San Pedro Incident Probed Again

A panel of Los Angeles City Section representatives met Tuesday to discuss further the San Pedro High football controversy in which an assistant coach moved a yard marker for the benefit of his team, a misguided moment caught on videotape that drew national attention and a lifetime ban for volunteer assistant Paul Bryan.

The rules committee of the Interscholastic Athletic Commission was to decide if further sanctions were to be taken against the school or any of the principle figures in attendance, Coach Mike Walsh, Athletic Director Bob Schatz and A.Z. Naazir, assistant principal in charge of athletics. The committee’s decision was not made public on Tuesday.

The eight-member panel took aim at the timeline of events, the seemingly casual attitude taken toward viewing the videotape by those in charge, and conveyed unhappiness with the school’s slow response that allowed Bryan to coach three games after the incident was brought to light.

School representatives said they never felt an urgency to mete out punishment quickly, but rather fairly. “There’s no precedent for this,” Walsh said.

The school was first notified of an apparent infraction on Nov. 7. Naazir received a copy of the videotape on Nov. 17 but didn’t watch it until Nov. 24, a day after San Pedro’s season ended in a second-round loss in the playoffs.

Principal Diana Gelb first watched the tape on Nov. 28 and shortly thereafter suspended Bryan for a year. Last month, the IAC issued Bryan a lifetime coaching ban in the City Section.

Martin Henderson

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Girls’ Volleyball

Alix Klineman of Manhattan Beach Mira Costa has been selected the Gatorade state player of the year.

Considered the best junior player in the country, Klineman lived up to that status in the postseason, collecting 49 kills in the last two matches and helping the Mustangs (35-2) to the state Division II and Southern Section Division II-AA titles.

Klineman, who is 6-foot-4, finished the season with 350 kills, 35 aces, 179 digs and a .489 hitting percentage.