Orange County public schools put off games

All sports competition scheduled for this weekend involving Orange County public high schools has been postponed or canceled because of health and air quality issues resulting from the ongoing wildfires, county education Supt. Bill Habermehl announced Thursday.

Habermehl, in a conference call with 15 Orange County unified and high school district superintendents, made the “collective decision” to postpone indoor and outdoor sports and extracurricular activities through Sunday.

With 65 schools involved, the action represents the largest postponement of high school athletic events in the Southland since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“It was a very difficult decision for the superintendents because they realize all the planning that goes into athletic events,” Habermehl said. “But the decision was made for the health and welfare of the students and decided countywide so we would not have one school, yes, another, no. We realize the ripple effects and implications are tremendous.”

Private schools in Orange County do not have to follow the recommendations of the public school superintendents, but the Trinity League, which includes nationally ranked football power Santa Ana Mater Dei, voted to cancel its football games this weekend and won’t make them up, according to Bellflower St. John Bosco spokesman Andrew Kleinhans.

“I think all the kids are disappointed,” Anaheim Servite Coach Troy Thomas said. “They’re outside saying, ‘We can play in this.’ ”

Bob Johnson, Mission Viejo’s varsity football coach, was among those who disagreed with the decision.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “I wish they had checked the weather [today], and then checked the weather on Saturday.”

Jason Negro, football coach at Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills, agreed.

“Why make the decision so early?” he asked. “They could make the decision before everyone leaves school” today.

Mission Viejo and Trabuco Hills are part of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, which canceled all classes Thursday and today.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, not facing the same air quality problem it had earlier in the week, lifted practice restrictions Thursday and encouraged schools to play football games as scheduled today.

In the conference call, Habermehl said district superintendents were dealing with a variety of issues. Some of their students remain in fire zones; others are not. And changing wind currents made it difficult to say when it was healthy to participate in activities.

“We’re just concerned running or practicing in anything will have them breathing harder or faster and will have implications,” he said.

A smoke advisory from the South Coast Air Quality Management District indicated that “air quality is expected to improve [today] except near active fire areas.”

Some schools have rescheduled their football games to Monday. But the Trinity League declined to endorse Monday as a makeup date because officials are not confident the “skies will clear up” by then, Kleinhans said. The postponements also affected Orange County schools that were leaving the region for competition. The Newport Harbor boys’ water polo team spent more than $7,000 for hotel and travel costs to participate this weekend in a tournament in San Jose but won’t be allowed to compete under the countywide sports edict, according to Athletic Director Eric Tweit. The team left Thursday by plane but was immediately returning.

That provoked strong criticism from Newport Harbor water polo booster Harris Sherman, who wrote an e-mail to the superintendent of the Newport-Mesa district, Jeffrey Hubbard, suggesting that exceptions be made on a case-by-case basis.

Sherman said the Saddleback Valley district is allowing Mission Viejo to participate in the same tournament, bringing into question the insistence that all Orange County sports teams are subject to the ban.

The uncertain air quality created a particular quandary for South Pasadena, which has been planning to unveil its new track and football field tonight against La Canada.

“We’re touching base with the AQMD and the league representatives,” said Brian Bristol, superintendent of the South Pasadena Unified School District.

Football games postponed this weekend can be rescheduled before the regular season ends, but the Southern Section has refused to extend the season beyond that, citing the firm schedule for the CIF state football bowl championship games. Schools can play no more than two games in an eight-day period under section rules.

The last time there were extensive postponements of high school sports contests came in 2003, also because of wildfires. Schools in the Mountain View League based in the Inland Empire ended up playing three football games over 11 days that season.

Schools directly affected by fires had far easier decisions to make. The San Bernardino-based San Andreas League, where schools have been dealing with the effects of the Grass Valley fire, canceled its football games this weekend.

David Ochs, boys’ athletic director at Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World, said the Fighting Scots’ football game tonight at Sultana will not be played.

“We have kids coming home to just a chimney,” Ochs said.

Times staff writers Dan Arritt, Martin Henderson and Howard Blume and Times correspondent Eric Maddy contributed to this report.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com