Difficult Road Ahead for Fiege

Mayor Richard Riordan helped celebrate Monday what many hope is a new and brighter future for athletics in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Riordan and other officials were on hand as the Food 4 Less Foundation presented the district a check for $1.3 million to help finance inner-city sports. The foundation has pledged $10 million over the next three years.

The pledge is timely because the district has experienced deep budget cuts in recent years, resulting in a 20% decrease in funding for senior high athletics. More cuts were expected.

The district’s 49 high schools, which make up the CIF City Section, compete in 22 sports on an annual budget of $3.7 million.

The temporary financial reprieve is good news to Barbara Fiege, who takes over as the district’s athletic commissioner at the end of the month. Financial battles have been a big problem for outgoing commissioner Hal Harkness the last seven years.

But if Fiege is breathing a sigh of relief over monetary matters, she will have her hands full with a number of other problems, among them increased violence at athletic events.

Shootings have become common at or near football games on Friday afternoons and evenings. The latest incident occurred last Friday near Washington High. Four shots were fired from a car outside the football field. The gunfire, directed toward a crowd standing across the street from the school, halted the game between Washington and Locke for 10 minutes.

No injuries were reported and no arrests made.

Harkness has left security matters to the home schools. Heated rivalries usually result in more police.

Many schools, however, get by with the bare minimum. Administrators are often difficult to find and most schools do not have metal detectors outside stadiums.

Safety is not Fiege’s only major problem. She must also deal with a disorganized district setup that often leads to embarrassment.

For instance, Jefferson had to forfeit its football season opener last year because administrators did not complete all of the players’ eligibility forms. Jordan had the same problem last week and had to forfeit its opener against Belmont. Jordan is also without a head coach because David Richardson resigned in July and no replacement has been found.

Fiege enjoyed the hoopla Monday, but her real work is just starting.

*

In one of his final acts as City commissioner, Harkness put the Sylmar football program on probation for the rest of the season and took away two practice sessions because of an unauthorized team meeting.

Harkness announced the punishment last Thursday after spending several days reviewing the case with the school. Coach Jeff Engilman said he held a team meeting on Labor Day to pass out uniforms. Contact between coaches and players was prohibited over the holiday weekend.

Sylmar, the defending Division 4-A champion, responded by tying Granada Hills Kennedy in its opener Friday, 7-7.

*

The Oxnard Hueneme football team has lost 22 consecutive games and 42 of its last 43. It looks as if more of the same is in store for the team this year. The Vikings dropped their opener to Newbury Park Friday night, 73-6.

Newbury Park led, 47-0, at halftime and was ahead, 73-0, before Hueneme scored late in the game.

Newbury Park quarterback Keith Smith, regarded as one of the area’s top prospects, passed for 335 yards and six touchdowns without an interception. Receiver Leodes Van Buren caught eight passes for 155 yards and four touchdowns.

Said Smith, not lacking any confidence: “We probably would have gotten 100 (points) if we wanted to.”

*

Schools might have been out for the summer, but there was plenty of activity in prep sports circles.

One of the notable events was the resignation of Mark Trakh as girls’ basketball coach at Brea-Olinda. Trakh, who led the Ladycats to four State titles and five Southern Section championships in 13 years, was named the new women’s basketball coach at Pepperdine. He was replaced by assistant John Hattrup.

Rick Price, a senior point guard and one of the top basketball prospects in the area, transferred from Long Beach St. Anthony to Gardena Serra. Serra is the defending State Division IV champion.

Price, 6 feet 6, averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists last season for a St. Anthony team that finished 11-15. St. Anthony, however, has gone through three coaches in the last 10 months.

At Long Beach Poly, girls’ basketball Coach Ed Gaffney died of a heart attack last month at 44.

Gaffney was 44-8 in two seasons at the school, leading the Jackrabbits to the playoffs both years.

Prep Notes

Most City football games will be played on Wednesday instead of Friday this week because of the Rosh Hashanah holiday. . . . Loyola, ranked No. 1 by The Times, struggled in its 20-13 season-opening victory over Hawthorne Saturday night. The Cubs were outgained on offense, 168-106, and converted only one of nine third-down opportunities.

Marijon Ancich made a successful return as coach at Santa Fe Springs St. Paul. Ancich, who coached the Swordsmen from 1970-81, is back this season and St. Paul beat Torrance Bishop Montgomery on Friday, 39-0. . . . Carson, a 14-0 loser to La Puente Bishop Amat Friday, has been shut out in its last two games. That is the first time that has happened in the 31-year history of the school. . . . Biggest upset of the opening week was Moreno Valley Canyon Spring’s 7-0 victory over Fontana. . . . In its first football game, South El Monte lost to Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart, 21-0.

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. Loyola SS I 1-0 1 2. Bishop Amat SS I 1-0 2 3. Eisenhower SS I 1-0 3 4. Mater Dei SS I 1-0 5 5. Hart SS II 1-0 10 6. Muir SS II 1-0 9 7. Los Alamitos SS II 1-0 12 8. Newbury Park SS III 1-0 12 9. Sylmar City 4-A 0-0-1 4 10. Capo Valley SS I 1-1 14 11. Hawthorne SS III 0-1 8 12. CC Canyon SS II 1-0 17 13. Irvine SS IV 1-0 NR 14. Norco SS V 1-0 15 15. Antelope Valley SS I 1-0 18 16. LB Poly SS I 0-1 16 17. Cres. Valley SS II 1-0 NR 18. Carson City 4-A 0-1 11 19. Taft City 4-A 1-0 20 20. Dorsey City 4-A 1-0 NR