For Kase, Parents Knew Best

From birth until death, everyone is taught to never quit. It’s a four-letter word not to be uttered. That might make the decision of a teenager to leave a sports team a family crisis.

It happened to the Kase family three years ago. Cody Kase quit the football team at Newhall Hart High midway through his freshman season.

It was a stunning decision, considering Kase’s oldest brother, George, had been a starting defensive tackle at UCLA.

Except Cody was having a miserable experience. He was 14 and playing tackle football for the first time. The coaches made him play offensive line, and he hated it.

“It was like being tortured, having no fun, going through it every day,” he said.

Finally, he decided to quit so he could concentrate on his favorite sport, basketball. But first, he had to face his family.

“That was the hardest part, having to tell my family I didn’t want to play,” he said.

Kase’s father, George Sr., and mother, Judy, let him quit under one condition: He’d try football again as a sophomore.

Friends didn’t understand his decision.

“A lot of people didn’t take it the right way,” he said.

Kase continued going to games as a spectator and immediately had second thoughts.

“I didn’t regret my decision, but I wished I could be out there,” he said.

Come sophomore year, Kase was back on the football field. He was bigger, faster, more mature and playing new positions, receiver and defensive end.

“I already had my mind set I was going to prove I could do a lot better,” he said.

Today, he’s a 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior who might be the best two-way player in the Southern Section Division II playoffs.

As a receiver this season, he has 47 receptions for 887 yards and 13 touchdowns. As a linebacker, he has six interceptions, five sacks and 74 tackles.

“He’s all over the field,” defensive coordinator Rick Herrington said. “Sometimes you have to throttle him down. He wants to be in on every tackle. He’s a great athlete.”

In basketball, Kase was the Foothill League player of the year as a junior. He might be the Foothill player of the year in football.

It has worked out for the best because Kase’s family made the right choices in deciding how to deal with a sports crisis.

There’s no correct answer whether a parent should let a young athlete leave a team or force them to keep playing. Every situation is different.

If Kase had been told to keep playing, he said, “I probably would have quit anyway but with a lot more anger.”

The compromise requiring Kase to return the following year was parenting at its best. It kept Kase’s options open and gave him time to figure out if he had made a mistake.

“I grew up since kindergarten going to my brother’s games, and they knew I’d come back,” he said.

Kase was a terrific athlete who needed to gain the confidence and maturity to play tackle football. He remembers how he felt as a sophomore stepping onto the football field.

“We got pads on, and that’s when everyone is a step ahead of me, but I was with everyone,” he said. “I kept getting better and better. I think every time I step on the field, I’m a better player than the last time.”

Kase started at linebacker last season when Hart won its fourth consecutive Division III championship. This season, he made the tying 48-yard touchdown reception on the final play against Los Alamitos in the season opener. He’ll be trying to help Hart (11-0-1) defeat San Clemente in tonight’s Division II semifinal game at College of the Canyons.

He has become a college prospect with a 3.5 grade-point average and 1200 score on the SAT. He even knows how to deal with the uncomfortable topic of quitting.

“I think you probably shouldn’t quit in most cases, but if it’s a situation not for you and is a last resort, you should, but you shouldn’t just quit because it’s not going your way,” he said.

In two weeks, when football season is over, Kase plans to join the basketball team. But make no mistake where Kase’s heart and allegiance lies -- football.

“It’s definitely my favorite sport now,” he said.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com