Jerelene D. Wells. “Our students want to play them, to show them what a great team we are. Football is very special in the lives of many of our students. Not to be able to play a game this important to them is very sad.”

Wells, along with state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) and other local officials, held a news conference Tuesday to emphasize that Dorsey is a safe campus and that its students should not feel recent events reflect badly on them.

Before the latest shooting, Banning football coach Joe Dominguez said that he did not want his team to play at Jackie Robinson Stadium, fearing more gang activity. But after Monday’s incident, the decision was made to officially forfeit the game.

“It had a major impact,” Herrera said. “The timing could not have been worse.”

Some of the Banning football players said they wanted to play, but feared for loved ones.

“It hurts that we can’t play because it’s going to mess up our record,” offensive lineman Naeem Mills said. “I wanted to play, but I didn’t want my parents or my girlfriend to go.”

Dick Browning, assistant superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s senior high division, said he believed this was the first time a team playing in the California Interscholastic Federation City Section has forfeited a game because of a fear of violence, though other coaches have expressed fears in the past about playing at certain sites.

Browning, who had promised extra security for Friday’s event, said the game will be chalked up as a win for Dorsey High.

Meanwhile, Dorsey High football coach Paul Knox gathered his team for a brief meeting to announce the forfeiture. He said later that they would continue practicing, just in case Banning changes its mind.

The showdown will come eventually, said Sharmon Shah, a Dorsey football team captain. “We wanted to play Friday,” he said, “but we’ll see them eventually.”