While Coaches Protest, Players Pick Up Slack : Prep football: Athletes in the Orange Unified School District begin fall practice without their coaches, who are boycotting because of reduced stipends.

ANAHEIM — Daryl Lawrence barked out orders. “Stay in the tracks. Stay in the tracks.”

Canyon High School football players followed the instructions, weaving through a makeshift obstacle course made up of thermos bottles. Each high-stepped around the markers.

Lawrence continued to shout encouragement. Then, he took the football.

It was his turn.

Lawrence, a senior at Canyon, spent the first day of fall practice directing workouts as well as participating in them. He went through the drill as he had instructed.

On Monday, most of Orange County’s high school football teams began practice under the direction of their coaches. But players from the four schools in the Orange Unified School District had to go it alone because of a coaches’ boycott to protest a 50% reduction in stipends.

District officials and athletic directors inched toward an agreement Monday to end the stalemate. Jack Elsner, the district’s chief negotiator, said a new proposal to cut funding in other areas of the athletic budget would be taken today to the school board and the Orange Unified Education Assn., the teachers’ union.

“I think we’re getting closer, but we still have things to do,” Elsner said. “Give us another day.”

Athletic directors from the Orange District are expected to put a proposal to the coaches for a vote today, according to Orange High School’s boys’ Athletic Director Dave Zirkle.

Meanwhile, the district’s four football teams--Canyon, El Modena, Orange and Villa Park--held their own workouts, with team captains and leaders trying to emulate their coaches.

“It’s a strange feeling,” Lawrence said. “We need to practice as a team. Me and a couple of the other captains are trying to get it together. It’s strange.”

Monday morning, many players learned for the first time that their coaches would not be conducting practice. The coaches had voted, 85-2, at a Sunday night meeting to boycott.

They then had to tell their players.

“You should have seen the look in their eyes,” Orange Coach Buddy Bland said. “They’ve been looking forward to this day for months and all of a sudden it’s taken away from them.

“We felt kind of stupid, but we’ve chosen to stand with our peers.”

Most players hung around school and discussed the situation. Many had been caught off guard by the news.

“It was kind of a shocker,” Canyon senior Tom Stapleton said. “We weren’t sure if we were playing or not.”

Said Lawrence: “I was all fired up and ready to come out today to get started. It was like a false alarm.”

The other fall sports--cross-country, girls’ tennis, water polo and girls’ volleyball--were also scheduled to begin practice on Monday. None did.

The issue came to a head last week after word of the cut in stipends for supervising extra-curricular activities started reaching the district’s coaches and athletic directors. The Orange Unified Education Assn. voted to accept the cuts Aug. 12 as part of a collective bargaining agreement, which also included a pay cut of 2.59% for teachers.

Many coaches said they were not informed of the meeting or that they didn’t realize the significance of the ratification vote. Others didn’t hear about the meeting until they returned from vacation.

About 400 of the 1,100 union members were present at the Aug. 12 meeting. Zirkle said only 15 coaches attended.

“I wrote a letter to the kids last night,” El Modena Coach Bill Backstrom said. “I told one of my assistants that there was something wrong with this. We’ve invested so much time in these kids. They are the type of kids who would jump off a cliff for you. How do you say no to them?”

The players said they understood the decision of the coaches. All said they blamed the district for the current situation.

“We’re all behind the coaches,” Villa Park junior Grant Pearsall said. “The district doesn’t have any respect for them. It’s a slap in the face to have the pay cut in half.”

District officials said the cuts are minimal in comparison with the overall cuts. The $150,000 they will save with the stipend reductions are part of a $5-million cut.

But coaches said this was where they had to draw the line.

“I concluded that there would be no sports left in the Orange district within two years,” Backstrom said. “That’s why I decided to boycott.”

Officials worked through the day to resolve the dispute. The principals of the four high schools met with their athletic directors at El Modena High. Another meeting is scheduled for today.

Football coaches and players are concerned that a compromise might not be made in time for the season’s first games. Players must have 10 days of practice with their teams before they can play in a game, according to Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas.

Orange must begin official practices by Friday to play its season opener Sept. 10 against Newport Harbor; otherwise, it will be forced to forfeit the game. The three other schools must begin practice by Saturday.

“Right now, everything is OK,” Villa Park senior Ryan Tsui said. “We’re just trying to pump each other up and get ready as best we can. But it could get pretty frustrating if we get closer to the first game.”

The players said they intended to run workouts until the coaches return.

“Everyone thinks we can handle this on our own,” Canyon senior Perry Dionisiou said. “I don’t know. I think you need a coach.”