Caught in Their Tracks : Coaches and Students at 3 Area City Schools Trying to Adjust to Year-Round Schedule on and Off the Field

Sean Blunt used to hold his football teams’ preseason practices at San Fernando High as late as possible in an effort to beat the summer heat.

This season is slightly different.

Instead of a 4 or 5 p.m. start, the Tigers are in the weight room by 2:30 and on the field by 3:30, still in the heat of the day.

Blunt isn’t trying to punish his players. Rather he’s dealing with the realities of San Fernando’s newfound status as a year-round school.

San Fernando, along with Monroe and Poly, last month became the first Valley-area high schools to switch to a multitrack schedule.

“We take a lot more water breaks now,” Blunt said. “I would do [practice] later if I could, but I don’t want to send the kids home for an hour and have them come back to school. They might not come back.”

There have been several adjustments prompted by the year-round schedule and they aren’t confined to the practice field.

Traditional summer vacations are a thing of the past with a year-round schedule. Each school has divided the student body and assigned rotating vacation dates. The scheduling of prom night and advanced-placement classes also have been affected.

“I was planning to go to New York this summer [but] that was out,” San Fernando senior linebacker Alex Luna said.

“I don’t think anybody likes change when it happens. But this isn’t a big deal. After a while you don’t even notice.”

Roughly two-thirds of the Tigers’ varsity were on track (in session) last week when San Fernando started practice.

Because so many players were already at school during the day, Blunt moved the practices to earlier in the afternoon.

Practices are just as intense, but some players say the changes have had a greater impact on their study habits.

“Last year, we would get done with practice and I would go home and sleep,” said San Fernando senior running back Miguel Gomez, who is on track over the summer.

“Now I get home, and I got to do my homework before I even think about going to bed. I’m really going to look forward to the weekend. It will be the only time I can catch up [on sleep].”

Going year-round also has changed the social atmosphere at San Fernando. Players see some teammates all day and others only when practice begins.

“It’s a little strange to look around during the day and see some of your friends and not see others,” Luna said. “It took a little bit of adjusting but it’s all right now.”

At Monroe, the situation was simplified. According to assistant coach Don Senegal, nearly all of the Viking players are on the same track, starting their school year in July.

Senegal, who has taken over the head coaching duties while Fred Cuccia recovers from a cerebral hemorrhage, consulted with coaches at Garfield, which already had implemented a year-round program.

Monroe also has moved up practices to coincide with the end of the school day and increased the number of water breaks.

“So far, it has been an advantage, having everyone here during the day,” Senegal said. “It might be different when [the team] goes off track, but we’ll figure out something by then.”

When most of Monroe’s players go off track midway through the season, there still will be incentive to come to practice. Off-track players will receive a physical education credit.

Michael Greenwood is one of the lucky San Fernando players, at least for now. The junior linebacker is off track, which means virtually nothing has changed.

Greenwood can rest during the early part of the day and arrive for practice hours before it begins.

“I come into the weight room about the same time I did before, practice takes about the same amount of time, and I can get some sleep,” he said.

Greenwood and classmates on his track will start school after Labor Day.

Many San Fernando players grumbled when the year-round plan was announced this spring. But there are a few advantages to students.

Although the school day is 50 minutes longer--school begins at 7:45 a.m.--students will be in class just 163 days, compared to 180 under the old system. And all three schools had new air-conditioning units installed throughout their campuses.

Coaches at the three schools try to minimize the effect, maintaining similar schedules as in past years.

The system has been in effect at Bell, Huntington Park, South Gate and Belmont since 1981. Nine additional schools have implemented year-round schooling since.

Blunt, like the others, had to adapt his schedule to fit the new system but didn’t consult other coaches.

“I haven’t really talked to anybody,” Blunt said. “I figure I’ll go through it as it happens, take everything in stride. It’s not that much different.”

Former Bell Coach Al Palmer, who guided the Eagles through the change to year-round, has a word of warning for Blunt, Senegal and Poly Coach Tim Feeley.

“The first year was the toughest because you have kids with almost no break at all,” Palmer said. “But once the system is established it becomes a lot easier.”