Former Commissioner Sets the Southern Section Straight

He could have been strolling the bay front. Or feeding the ducks. Or hanging out at Dad’s Donuts, a cup of coffee in one hand, a cruller in the other. Doing what Balboa Island residents do, basically.

Instead, Ken Fagans was giving up this sunny Sunday morning to lend some insight into the world of high school sports. He opened his front door with a smile. He seemed to welcome the intrusion.

“Come in, have a seat!” he said, motioning his visitor to the living room. “So what is it I can help you with?”

It was simple. The high school season was less than a week away. The games--lawsuits, recruiting scandals, budget woes, etc.--would soon begin. Someone had to sort things out, put the issues in perspective, prepare us for the months ahead. Fagans was the man.

Never mind that it has been 17 years since he retired as Southern Section commissioner. Fagans held that job for two decades . He practically invented high school athletics as we know it. He has experience. Wisdom. Qualifications like no other.

And he was in the phone book.

The cram session begins . . .

Issue No. 1: The financial crisis.

Years ago, kids went out for a sport, and that was that. Equipment, transportation, uniforms . . . paid for by some unknown entity in Sacramento.

Today, there’s an equation for every season: one bake sale = 20 baseballs, five car washes = one bus trip, etc. Stipends are being cut, coaches are boycotting, lower level programs are being eliminated . . . athletic apocalypse just around the bend.

Fagans understands budgetary restraints. When he took over as section commissioner in 1954--at an annual salary of $7,000--the office consisted of one typewriter, one desk, a telephone and $5,000 in war bonds. Five years later, thanks to a revitalized playoff format, gate receipts, along with dues, boosted the section treasury to $100,000.

“My aim as commissioner was to make every sport self-sufficient,” Fagans said. “Like in tennis. We’d charge every player in a tournament a 50-cent entry fee. That would pay for a man to run the tournament.”

Pay to play? These days, it’s a pricey--and all too common--policy. A family with a child in multiple sports--or with multiple children in multiple sports--are especially hard hit. Some can barely afford to get them in the locker room.

“There’s no easy answer,” Fagans said. “I know there are programs now where kids have to pay $60 just to play on a team. In my day, costs were so limited. When I coached football, there were only two of us to coach the whole team. Now there are 10.

“It was a simpler time, but we made it work. I’ve still got copies of my budget to prove it.”

Fagans will be happy to show them to you. Bring your 50 cents.

Issue No. 2: The Orange County Section.

Four months ago, in a vote by the CIF State Federated Council, this proposal was pronounced officially dead. Buried. Over and out. Of course, they said the same about Elvis.

OCS believers are still out there, wandering the streets, waiting for the day they’ll have a section to call their own.

Fagans is with them--in spirit. He remembers a similar fight, in 1959, between the Southern Section and San Diego.

As commissioner, he knew the Southern Section would be out dues and playoff revenue if San Diego broke away. He knew the area’s smaller schools might have fewer schools to play. But he also knew letting San Diego go was the right way to go.

“They said travel was becoming more than they could handle, and they wanted to go on their own,” Fagans said. “The next week, San Diego Hoover had to play Santa Barbara in a baseball playoff. There wasn’t a freeway then, just Pacific Coast Highway. That’s a long drive. I started thinking about liability . . .

“I recommended they go ahead--but with one provision: They had to take all the schools in the county. Turns out the superintendent down there didn’t want St. Augustine or Carlsbad Military. They said, ‘But those schools can get kids from anywhere in the county! It’s not fair!” I said, ‘Let’s compromise.’ ”

Which brings us to Issue No. 3: Mixing Public with Private.

This is bound to be--once again--the hot issue this year. Mater Dei is moving to the South Coast League, Servite and Rosary to the Sunset, Santa Margarita to the Sea View. Sit back and watch for sparks.

With the San Diego Section movement, Fagans’ idea was this: Limit private schools to a particular attendance boundary.

“I said, ‘How about if St. Augustine can only get kids from the San Diego Unified School District?’ ” Fagans said. “San Diego has lots of other areas. And any kid that St. Augustine brings in from outside their certain area is ruled ineligible for one year. That way they can bring in kids from anywhere, but their (athletic) impact wouldn’t be felt until another year.”

More than three decades later, Fagans says the idea was worth a try when all this public-private business was being hammered out last year.

“If I were commissioner today, that’s what I’d suggest with Orange County. I see no reason why Mater Dei has to get kids from any place in the world. Kids can go there, sure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be eligible. Otherwise, just like all these public school coaches are saying, they’re not all playing by the same rules.”

Fagans stood up. He wanted to show off his den, a regular high school sports hall of fame. Photos--of Fagans as a basketball player at Huntington Park High, as a coach at Compton College, as commissioner--covered the walls. So did every kind of commemorative plaque and honorary resolution known to sportskind.

Stacks of letters were piled on his desk. He’ll be 83 next week, he said. Two operations on his legs ended his tennis and lawn bowling participation last year. So now, slow walks, keeping in touch with old friends and the sports world are the extent of his hobbies.

“I’m sorry for talking so much,” he said, not needing to apologize. “You know, I don’t get to talk about all these things much anymore . . . but I’d really like to.”

He waved goodby. The ducks were getting hungry.