Valley Youth Conference to Renew Fight With LAUSD Over User Fees

After a season of off-field ups and downs, seven Valley Youth Conference football championships will be decided today, beginning at 9 a.m. at Poly High.

The series of age-group championship games will culminate with a battle between the North Valley Golden Bears and the San Fernando Braves for the bantam (age 14) championship at 7 p.m.

Two months ago, though, there was considerable doubt as to whether the conference--in which an estimated 7,000 youth athletes compete in a variety of sports--would remain financially solvent.

The conference was one of several groups that stood to be affected by the Los Angeles Unified School District’s plan to charge organizations for the use of its facilities. The plan, formulated over the summer, was condemned by civic and athletic groups that previously had used the facilities at no charge.

Dozens of nonprofit groups, ranging from senior citizen square dancers to American Legion baseball teams, argued that they were given insufficient notice to raise funds and that the charges were unrealistic and excessive.

The initial plan was to make the youth-services arm of the financially-strapped district self-sufficient by raising $1.3 million through user fees.

Though the district modified its original list of fees, charges for the use of facilities were set to go into effect in September. The Valley Youth Conference threatened to file a lawsuit, however, and the district agreed not to levy fees until Jan. 31. “It’s been a long year,” said Vic Farhood, the conference commissioner. “But we made it.”

Farhood said that next year he will continue to fight the plan and that the conference is prepared to sue the district if necessary. “We’re looking for help on this from everybody from the adult soccer leagues to American Legion baseball,” Farhood said. “We’ll all be affected.”

Farhood reiterated his belief that the conference and other youth groups offer safe harbor for athletes, many of whom cannot afford the registration fees that would have to be levied to offset district charges. He said the implementation of user fees would cause most programs to fold.

“We do a damn good job of keeping the kids we deal with pretty straight,” Farhood said. “It’s . . . something constructive for them to do with their time. We’re facing the possibility of being shut out.”