Vote Put On Hold for Association Rule

The Southern Section Council put off a vote on whether to eliminate the controversial Association Rule at its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday in Long Beach.

The council will take up the matter at its next meeting, April 24.

Proponents asked that the measure be withdrawn so that delegates will have more time to discuss the issue.

The Southern Section is the only one of 10 sections in the state that has such a rule, which prohibits high school coaches from coaching their players outside of their sport’s season.

Attempts to repeal the rule in the last decade have failed, but proponents at Thursday’s meeting said if delegates don’t act next month, the section is leaving itself open for legal action by outside sports groups who feel the rule is too restrictive.

In other matters, the council approved a two-year league realignment to deal with overcrowding in certain portions of the Inland Empire. It also will recommend to the state that it add boys’ and girls’ golf championships and that private schools that cannot hold events on Fridays and Saturdays because of religious objections be given the option of playing games on Sundays.

Paul McLeod

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Van Nuys Grant has been stripped of its second-place finish in the City Section boys’ soccer playoffs, forced to forfeit six victories and banned from participating in postseason play next year after the City rules committee determined that Lancer forward Johny Amaya violated California Interscholastic Federation rules by playing in a Sunday league game Feb. 9.

Amaya, who scored a team-high 30 goals for Grant, has denied playing in the Sunday league game since Lake Balboa Birmingham Coach E.B. Madha brought the matter to the attention of Grant officials the day before the section playoffs began Feb. 21.

But the City was presented with evidence to the contrary, including signed statements from two players who contend they played in at least one Sunday league game with Amaya during the high school soccer season.

“The rules committee has determined that the outside competition rule was violated,” City Commissioner Barbara Fiege said.

Grant’s 21-2-5 record drops to 15-8-5 after it forfeits victories in six games the Lancers won with Amaya in the lineup after Feb. 9.

Grant Principal Sandra Cruz said Thursday that the school would appeal the ruling by the March 26 deadline. Grant administrators cleared Amaya of any wrongdoing after investigating the allegations of his participation in the Sunday league game, and Cruz still feels no violation occurred.

-- John Ortega