A messy year ahead for City Section

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If coaching in the City Section isn’t tough enough, imagine what it’s going to be like after July 1, when football coaches who want to work with their players in the off season will have to pay a $78 permit charge to use their own school field, plus pay $10 an hour for utilities and custodial supplies.

That’s part of the new rules going into effect because of budget cuts. Coaches will have to get a Civic Center Permit just like anyone else and find a way to pay for it if they want to use high school facilities after the regular school day has ended.

‘Just for kids to play, it’s getting ridiculous,’ Los Angeles Marshall Athletic Director Wendy Triplett said Monday during an Interscholastic Athletic Committee meeting. ‘I think this is a scam.’
Other issues that need to be dealt with include the fact all Los Angeles Unified School District schools will be closed Thanksgiving week because of furloughs. In the past, the City Section has played second-round football playoff games on Wednesday that week. Now, will they play on Friday? Will there be bus transportation? Will administrators agree to work supervision for free?

There also is a furlough day on Sept. 10, when schools open their football season. Who’s going to provide supervision? Barbara Fiege, the City Section commissioner, said all the questions will be eventually answered.

There’s also an issue about cuts with coaching stipends. Two positions have been cut in football and two in basketball, but Fiege indicated to IAC there have been offers of assistance from the community, which could help lessen the pending cuts.

-- Eric Sondheimer