Russell Disputes Mission Claims

The sports crusader of the Valley is on another mission, and he won’t be satisfied until baseball and softball are restored at Mission College.

Duke Russell, who helped resurrect four sports at Cal State Northridge in 1997, is proposing a letter-writing campaign to encourage the Los Angeles Community College District board of trustees to force the reinstatement of Mission’s programs next school year.

They were among six sports discontinued in 1997 because of budget constraints at the Sylmar-based, two-year school.

Russell says needy students from Sylmar, San Fernando and Pacoima might not continue their schooling if not for the motivation of athletics.

However, according to Interim President Tom Oliver of Mission College, Russell’s efforts are well-intentioned but misdirected.

Oliver, who in September reportedly promised the return of the athletic program by 2000 or 2001, said the future of the Spirit program lies in the hands of the Western State Conference, not the school or district.

That might mean no baseball or softball until 2002, Oliver said.

“The conference is saying, ‘We can’t move that fast,’ ” said Oliver, who says he submitted a letter requesting reinstatement into the WSC, of which Mission was a member until 1997.

“My understanding is that they have already scheduled things for [next] spring.”

Conference Commissioner Aviva Kamin was unavailable Thursday, but has said in writing that final scheduling for spring sports would not be completed until early May, and that a school could be accepted for membership if it follows a short list of prerequisites.

Among them: a letter from the school’s president, requesting membership; annual conference dues of $4,000; a promise to follow the conference’s rules and guidelines.

Mission also would have to receive a majority vote by the presidents of member schools for acceptance.

So, what if the conference were to accept Mission for the 2000-2001 school year?

“We would crank that in and try to make it,” Oliver said.

Russell isn’t so sure, and says he has heard similar promises before.

“[Oliver] made a promise, a commitment in September that baseball and softball would be back by 2001,” Russell said. “Ever since, he has been double-talking, flim-flamming, whatever you want to call it.”

Russell says he is simply attempting to hold the school to its word.

He is proposing a letter-writing campaign directed at the LACCD’s board of trustees, and Assembly members Tony Cardenas (Sylmar), Sheila Kuehl (Encino), Robert Hertzberg (North Hollywood) and Tom McClintock (Granada Hills).

Russell is hoping that mailed and faxed letters, as well as a good turn-out Wednesday at the trustees meeting in Los Angeles, will convince the district to force the return of baseball and softball.

He has reason to be optimistic.

In addition to helping Northridge bring back four programs, Russell was involved in saving L.A. City College’s baseball team from the budget ax in 1986 and ‘95, and Pasadena City College from a similar fate in 1996.

Next, Russell hopes to help resurrect a West L.A. baseball program that was eliminated in 1986.

The athletic program at Mission was eliminated in 1997.

Russell and his supporters argue that each year the school does not field teams in baseball, softball, soccer, cross-country and golf, it potentially costs more than 100 students from the East Valley area an opportunity for an education.

“Sports are the greatest thing public education has going for it,” said Russell, who attended L.A. City. “If they stop sports, they stop helping kids, and that creates a great danger in our society.”