Section Committee Tables Playoff Pairings Plan

BUENA PARK — A proposal to base Southern Section high school playoff pairings primarily on geographic proximity was tabled Thursday by league representatives to the section’s general council.

Members were given three playoff format options:

--Making early round playoff assignments in all sports based on proximity.

--Pairing non-revenue-producing sports such as water polo, boys’ and girls’ tennis, badminton and baseball in playoff brackets based mostly on proximity.

--Maintaining the status quo, in which teams are grouped in divisions and paired according to enrollment and competitive equity.

Under the proximity proposals, the top four teams would be seeded, and league champions would not meet in the first round. But members of the same league could meet as early as the second.

“It’s also conceivable (under the proposal) that three teams from the same league could be in the same bracket for the quarterfinals,” said Bill Clark, Southern Section administrator. “The potential of the two best teams meeting in the quarterfinals also exists.”

Under the current system, pairings are made to avoid such games until the semifinals or final.

While some council members supported the proposals in theory, most wanted further information and more study by a playoff grouping committee.

Corona del Mar Principal Tom Jacobson, who advocated the status quo, noted that 50% of the participants in the playoffs are eliminated in the first round and 75% are out after the second.

“I don’t mean to downplay transportation costs in a time of budget cuts, but how much is a school or district going to save under this proposal?” he asked.

In other action:

--Jacobson reported that 10 of 15 superintendents in the county have agreed to continue with plans for the formation of a CIF Orange County Section for 1994-95 despite rejection by the general council and State Federated Council last year.

--Council members voted unanimously to support a ruling that would allow girls to participate in the pole vault at track meets beginning in the 1992-93 season. Currently, National High School Federation rules do not provide for female participants; women do not compete in the pole vault on any level.

“If girls are allowed to participate in football, wrestling or water polo, I can’t imagine why a pole vaulter should become a gender equity issue,” said Associate Commissioner Dean Crowley. Among the girls requesting a ruling to compete is Nicole Randall of Fountain Valley High.

--Council members denied a request by Fontana High to suspend the right of entry to the Fontana-Rialto Eisenhower game, scheduled Oct. 29 at Cal State Fullerton, to those holding a Southern Section courtesy card.

--Council members approved protocol that would allow the section’s executive committee to manage the first Reebok Bowl scheduled Dec. 18 at Anaheim Stadium. Under contract terms, the Southern Section and the City Section will split the gate receipts and $50,000 television rights from KCOP.