Southern Section Settles With Welch : Jurisprudence: Canyon football coach to receive monetary payment to drop his lawsuit.

In a surprising move ending a tumultuous fight spanning more than two years, the Southern Section on Friday settled its ongoing legal battle with Canyon High football Coach Harry Welch, sources close to the negotiations said.

Welch--the area’s most successful football coach--will receive an undisclosed monetary sum to drop his civil suit against the section.

In turn, the section will dismiss charges of rules violations against Welch that arose out of a 1991 section investigation into the Cowboys’ football program, the sources said.

The settlement conference took place Friday in San Fernando Superior Court.

Among those in attendance were Welch and his attorney, Steve Tully, California Interscholastic Federation Commissioner Thomas E. Byrnes, Southern Section legal counsel Andy Patterson and an attorney representing the William S. Hart Union High School District. Judge Fred Rimerman closed his courtroom when the agreement was read.

Contacted at home, Welch said he is bound by the settlement’s terms to keep the size of his award confidential. However, pleasure was evident in his voice.

“I’m extremely happy for my family that everything is settled,” Welch said. “What my wife (Cindee) has had to go through the past two years has been criminal. Now she can start sleeping better.”

Several previous settlement conferences had been unsuccessful as both sides remained steadfast in their stances.

It appears as though the section gave in after losing to Welch repeatedly on court motions during the last two years.

This is believed to be the first time the section has settled an enforcement matter financially. The section is expected to release a statement within 10 days.

Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas denied any knowledge of the settlement.

“I have no information on that,” Thomas said. “I have nothing to do with that. Talk to the lawyers.”

Byrnes, Patterson and Tully were unavailable for comment.

Welch’s problems with the section began in June, 1991, when he received a one-year suspension from the Southern Section executive committee--on Thomas’ recommendation--after an investigation into rules violations by the Canyon football program.

Welch--who won three consecutive section titles--received a temporary restraining order a month later to return to coaching, and filed a civil lawsuit.

Lancaster Superior Court Judge Haig Kehiayan issued a preliminary injunction in August, 1991, allowing Welch to coach until his civil suit was settled.

The preliminary injunction was modified two months later to forbid the section from conducting hearings and investigations involving Welch, Canyon and the school district.