Funding Future Trainers Is Primary Goal

Bill Chambers, Fullerton College’s head trainer, is making sure his chosen profession perpetuates.

Chambers spends a great deal of his free time lining up sponsors for the National Athletic Trainers Assn.’s scholarship fund. He is the organization’s scholarship chairman.

The organization will give a record-number 38 scholarships at its annual awards banquet this spring in Kansas City.

The scholarships, which are $1,500 each, are awarded to college seniors or those doing postgraduate work. Awards are based strictly on merit.

“Sure, people say that $1,500 isn’t a lot of money,” said Chambers, who is in his 31st year at Fullerton. “But if it helps keep them in school, then we get another qualified trainer and that’s the important thing.

“I’ll tell you, when you meet these students, it certainly changes your attitude about the youth of today.”

The scholarships are sponsored by several groups, including the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.

The Big West Conference officials are a recent addition to the sponsor list. The group donated the money to say thanks to the trainers who work with them.

The NFL is the single biggest sponsor and recently gave Chambers a check for $7,500 at a game in New Orleans.

“The spinoff of this is incredible,” he said. “It helps (students) get the schooling they need and makes them better trainers. The neat thing is that many express an interest in working on the high-school level, and that’s where we need the most help.”

State titles aplenty: Rancho Santiago and Cerritos, which have combined to win the last four state men’s basketball titles, meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Rancho Santiago.

Cerritos is the defending state champion. The Falcons also won the state title in 1989. Rancho Santiago won back-to-back titles in 1990 and ’91.

It was also Cerritos that eliminated Rancho Santiago in the semifinals of the state tournament last season. In a see-saw contest, Cerritos’ outside shooting finally did in the Dons, 87-78.

Cerritos was also one of two teams to beat Rancho Santiago when the Dons went 35-2 in the 1990-91 season. Saddleback was the other.

Rancho Santiago will also be the site of the 16th-annual Holiday Classic, which begins Dec. 28.

In first-round games, Saddleback takes on Bakersfield at 2 p.m., Long Beach meets MiraCosta at 4 p.m., Los Angeles Harbor and Washington Skagit Valley play at 6 p.m. and Rancho Santiago meets Mt. San Antonio at 8 p.m.

Women’s basketball: When Cypress beat Glendale, 60-53, it improved the Chargers’ record to 9-4, giving the Chargers--under first-year Coach Kevin Kiernan--more victories this season than the program had in the previous three seasons combined.

Cypress had no victories in 1989-90, two in 1990-91 and six in 1991-92. Cypress plays host to Cerritos Wednesday at 7 p.m.

While Cypress is much improved, Orange Coast and Golden West appear to be the class of Orange County. OCC has started with 14 consecutive victories and plays at Mt. San Antonio at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“It’s a surprise,” OCC Coach Mike Thornton said Sunday after winning the Coast Christmas Classic with 65-51 victory over Chaffey. “I thought we would be good, but I had no idea we would start this well.”

The Pirates can expect a very tough go of it, however, in the upcoming DeAnza tournament, which starts Sunday. OCC opens with Lassen, the defending state champion.

Golden West, coached by the father-and-son combination of Dick and Dave Stricklin, is off to another fine start at 13-2.

The Rustlers and OCC won’t meet until Orange Empire Conference play starts. The teams play each other Jan. 13 at Golden West and Feb. 5 at Orange Coast.