Staunton Prepared to Get an Earful

Jim Staunton, who was hired last month as the Southern Section’s eighth commissioner, acknowledged he has little hands-on experience in athletics, and said that has probably made some coaches and athletic directors nervous.

“It’s true,” said Staunton, who replaces Dean Crowley, who retired in February, on Sept. 1. “But I hope to have a broad enough background that I can be empathetic to all parties and understand their needs. The good news is that the [Southern Section] is a principals’ organization, and I can talk to principals pretty directly.”

Staunton had been the principal at Huntington Beach High since 1991 when he was tabbed last month for his new job after an extended search by the section’s executive council.

Staunton was chairman of the principals’ group that worked two years on Orange County’s realignment of leagues.

He said he will spend the next month or so “listening to people for quite some time and then start talking.”

“I’ve also got to get outside Orange County and talk with other folk to learn their concerns,” he added.

Among the issues Staunton said he expects to address within his first year in office:

* The role of the section office. “A lot of people may call Dean’s office to ask that a coach be replaced at a certain school,” he said. “They have to understand that the governance in the section exists with the principals. The section office only hears appeals and makes rulings.”

* The section’s web page. He would like to have scores posted from every athletic event each night. “The public wants to know results instantaneously,” he said.

* There conflict between club and school sports. “Concerns I’ve heard is that kids are being asked to specialize at too early an age,” he said. “One thing we want to do is cooperate, though. [Club sports] are here. It’s a reality for all of us.”

* Addition of new sports. “With that comes governance and sometimes that is the worst thing that can happen to a sport,” he said. New sports would have to adhere to section rules and regulations that may be too restrictive to their liking. “We want them to examine what they get first and realize they will have to live by our rules. They don’t have that now.”

* Growth and realignment of leagues. “The section will get larger,” he said. “We need to plan ahead for that and make high school sports and the benefits that accrue from participation available to as many as possible while maintaining a very high level of competition.”

* Litigation and legislation. Staunton said he expects to spend more time than his predecessors in lobbying legislators in Sacramento on educational issues that affect athletics. He said he would also take a tough stance in fighting any lawsuits. “Clearly, I might spend more time in court than Dean did,” he said.

Staunton, 50, said he’s in it for the long haul.

“I want to devote 10 good years to the section,” he said.

MOVING ON

Natalie Quinn, a 5-8 forward who started last season as a junior for the girls’ basketball team at Marina, has quit the team, Coach Pete Bonny said.

Bonny said Quinn told him she was moving back to Irvine and that she expected to return to Woodbridge, where she played her first two seasons. She transferred to Marina in the summer of 1998.

Her father, Pat Quinn, was the walk-on coach at Woodbridge for three seasons. He posted a 68-18 record and helped the Warriors win a state title in 1996.

“She was hard-working, had a good attitude and always gave her best,” Bonny said.

* Amy Sanders, a 5-9 guard/forward at Mater Dei, has transferred to Huntington Beach, where her father, Gary Sanders, is an assistant coach.

Sanders came off the bench last season for the Monarchs.

CLOSING POINTS

The Wolfpack Attack girls under-15 soccer team of Fountain Valley that won a title at the recent U.S. Youth Far West Regional Championships, was made up mainly of Orange County high school players. The team won all six games at the Far West Regional, outscoring opponents 10-2. Its overall record was 46-9-14.

The roster included defenders Julie Allen (Fountain Valley), Ashley Bueker (Mater Dei), Alicia Hartley (Mater Dei) and Courtney Smith (Edison), midfielders Tami Fipps (Pacifica), Heather Kindschi (Marina), Kara Phillips (Los Alamitos) and Misty Thome (Cypress), forward Allison Harvey (Corona del Mar) and goalkeepers Jeanette Hendricks (Woodbridge) and Kim Tiampo (Irvine).

* The Irvine High boys’ water polo team hosted two weeks of clinics recently for nine players and nine chaperons from Vietnam as part of a cultural exchange program arranged by aquatics Coach Scott Hinman. Among the skills learned were current international styles of play and strategies, and the Vietnamese team competed in several summer league games.

Staff writer Michael Itagaki contributed to this story.