Rule Change Paves the Way for More Off-Season Leagues : Club teams: Southern Section move allows unlimited number of players from one high school to participate together.

After the Southern Section General Council voted recently to repeal the so-called “40% rule,” many of its members expected a dramatic increase in the number of off-season volleyball and water polo club teams.

But other sports, it seems, are also taking their cue.

Several area baseball coaches plan to explore off-season programs, perhaps as early as this fall. The ruling also clears the way for the formation of off-season club teams in softball and boys’ and girls’ basketball.

A challenge filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court prompted the Southern Section two weeks ago to strike the 40% rule from the books. Previously, in club team play, no more than 40% of the players that constitute a starting lineup could come from the same high school; for example, a club baseball team could have no more than four players (four most closely approximating 40% of a nine-player lineup) from one high school; in basketball, no more than two players. There are no such restrictions in summer-league play.

In the litigation, parents of players on the Santa Barbara High girls’ volleyball team requested that the 40% rule be rescinded because there is only one club team in the area. The section--the only one in the state with the 40% regulation--scrapped the rule for soccer five years ago.

The section still bans players from competing for a club team at the same time their high school sport is in season.

The new ruling, which takes effect immediately, allows a club team to consist of players from only one high school provided that the school neither sponsors the team nor organizes its schedule.

During the school year, high school coaches are prohibited from running off-season club teams. In many established club sports, however, it is not uncommon for a parent to run the team while the high school coach watches from the stands.

Despite repeated attempts to eliminate the rule in the past, it remained on the books largely to prevent schools that were located in areas with strong club programs from gaining a competitive edge when the school season began, a section official said.

Sports with a substantial club network--such as water polo and volleyball--are expected to be the first to take advantage of the rule’s elimination. But teams and leagues likely will be formed as well in baseball, perhaps the region’s most competitive sport.

Southern Section baseball teams in the past have organized informal games in which teams are composed of players from several schools. The elimination of the rule will allow players from one school to compete as a unit, rather than as a hybrid squad of players from several schools. Previously, some coaches would send several groups of four ballplayers to different sites to play in the off-season.

“It’ll be like having tryouts,” Westlake Coach Rich Herrera said. “Teams will have the roster set before practice starts.”

Because the Southern Section was the only one in the state with the 40% rule, section baseball teams have not participated in a winter-league program similar to the one conducted by their City Section counterparts.

Southern Section baseball teams will open practice Feb. 24, with the first scrimmage set for Feb. 29.

“Next year, what’s going to happen is teams are going to form a league to play in,” Herrera said. “People all over will be doing it.”

Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers, who approves of the rule reversal, cautioned that the change could have a downside, particularly for pitchers.

If club baseball is organized for the fall and winter, it would create a schedule in which players could compete under game situations on a year-round basis. Many players also participate in American Legion or other leagues over the summer.

“There’s the burnout factor, and I’m sure that could be a long-range problem,” Scyphers said. “I don’t think a kid needs to be throwing 12 months out of the year.”

Another disadvantage is that participation on a club team also might encourage a player to specialize. For example, instead of playing football or basketball, a player might feel pressured to spend most of the year playing baseball.

“That could cause a problem with kids being asked to make a decision and coaches forcing them to make choices,” Alemany Coach Jim Ozella said.

Scyphers predicted that club teams will be a topic of conversation during the Marmonte League baseball coaches’ preseason meeting next month.

“I’d say there’s a definite possibility that six to eight teams from Ventura County would be interested in forming a league,” Scyphers said.

Ozella, whose players have never participated in the four-man winter league scheme, said that he would encourage Alemany players to join a club team if the schedule were limited to approximately 10 games.

Saugus Coach Doug Worley expected the rule change to be greeted enthusiastically in the Santa Clarita Valley, where high school baseball has enjoyed great success.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Worley said. “The sooner the better. We’ve watched the City schools (conduct a winter league) for years and, to tell you the truth, I’ve always been a little envious.”

The potential for club growth in basketball doesn’t seem as great. Basketball already has an extensive summer-league season and organizations such as American Roundball Corp. or Slam-N-Jam offer established off-season outlets for the most talented boys and girls. In summer-league play, high schools field teams consisting of their own players and the high school coach typically runs the team.

A section official said that the boys’ summer-league basketball schedule is so extensive that some teams play 60-70 games.

Volleyball, which long has had a well-organized club network in some areas, soon might feel the positive influence of the rule change.

“I see it being a big improvement,” said Jimmy Miranda, president of the Channel Islands Volleyball Club. “Any time there’s a rule that doesn’t make a lot of sense, it’s going to be a negative force on the kids.”

Miranda said that club teams routinely turned away talented players to stay within the parameters of the 40% rule.

“We’ve had to cut some players from the top teams who were better than players we’ve kept,” Miranda said. “They got the short end of the stick. We lost some players to the Santa Barbara club this season because of the four-player rule. I’ve seen a lot of hurt feelings and unnecessary emotions (because players were cut).”

Former Thousand Oaks Coach Ron Beick, who now coaches the Zuma Bay Volleyball Club, applauded the elimination of the rule but said that there might be shortcomings.

“I don’t think it’s the best thing to put 10 players from a high school on the same club team,” said Beick, whose Thousand Oaks High girls’ teams won a pair of section titles. “You really need to play with different players and to be coached by different coaches. That helps to make you a better player.”

One volleyball coach predicted that the rich might soon get richer.

“It’s a tremendous advantage for schools with club connections already,” said Royal Coach Bob Ferguson, whose teams have won both boys’ and girls’ section titles. “It sets up (high school teams) for year-round volleyball. It’s a disadvantage to schools who haven’t gotten into the club thing.”

Ferguson said that the importance of the club season cannot be understated.

“Without the club volleyball programs, we wouldn’t be where we are now,” he said. “We’ve been able to advance from being a 2-A program a few years ago to a 5-A program.”

Buena softball Coach Sharon Coggins, whose team advanced to the Southern Section 5-A final last year, predicted that the rule change would not lead to a proliferation of club leagues in the fall or winter.

The Amateur Softball Assn. provides players with an outlet to play in highly competitive leagues in the summer, she said. Some ASA club teams also compete in tournaments in the off-season, which gives players ample opportunity, Coggins said, to compete outside the high school season.

Coggins also fears that a player’s academic eligibility in high school might be threatened by his or her participation on a club team. Additional hours spent practicing with or playing on a club team could translate to less time spent on studies, Coggins said.

Although Coggins sees the obvious advantages of fielding a club softball team that permits the players to compete in the off-season with their high school teammates, she feels that players need a break.

“When you get a whole group of kids playing together year-round for four years, there’s going to be internal problems and fighting,” Coggins said.

Rich Corso, the water polo coach at Harvard-Westlake, has no doubt that the elimination of the rule provides a wonderful opportunity for area club teams. Although club play now is virtually nonexistent in the region, it is popular in Orange County.

“It’s great (in Orange County),” he said. “A father or somebody will be on the deck running the team and all the coaches sit in the stands. It’s sort of like American Legion (baseball) in the summer.”

Corso said that Harvard is the lone school in the region to field a club team. It is run by a coach other than Corso, funded independently and currently is composed of players from many different schools. The abolition of the rule will allow Harvard to field a club team composed solely of its own players. Corso hopes that other schools in the region follow suit.

“Maybe this will energize teams out here to start something,” he said. “They’ve got to take the initiative. With the rule change, they’ve got a chance to really get a program going.”

Corso predicted that Orange County teams will exploit the rule change to the hilt by forming school-based leagues and said that Harvard’s club players might join.

Royal long has fielded a club water polo team in the summer when Southern Section rules do not apply. Coach Steve Snyder said that he expects many schools from Ventura County will be interested in establishing club programs.

“It’s nice to envision the possibilities,” he said.

David Coulson and staff writer Paige A. Leech contributed to this story.