Commentary: LAUSD sports schedules remain chaotic — and players suffer

It’s good that some sports are being played by Los Angeles Unified School District teams. But frustration is growing, along with chaos.

The City Section has decided that all spring playoffs will be at home sites for financial and coronavirus reasons, denying baseball players the chance to play their annual championship game at Dodger Stadium. From 1969 through 2019, every City final was played at Dodger Stadium. Then the pandemic hit, the 2020 season was canceled and now players again will be denied their dream finale.

The four-week football season began last weekend, but San Pedro is on the verge of not playing for the second consecutive week because of teams pulling out because of positive COVID-19 tests. This week, Canoga Park, Crenshaw, Marshall and San Pedro all have openings, but no one yet will commit to play each other, so the kids will be left spending Friday night at home. LAUSD is not allowing competitions outside of the City Section, eliminating the option of picking up a game against a Southern Section opponent.

LAUSD is also investigating track athletes who participated in invitationals outside of the district, which is against LAUSD rules. It remains to be seen what action will be taken against the athletes, coaches or schools.

Three boys’ volleyball programs — Lincoln, Banning and LACES — have dropped their programs, and Carson and Lincoln have dropped their girls’ programs. Baseball programs at Lincoln and Huntington Park have pulled out of spring seasons.

“It’s literally happening daily,” City Section spokesman Dick Dornan said of the mounting decisions by LAUSD schools to drop teams because of an inability to get athletes eligible or fulfill weekly testing requirements. “We’re trying to salvage seasons.”

Indoor basketball hasn’t been cleared to start, and time is running out. LAUSD also is focused on the return of students to campuses for classes at the end of the month.

Perhaps everyone should just be satisfied that some games are being played and safety protocols are being followed.

But it also would help if everyone understood the No. 1 priority should be getting all kids who want to play back on the field, and that requires compromises from administrators and coaches. Winning shouldn’t matter in this strangest of times. Giving players a chance to show their skills is the priority, along with safety. Someone needs to step forward to make it happen.