NDI311.htm

SoCal High School & Prep Report

CIF State Playoffs: Northern Region Divisiveness
In Division I Continues--(March 11, 1998)

The Northern Region Division I teams have yet to play a game. If you read our report yesterday, consisting of the reprints from the Sacramento Bee and The Gate, you know that Fremont was fighting to get into the playoffs, which had sent the seeding committee into a frenzy, because Fremont had been required to forfeit 18 games due to using an ineligible player. So was the player ineligible? Well, according to the Oakland School board, the same one that created the Ebonics controvery, "no", the player was not a resident outside the district; he wasn't a resident in the district either; he was homeless, and therefore, according to the State Education Code, Oakland contended it had the sole authority to determine who was eligible and who wasn't eligible to play on its teams. The CIF disagreed. So Fremont is out, and McClymonds is in. Here's the story from the Chronicle-Examiner, i.e., The Gate, which sheds some additional light on the controversy. It also sets out the seedings and gives those of us down here in SoCal a little bit better understanding of who's playing. Here's the story:

CIF asserts authority, rejects claims of player's eligibility

SAN RAFAEL -- The California Interscholastic Federation has jurisdiction over eligibility questions in the state, executive director Jack Hayes asserted Tuesday, and with that authority he invited McClymonds of Oakland to play in Wednesday night's Northern California Division I boys playoff quarterfinals.

McClymonds' entry was coupled with Hayes' rejection of the Oakland Board of Education's assertion that Fremont High was its champion and that transfer student Armond Wainwright was eligible under Oakland Section and CIF rules.

With the announcement Wainwright was not eligible and that Fremont's claim had been rejected, the commissioners of the six Northern California sections could go ahead with seedings originally scheduled for Sunday morning but delayed until mid-Tuesday by the Fremont controversy.

Defending champion St. Joseph of Alameda (26-4), the North Coast Section winner, was chosen No. 1 and assigned a game Wednesday night at Dublin High against No. 8 Jesuit of Carmichael (24-9), the Sac-Joaquin Section runner-up.

The seedings of greatest interest in San Francisco were Nos. 4 and 5 -- Central Coast Section champion St. Ignatius (26-4) earning a home game against Academic Athletic Association winner Galileo (24-6) for the unofficial City championship. A St. Ignatius victory likely would mean a St. Joseph-SI semifinal Thursday at an East Bay site yet to be determined.

Other quarterfinals will match Sac-Joaquin winner Vallejo (30-1) against CCS runner-up Bellarmine of San Jose (24-6) at Solano C.C. and McClymonds (23-5) against NCS runner-up De La Salle of Concord (24-4), No. 6 seed, at Laney College.

Hayes spent the night reviewing testimony transcripts and documents submitted in a five-hour hearing in San Rafael Monday during which Mount Eden of Hayward principal John Davini told of the athlete's transfer from his school to Fremont in November, and Davini and Oakland School District officials told of their efforts to determine Wainwright's true address.

Davini and Oakland Section commissioner Jerry Luzar testified that their findings were that Wainwright was living at a home in the Castlemont High district and that, therefore, 18 forfeit losses assessed against the school are valid. Fremont principal Emily Gaddis asserted Wainwright was at another address, within her school's boundaries.

The Board of Education found that Wainwright actually was homeless and therefore could not verify any address, a judgment Hayes rejected.

"No educator within the Oakland School District," said Hayes' formal decision, "took action to avail Armond of (procedures for assistance to homeless students) before or after Jan. 30, 1998, thereby indicating that the Oakland educators did not view Armond as a homeless person during this time." Hayes cited state law and items in the CIF constitution which, he asserted, gave his organization authority to determine eligibility questions. A Board of Education resolution adopted last Friday claimed that provisions of the California Education Code give local school boards authority in high school sports matters.