Coaches Have Been Tossing Ethics Aside

The high school sports season is ending with an eruption of ethical misconduct, none more disturbing than what happened with the Villa Park baseball program.

Coach Scott Luke resigned last week when his athletic director and principal confronted him with allegations that several players held batting practice on the day of a playoff game, a violation of Southern Section rules.

During that game, Luke had the audacity to file a complaint against the opposing team from Arcadia because its suspended coach was violating another section rule by watching the game from beyond the outfield fence, resulting in a forfeit victory for Villa Park.

Luke will be lucky if he ever coaches high school baseball again. What principal is going to hire him with his win-at-all-costs mentality?

Athletic Director Tom Fox said Villa Park players and parents expressed remorse at the batting practice violation, insisting they didn’t know it was illegal on the day of a playoff game. Let’s hope they are telling the truth because their silence after accepting the forfeit victory raises troubling questions.

Give credit to Villa Park for taking immediate action. Fox, the school’s first-year athletic director, wasn’t about to ignore an anonymous tip about the batting practice. He investigated, discovered the truth and reported his findings to the Southern Section.

Villa Park needs to regroup and hire someone who can “Pursue Victory With Honor.”

The City Section has been dealing with its own ethical breakdown. Last winter, a sophomore at Westchester assumed the identity of another student so he could play on the boys’ soccer team.

The student rarely attended classes but continued to play for the team until he was ejected from a game on Jan. 28, allowing the school’s assistant principal for athletics, Eric Davidson, to uncover the deception.

Davidson said he fired the walk-on soccer coach, Ruben Sanchez, and issued written reprimands to the athletic director and assistant athletic director.

The City Section rules committee voted last month to ban the student from athletic competition until May 6, 2007, effectively ending his high school sports career. And the committee also barred Sanchez from coaching “indefinitely” at any school in the district.

“There was a lack of supervision,” Davidson said as to how an ineligible player made it onto the team. “The coach either didn’t know who the player was or the player was playing under an assumed name. Either way, it wasn’t OK.”

Sanchez said he was unaware of the player’s eligibility questions, blaming it on a lack of school oversight.

“My suggestion is they should use ID pictures next time,” he said.

The player has since been transferred to an alternative school in an attempt to improve his academic standing.

“He did it because he wanted to play with his friends,” Davidson said.

In another troubling episode of false identity, a Los Angeles Jordan girls’ basketball coach, Lewis Nelson, has been placed on indefinite suspension after two players used false identities to play on the freshman-sophomore team.

The good news is that school administrators are stepping forward to take action while sending a message that ethical misconduct won’t be tolerated.

*

The Watts Summer Games began this weekend, kicking off eight weeks’ worth of activities for high school athletes trying to prepare for the 2005-06 season. Los Angeles Fairfax is the defending champion in the 64-team boys’ basketball competition.

Seven-on-seven football passing tournaments will be held almost every weekend through July.

The Nike seven-on-seven passing tournament that brings together eight top teams takes place July 15 at USC. Westlake Village Oaks Christian, led by junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen, is among the teams entered. The Lions won the opening tournament of the season Saturday, beating Palmdale in the Hart final.

The Fairfax boys’ basketball classic will be held June 28 through July 3 at Fairfax. Santa Ana Mater Dei, Westchester and Woodland Hills Taft are among the 16 teams entered.

And the summer season ends with the Area Code baseball tournament, Aug. 6-10 at Blair Field in Long Beach.

The summer wouldn’t be complete without all-star football games for recent graduates, many of whom will continue their careers in college. The Shrine game is set for June 25 at 7 p.m. at Mount San Antonio College.

Other regional games include the San Fernando Valley’s game at 5 p.m. today at Lake Balboa Birmingham, Orange County’s game on July 8 at Orange Coast College and the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame game on July 8 at El Monte Mountain View.