THE PREPS / ERIC SHEPARD : Consultant Brought In to Work on Resurrecting the CIF

High school athletics in California have been heading in the same direction without any purpose for a decade too long.

While other states have conformed to new demands, California has been stagnant. Changes have been slow and few, despite outcries from coaches, parents and students.

Fortunately, top-level administrators at the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs the state’s high school athletic programs, realize it is time to change. They have begun re-examining their role and defining their purpose into the next century.

Helping them is Elissa Maas of San Luis Obispo, a former school board member from Visalia who now operates her own consulting business. Maas, 40, said she should have a final proposal ready by December of 1993.

Maas was hired by the CIF last May to conduct a strategic planning process. She has since been familiarizing herself with the organization and its council members. She recently assembled a 25-member steering committee.

“This group will interview hundreds and hundreds of people,” Maas said. “They will talk with athletes, students, state legislatures, medical professionals, members of the media, parents and others who have some kind of association with the CIF. Before we can recommend any changes, the CIF needs to find out what its purpose is. They don’t know right now.”

One constant criticism of the CIF concerns the way it is set up. The state is broken down into 10 sections, which vary greatly in size. Southern California has three sections: City, Southern and San Diego. The Southern Section, with 482 schools, is larger than the San Diego and City sections combined. Its member schools extend from San Luis Obispo to Mammoth to Mission Viejo.

The Oakland Section is the state’s smallest with six schools.

Opponents say the CIF could cut down on bureaucratic red tape by redesigning the state into two or four evenly sized sections.

The problem with the current setup is that larger sections have greater power because they have more council votes. It is also difficult to get 10 sections to agree on anything.

“There is no rhyme or reason to the way the CIF’s sections are structured,” Maas said. “But we’re not going to start recommending boundary changes until the organization figures out who it is.”

Broadening corporate sponsorship is another goal being pursued. Although the CIF was considered a model for the nation in this area in the mid-1980s, after signing Reebok and Coca-Cola as statewide sponsors, it has lagged behind in recent years.

Reebok and Pepsi provide a combined $700,000 a year. A few of the sections have additional sponsors of their own.

The CIF decided last year that it needed to consolidate its efforts and have statewide sponsors only. It hired a marketing firm in San Diego to devise a plan for getting new accounts. The council liked the plan designed by Steel Marketing Partners of San Diego, but voted to have a different company implement it.

The CIF opened the bidding last spring and 22 companies responded. Five finalists were chosen earlier this month and are submitting final proposals. A company should be selected by Jan. 1.

“We know this is a very untapped market that could end up having a great impact on the CIF,” said Margaret Davis, associate commissioner. “In this time of budget cuts, every dime we raise will help us keep our costs down. But it takes a while to convince others of the urgency in this matter.”

Davis acknowledges that the power of the CIF may lie in too few hands. She said top-level officials are educators and not businessmen who may not always understand economics.

“Most of us, including myself, were teachers and coaches who became involved with the CIF when times were simpler,” she said. “Today, things are much more complex. Perhaps we need more business minds to help us out.”

That seemed the case at a recent Southern Section Council meeting. Section officials proposed a playoff grouping plan that would emphasize geography over equity in an attempt to cut down rising transportation costs.

Although many school districts have implemented mandatory transportation fees for athletes, the council voted to table the motion. Many members said they preferred equity over geography.

Stan Thomas, commissioner of the Southern Section, said superintendents are concerned with geography and money, and principals and athletic directors with equity.

“We need to get these people more together on what is important,” Thomas said. “Educators, by and large, are conservative and slow to change. But we definitely need to restructure.”

One trend the CIF hopes to reverse is athletes paying to play sports.

Many districts have adopted mandatory transportation fees, which have been averaging $50 a sport. The Claremont Unified School District took it one step further this year by asking students to contribute $175 for every sport they participate in. If not enough athletes contributed, then the sport would be dropped.

Although initial reaction from the community was negative, the results have been favorable. Every fall sport reached budget. Doug Keeler, district superintendent, said athletes donated anywhere from $15 to $1,500.

“We’re already looking at ways to lower the contribution fee next year,” Keeler said. “We might give multiple-sport athletes a break. Our booster clubs have done a good job raising money as well.”

Prep Notes

San Pedro’s 22-21 victory over Wilmington Banning last Friday ended its 24-year losing streak to the Pilots. After the game, Banning Coach Ed Paculba was frustrated: “It was a bitter loss. What else do you want me to say?” . . . Jefferson cornerback Ed Morris set a school record with five interceptions in a 27-7 victory over South Gate. . . . Hawthorne set a school record for most points in a 72-6 crushing of Santa Monica. The game was scoreless after the first quarter. . . . Garden Grove Bolsa Grande players refused to shake hands with players from Garden Grove Rancho Alamitos after a 61-0 defeat last Thursday. They felt the Vaqueros had run up the score. . . . A crowd of 22,000 at East Los Angeles College watched Garfield beat Roosevelt last Friday in their annual meeting, 14-0.

Times’ Top 20 Football Poll

The Times’ top 20 high school football poll, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Esperanza SS II 6-0 1 2. Bishop Amat SS I 6-0 2 3. Loyola SS I 6-0 3 4. Eisenhower SS I 5-0-1 4 5. Muir SS II 5-1 5 6. Hart SS II 6-0 6 7. Los Alamitos SS II 6-0 7 8. Fontana SS I 5-1 8 9. Servite SS II 5-0-1 10 10. Nogales SS III 6-0 11 11. Ran. Alamitos SS VII 5-1 13 12. Mater Dei SS I 5-0-1 12 13. Dominguez SS II 5-1 9 14. Hawthorne SS III 5-1 NR 15. Baldwin Park SS III 6-0 15 16. Redlands SS I 5-1 NR 17. North Torrance SS IX 6-0 17 18. Sylmar City 4-A 5-0 18 19. Irvine SS IV 5-1 NR 20. Carson City 4-A 4-2-1 NR