SPORTS BRIEFS : Panel Delays Its Report on 49er Football

The committee looking into the future of the football program at Cal State Long Beach has postponed making its recommendation public until at least Nov. 22. The report had been expected to be released Friday.

Dave O’Brien, interim director of athletics, said the extra time is needed for boosters to complete the details of a fund-raising proposal to raise between $600,000 and $700,000 yearly.

On a related matter, much to the dismay of coaches and boosters, university President Curtis McCray said earlier this week that he will not make an immediate decision after receiving the report.

McCray said he does not expect to make a decision on whether to drop, downgrade or maintain football until at least mid-January. “My basic philosophy has always been that most administrative decisions made very rapidly are usually poor decisions,” he said.

Coaches had hoped a decision would come sooner. If football is retained, they hope to get the most out of the prime recruiting period, which generally is between the middle of November and Jan. 1. Coaches say it has been nearly impossible to persuade players to attend Cal State Long Beach because of the threat of the football program being altered or dropped.

A different university committee recommended last June that football be eliminated or downgraded.

Cal State Dominguez Hills in nearby Carson will play host to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II women’s soccer championships Saturday and Sunday.

First-round pairings Saturday pit top-ranked Sonoma State of Rohnert Park (16-1-2) and fifth-ranked Adelphi State of New York (14-3-2) at 11 a.m., followed by the sixth-ranked Lady Toros (16-4-1) playing second-ranked Barry College of Florida (11-2-1) at 1 p.m. The winners meet at 1 p.m. Sunday for the championship.

Junior defender Heather Haas, who attended Cypress High School and then Long Beach City College, and sophomore forward Kristine Emch, a resident of Long Beach who played at Los Alamitos High School, are members of the Dominguez Hills team.

Top-ranked Golden West College of Huntington Beach and No. 2-ranked Long Beach City College are the favorites to advance to the championship game of the state community college water polo finals, which begin Friday at West Valley College in Saratoga.

Golden West (30-1), the two-time defending state champion, will play Modesto Junior College at 8 a.m. College of the Sequoias from Visalia plays Orange Coast College of Costa Mesa at 9:15 a.m., West Valley takes on Grossmont College of El Cajon at 10:30 a.m., and Long Beach (29-5) plays Merced College at 11:45 a.m.

The financially strapped Belmont Bruins youth football team managed to raise $1,500 in 24 hours last week to keep from folding. The team then won its first-round game in the Junior All-American Football playoffs. The Bruins, who return to playoff action Saturday in Westminster, consists of boys 8 to 10 years old.

According to Coach Louis Silva, the Long Beach team still has debts of more than $7,000. Silva said the Bruins plan to hold several fund-raising events. For information call Rachel Davis (310) 438-8682 or Silva (310) 331-5508.