Assn. rule ousted

In a decision with far-reaching implications, the CIF Southern Section Council voted, 41-37, Thursday to eliminate out-of-season restrictions on high school coaches working with their student-athletes.

Rule 313 of the Southern Section Constitution and By-Laws — better known as the association rule — has limited the amount of time athletes and coaches could spend together during the school year, outside of the particular sport’s season.

The association rule will be eliminated from the by-laws, also known as the CIF Southern Section “Blue Book,” beginning July 1.

One of the most obvious areas affected by the association rule’s elimination is club sports. High school coaches will now be able to coach their players in club settings as well.

Proposals to end the association rule had been brought up in previous years, but the CIF Southern Section remained the only section in California to have such a rule before Thursday.

“That’s huge,” Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo coach Aaron Chaney said of the rule’s removal. Previously, coaches could only hold practices from May 12 until the close of school, for a maximum of 15 days. During the rest of the off-season, they were limited to five hours a week — essentially one school period.

“I don’t have to stick to the five-hours rule now,” Chaney said. “I don’t have the pool in the fall, [CdM boys’ water polo coach] Barry [O’Dea] does. But let’s say Barry has an away game now. Now, if the pool’s empty after school, we can play polo. Little things like that, I’ll take advantage of.”

The proposal came from the CIF Southern Section Girls’ Water Polo Advisory Committee, of which both Chaney and Agoura High girls’ water polo and swimming coach Jason Rosenthal are members. Rosenthal, also the Chargers’ athletic director, said he had been trying for years to get the 32-year-old association rule taken off the books.

“With the lack of good quality coaches, our kids get affected,” Rosenthal said. “As a teacher, if a student comes to me for extra help, we can meet after school. As a coach, we don’t have that same option. And, as an athletic director, it’s harder to hire quality coaches [with the association rule].”

Sports where many of the athletes compete in both club and high school, such as volleyball and soccer, will be affected the most. Newport Harbor girls’ soccer coach Larry Draluck is also a coach in the Southern California Blues club program.

But Estancia girls’ soccer coach Steve Crenshaw said coaches had been abusing the association rule for years, anyway. The Southern Section did not act as a policing agency regarding the rule, instead acting on tips from other coaches.

Crenshaw himself used to run an area club soccer program, prior to taking the Estancia boys’ soccer job in 1995.

“I stepped away from club after that, but there’s a lot of people out there who have ignored the rule over the years,” Crenshaw said.

He said he saw the elimination of the rule as a positive.

“I think it’s good that we have the best coaches at the high school scene that we can get,” Crenshaw said. “When you discourage your coaches by saying you can’t coach club and high school, then the guy who’s relying on [club] for income, is going to walk away from [high school].”

CdM boys’ volleyball coach Steve Conti, who coached club volleyball with the Balboa Bay Volleyball Club as recently as 2006, said he has mixed feelings about Thursday’s news.

“More kids are going to specialize in a sport,” Conti said. “I’m a huge believer that most kids, while they’re growing up, should play multiple sports. Club is more about being a business. High school sports are more pure.”

Chaney also said coaches — and school principals — will need to exercise discretion. The responsibility now rests with individual schools regarding how much contact a coach and student-athlete have during the school year.

“You have to be careful, because some coaches will go crazy with this,” Chaney said. “Is more necessarily better? I know that I won’t have my girls every weekend. It gives us a lot more leeway, but some coaches will really take advantage of it.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.