Dyeing to Play, Center Goes Back to His Roots

Adam Kopulsky, a Birmingham High junior varsity player benched for having pink hair, has dyed his hair back to its original color and is once again in good standing with Coach Al Bennett.

“He bleached it to blond, which is close enough to his normal light brown,” Bennett said Thursday. “I told him, ‘That is acceptable. I will let you play.’ ”

The L.A. Unified School District Board of Education issued a policy statement Wednesday supporting Bennett’s authority to keep Kopulsky from playing with pink hair.

Kopulsky, a 6-foot-1 sophomore center, was benched for two games three weeks ago because of his hair color. Bennett allowed him to play in three games last week until the school board was consulted.

“He did make a concession to the team, and that is exactly what I wanted,” Bennett said.

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Cal State Northridge center Kevin Taylor will meet with a physician today to decide whether Taylor can play again this season.

Northridge basketball Coach Pete Cassidy said if Taylor plays in another game, he will not qualify as a medical redshirt this season. The Matadors’ next game is Saturday against Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Taylor, a junior who has played in four games, first came out of the lineup Dec. 2 against Cal State Fullerton.

Although tests have revealed no injury to his right knee, Taylor may be suffering pain because of scar tissue from a previous injury.

Baseball

Adam Kennedy of Cal State Northridge has been named a preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball magazine. Kennedy, a sophomore who was most valuable player of the prestigious Alaskan Summer League, played left field last season but was named as a shortstop, the position he will play this year.

“The fact that Adam is an All-American at a position he hasn’t played at this level says he is held in high regard by baseball people,” Northridge Coach Mike Batesole said.

Soccer

Chaminade High sweeper Vanessa Thiele, last season’s Mission League player of the year, is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery on her lateral meniscus ligament next week and will probably miss a month of competition.

Thiele, who has committed to the University of San Diego, injured the ligament in a match in December.

Crespi midfielder Bill Busch, a three-time all-Mission League selection, has committed to Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Miscellany

Dr. Luga Podesta and former major league catcher Mike Scioscia will conduct a free clinic titled Injuries in Baseball, Keeping the Young Arm Throwing, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Moorpark High Performing Arts Center.

Podesta is a physician with the Ventura Orthopaedic, Hand and Sports Medical Group.

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Contributing: Jeff Fletcher, Steve Henson, Mike Hiserman, Tris Wykes.