Facing Tight Athletic Budgets, Schools Need New Resources

A problem with the California Interscholastic Federation, when it comes to business, is that it is run solely by educators.

Because the CIF governs high school sports in the state, it makes sense that its leaders are former coaches, athletic directors and principals. But in today’s tough economic times, some business minds would help keep the organization financially viable.

Recent steep cuts in education funds have left many school districts with few options but to trim already tight athletic budgets. The result has been the elimination of many freshman and junior varsity sports, reductions of coaching staffs and increases in transportation fees. Some districts are even considering making athletes pay to play.

With that bleak financial outlook, the CIF did nothing to help itself last Friday at a council meeting when it tabled a motion that would have extended the CIF-Reebok Bowl for one year. The bowl, which matched the City Section and Southern Section large-division football champions in December at Anaheim Stadium, appears all but dead.

The bowl was televised live by KCOP-TV, which paid $50,000 for the rights. Station officials had tentatively agreed to a five-year deal with the CIF that would have increased the rights fee to $100,000 by 1995.

La Puente Bishop Amat of the Southern Section defeated Sylmar in the inaugural bowl, 31-10. But a couple of the Southern Section’s large-division leagues, including the parochial Del Rey League, of which Bishop Amat is a member, have said they would not participate in future games. League officials were concerned over the length of the season and the exploitation of athletes for money.

But the Reebok Bowl was about more than money. It represented an opportunity for the CIF to market itself in a manner that could ensure financial security for years to come.

High school administrators across the country recently agreed that their biggest problem concerning athletics was funding. Without money, more and more programs will be cut.

Unless the CIF makes itself attractive to corporate sponsors, membership dues are certain to skyrocket. Events such as the Reebok Bowl give the CIF opportunities to showcase its schools and make some much-needed money as well. A successful TV contract could lead to increased coverage in football and other sports.

Athletics should never supersede education. Athletes must maintain solid grades to keep their eligibility. But if there is no money, sports will not be an option for those who have done their homework.

CIF leaders took one step in the right direction Friday. They completed a yearlong marketing plan by hiring Marketing and Financial Management Enterprises Inc. of Woodland Hills to implement the plan.

The CIF had been represented by School Properties, Inc., of Yorba Linda in all marketing endeavors for the last six years. School Properties currently has Reebok and Pepsi-Cola as statewide sponsors.

M&FM; was chosen from a group of 120 companies that applied for the job. The other finalist was CAT Sports of Carlsbad.

“We look forward to improving the relationship between the CIF and the corporate world,” said Chet Swenson, president of M&FM.; “They’ll be the educators and we’ll be the business minds.”

Some of the fastest high school football players in the Southland will be running at the Sunkist Invitational Feb. 20 at the Sports Arena.

There will be two sections of the football 50-meter dash, and the field will include running backs Saladin McCullough of Pasadena Muir and Tarik Smith of Agoura Oak Park.

All-American sprinter Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks will compete in two relays and possibly the 50-meter dash. She will run the dash if her basketball team does not have a playoff game that night. Jones is a forward for the undefeated Lancers.

Prep Notes

The Lynwood boys’ basketball team capped a busy week Saturday afternoon by beating San Gabriel League rival Compton Dominguez, 79-76, in a game that had been resumed after a two-week interruption. Lynwood was beating the Dons, 65-64, on Jan. 22 when the game was called with nearly five minutes remaining because of a fight in the bleachers at Dominguez. League officials voted to resume the game from that point but barred fans from attending. . . . The Riverside Arlington girls’ basketball team snapped a 38-game losing streak last Tuesday with a 51-49 victory over Riverside Poly at Arlington. The last victory for the Lions (1-17) had been against Huntington Beach Edison in the Southern Section Division 2-A playoffs Feb. 20, 1991. . . .

The North Hollywood Campbell Hall boys’ basketball team, which won the Southern Section Division V-AA title last season, is under investigation for using an ineligible player. The player, junior forward Rowan Pearson, a transfer from Granada Hills, played in eight victories. . . . Bob Rau, who led Duarte to the Southern Section Division VI title game last season, has been named the new coach at Buena Park.

Tevita Moala, a running back-linebacker from Hawthorne, signed with Brigham Young after orally committing to Kansas. Moala was the Southern Section’s Division III player of the year. . . . Ralph Tasker became the winningest high school boys’ basketball coach Jan. 29 when his Hobbs, N.M., team defeated Alamogordo, 87-77, in overtime. Tasker, 73, has a record of 1,027-252, one victory better than previous record holder Leslie Gaudet of Louisiana’s Pine Prairie High. Gaudet had a record of 1,026-353 in a career that ended in 1970.

Times’ Top 20 Basketball Polls

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

BOYS

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Mater Dei SS I-A 24-1 1 2. Crenshaw City 4-A 16-2 3 3. JW North SS II-AA 23-0 4 4. Dominguez SS II-AA 19-2 2 5. Morningside SS III-AA 21-4 5 6. Artesia SS II-A 19-3 6 7. N. Hollywood City 4-A 20-1 7 8. Hunt. Beach SS I-A 22-3 8 9. Thousand Oaks SS I-A 21-1 9 10. St. John Bosco SS II-A 19-2 11 11. Muir SS II-A 20-5 14 12. Lynwood SS I-AA 18-6 16 13. LB Jordan SS I-AA 16-6 15 14. B. Montgomery SS III-AA 19-2 17 15. Fremont City 4-A 15-5 12 16. Esperanza SS I-A 18-5 NR 17. Manual Arts City 4-A 16-6 20 18. Ventura SS II-A 20-2 NR 19. Westchester City 4-A 16-6 NR 20. LB Poly SS I-AA 15-9 NR

GIRLS

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Lynwood SS I-AA 20-0 1 2. Thousand Oaks SS I-A 23-0 2 3. Buena SS I-A 17-2 3 4. Brea-Olinda SS II-AA 22-2 4 5. Perris SS I-A 23-0 5 6. Morningside SS III-AA 17-2 6 7. Crenshaw City 4-A 16-2 7 8. St. Bernard SS IV-AA 19-4 8 9. LB Poly SS I-AA 19-3 9 10. Hunt. Beach SS I-A 21-3 10 11. Santa Ynez SS IV-AA 21-1 11 12. Costa Mesa SS III-A 20-4 13 13. Capo Valley SS I-AA 19-3 20 14. Ventura SS II-A 16-4 12 15. Nordhoff SS IV-AA 18-1 16 16. Alemany SS III-AA 20-4 19 17. HH Wilson SS II-A 20-1 18 18. Palmdale SS I-A 17-5 NR 19. Marina SS I-A 18-4 NR 20. Peninsula SS I-AA 14-7 NR