State Football Title Games Get Lukewarm Reception

The state championship football proposal is expected to be a hot-button topic of discussion at the Southern Section Council meeting today in Long Beach.

The proposal, brought before the California Interscholastic Federation’s Federated Council in October, calls for state championships in three divisions beginning in 2006 and would end California’s status as the only state without a football championship. It would also be a financial boon for the CIF.

School administrators, however, have given the proposal mixed reviews -- mainly because individual schools will not receive any of the profits. Coaches also have concerns about adding games to an already long season.

The council will discuss the proposal today only to get an idea of how its member schools feel about it. The Southern Section, the largest of the state’s 10 sections, probably will not take an official stance on the proposal until after its April Executive Council meeting.

The City Section is expected to vote on whether it should support the proposal at its Interscholastic Athletic Committee meeting on Monday.

The proposal could go to a statewide vote at the CIF Federated Council meeting in May.

Among items that will be voted on today at the Southern Section Council meeting is a proposal to increase the number of individual entrants in the state cross-country meet.

Peter Yoon

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Boys’ Basketball

Reseda Cleveland, ranked No. 13 in the Southland by The Times, has forfeited a tournament game that it declined to play in December against Granada Hills, dropping its record to 12-5.

Girls’ Basketball

Unbeaten Los Angeles has been forced to forfeit two victories, a nonleague win over Carson and a Northern League win over Belmont, for using an ineligible player. The Romans’ record drops to 7-2 and 2-1.

Coach Leonides Henry also was suspended for two games by the school for holding practice on a Sunday. The program was put on a one-year probation by the City Section’s rules committee.

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Football

The organizers of two high school all-star games have begun discussions to combine their games into what would become the Shrine Cal-Tex Bowl presented by Air 7. The game would match the top players from Texas and California on July 1 at the Rose Bowl, with the championship game of a seven-on-seven summer passing tournament taking place at halftime.

The Shriners would receive all proceeds from the game. Air 7, which sponsors the CaliFlorida Bowl, would run the game. The organizations could announce an agreement as early as this week.

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Honors

Bob Weinberg, the principal at Sherman Oaks CES, and assistant principal Laura Hale will be honored by the Assn. of Jewish Educators on Jan. 30 at the Skirball Museum for their ethical conduct in having the school baseball team decline a playoff invitation last year when players chose to attend a senior picnic rather than play in a league game. The administrators will be recognized for displaying “model ethical behavior and promoting appropriate values” among young people they serve.

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-- Eric Sondheimer