CCS Levies Salinas With Heavy Probation Penalties
By GEORGE WATKINS
The Salinas Californian
Central Coast Section officials showed no mercy on the Salinas High School athletic department Friday, slapping it with a list of penalties that will keep the football team out of the playoffs for two years.
In addition to the football program, every Salinas High sport has been banned from the CCS playoffs for one year, effective immediately.
Those sanctions mean Salinas High boys and girls basketball and soccer teams, as well as the wrestling team, won’t be eligible for the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin next month. Moreover, individual athletes will be barred from upcoming post-season tournaments.
“My dreams are gone,” Salinas wrestler Marco Orozco said when told of the sanctions while standing outside the school’s wrestling room Friday.
A junior, Orozco is ranked No. 3 in the CCS at 154 pounds with a 22-3 record and three tournament titles.
“This was supposed to be my year,” he said.
The CCS decision follows a long list of infractions by Salinas High, including playing ineligible athletes, unsportsmanlike conduct and an unauthorized television commercial involving members of the football team.
While most of the violations involved the football team, other Cowboys teams will share the punishment.
For the remainder of this year, spring sports such as baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, golf, swimming and boys volleyball also will be barred from competing in the playoffs.
The one-year ban continues into the fall season, where girls volleyball, water polo, cross country and girls tennis will be excluded from post-season competition. Further, the school’s entire athletic program has been placed on probation for one year.
“I believe it was a little bit harsh,” Salinas High principal John Macias said during a news conference in front of the Salinas High tower. “We didn’t expect it to be that much. But they (CCS officials) had a job to do, and we have to deal with it.”
Macias said he will confer with district personnel next week before deciding whether to appeal the penalties, which are among the most severe in the history of CCS.
The appeal process would begin with a CCS Board of Managers meeting in April.
A special three-member CCS panel handed down the penalties late Friday afternoon after a hearing with Salinas High officials Thursday in San Jose.
Violations over the past three years that spurred the hearing:
n In 2003, a boys basketball player was reprimanded for unsportsmanlike behavior in a playoff game against Serra.
n In 2004, a Salinas High football player assaulted a Live Oak High official on the field after a game.
n In August, an unauthorized commercial was filmed using seven Salinas High football players on the Salinas High football field, a violation of California Interscholastic Federation bylaws.
n In October, two Salinas football players were ejected from a game at Benicia.
n In November, a football player was caught with a false address, resulting in his being declared ineligible and the team having to forfeit five games.
n In late November, the Salinas girls cross country team had to forfeit a league title because of an ineligible player.
n Since November, about 250 students have been investigated for fraudulent addresses.
The ongoing problems of the Salinas High football team caused it to take the brunt of the blow.
In a letter sent to Salinas High on Friday, the hearing committee wrote: “The myriad of incidents involving the SHS football program in the past few years are of grave concern. The number of incidents is of concern but also the breadth of issues across so many different rules. The infractions in the football program reflect a lack of leadership, a skewed perspective on the role of football in the educational context of a high school, and an inability to respond appropriately to situations occurring within the program itself.”
Football coach to survive
Macias said Friday’s announcement will not affect the status of Salinas varsity football coach Mark Ironside.
“He’s still the coach,” Macias said.
Ironside was not on campus Friday due to a previously scheduled medical appointment and could not be reached for comment.
But assistant football coach Richard Uto said it’s up to the adults to lead the way
“We’ve always tried to be pro-active,” Uto said. “We really have to show the kids we’re there for them.”
Salinas High isn’t the first school to be heavily penalized by the CCS.
Several years ago, Los Gatos High had its entire athletic program put on probation, and three sports were banned from the playoffs for one year.
In 1996, the Woodside High football team was banned from the playoffs for one year, but it appealed the decision 10 months later after its head coach resigned and was reinstated.
Salinas High varsity boys basketball coach Joe Chappell has been with the school for 36 years and said he was stunned by the news.
“This is by far the worst I’ve ever seen it,” Chappell said. “We thought we might be put on probation or something like that. I don’t think I’ve heard of something like this before.”
Salinas High’s punishment, however, wasn’t the worst-possible scenario for the school – expulsion from the CCS.
On thin ice
CCS commissioner Nancy Lazenby-Blaser said the hearing committee based its decision primarily on the volume of problems affecting the athletic program over the three-year period.
“They deliberated for nearly an hour after Salinas left the (Thursday) meeting,” Lazenby-Blaser said. “It was a complex issue. The sanctions were applied not based on one situation, but because of all the situations.”
Being on probation gives Salinas High little margin for error.
“If they violate terms of probation they’ll be in real big trouble,” Lazenby-Blaser said.
Salinas varsity cheerleader Abbie Cauley, a junior, said Friday the wrong people are being punished.
“It’s not fair,” Cauley said. “This is just high school. It’s the parents’ fault for lying on the address. It has nothing to do with the students. All my friends are on the football team. The cheerleaders consider it a privilege to go to CCS.
Contact George Watkins at gw******@th************.com.
