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Hockey Moms Seek Varsity Letter
12-Feb-2007 Face Off with Capistrano Unified School District Scheduled for February 12th 








Hockey Moms Seek Varsity Letter
Face Off with Capistrano Unified School District Scheduled for Feb. 12th

IRVINE, CA -- February 5, 2007 – You won’t find Chris Dunbar and Linda Appleton of Coto de Caza resting easy these days. These two hockey moms are at center ice to face off with the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) over reinstating Varsity and Club status for the roller hockey players on their Tesoro High School team and those from their CUSD peers at Dana Hills and San Clemente High Schools, too. 

“The issues at hand far exceed just wanting recognition for our children, their teammates or their athletic contributions,” says Dunbar. “It represents what’s right for many and the opportunity to right a wrong.”

At the heart is the trial Club Sport status granted to the District’s high school roller hockey teams from 1999 through 2002 by the Board and then Superintendent, Dr. James Fleming. Student-athletes and teams from the CUSD high schools enjoyed acknowledgement through P.E. credits and Varsity letters by the District, including the Superintendent’s son, Sean, who played on Dana Hills’ Varsity team. The current effort by Dunbar, Appleton, and a long list of supporters seek to reinstate Club and Varsity letter status on an on-going basis.

“The club roller hockey program was terminated in 2002 for what could be argued as questionable causes,” says Dunbar, mother to Doug Dunbar, a Tesoro senior and Varsity Captain, freshman Derek who plays on the JV team, and eight year old daughter Nicole who plays on the girls’ 10U Cal Select Tournament and boy’s Anaheim Wildcats Mite A SCAHA ice hockey teams. 

While actual causes are suspect, in what may be among the questionable causes for termination was the inclusion of a condition in the 1999 temporary status to the club roller hockey program that the sport of roller hockey be certified by California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) by Fall 2001. 

“In the case of CIF sanction, it is obvious that the CIF did not certify by 2001 and is not presently considering the alternative sport of roller hockey to be a priority,” says Appleton, mother to Dane Appleton, a Tesoro sophomore on the JV team and younger son Austin, an 8th grader who plays for the Las Flores Jr. High roller hockey team. “Efforts by both the CIF and CUSD are more focused to lacrosse. But, it should be noted that the CIF has indeed granted its sanction to the Metropolitan Hockey League in the CIF San Diego section.” she says. 

Now in their ground-breaking 7th season, the CIF San Diego section currently sanctions twenty high schools throughout San Diego County. 

Yet another questionable cause was an interschool rivalry, which after a series of altercations at area shopping centers and teen locations during the school year culminated on June 21 2001 in an incident at an area hockey rink. “A legal action was threatened and later mitigated, but the result may likely have contributed to the termination of the club roller hockey program,“ said Dunbar. “It’s a weak excuse based on concerns over liability. Yet, from incidents at football games to injured cheerleaders, the District routinely faces these and similar concerns for liability,” she said.

In the course of their current effort, Dunbar has also been notified of other roller hockey roadblocks ahead from CUSD. 

“The District is facing several million dollars in budget cuts for the 2006/07 school year,” wrote Sherine Smith, CUSD's Associate Superintendent of Secondary Education in her January 4th letter to Dunbar. Further, “Staff does not believe it would be wise, now or in the future, to invest additional funding into an expensive program such as roller hockey when positions and school programs are being eliminated or reduced.”

“This argument is moot,” says Appleton. “The roller hockey teams are not seeking District funding of our programs or to provide facilities at any time, now or in the future. In fact, the club roller hockey program is proposed as a self-funded program through private and community sources.” 

“From tip-of-skate to top-of-helmet and all fees in between, each player participating on these teams are doing so through private funding sources,” said Dunbar. 

“Even with the 1999-02 temporary program, club roller hockey has been paying its own way. Further, effective with the District’s termination of temporary status as of the fall 2003 season, the student-athletes playing on roller hockey teams have continued to pay their own way to play and unofficially represent their respective school without incident,” says Appleton.

Dunbar adds, “and yet these student-athletes and teams, if officially acknowledged, would have made their District proud through their efforts not only in their competitive records in IHF League play, but even at the state and national levels such as the Dana Hills team which produced Varsity State Champions in 2004 and 2005 and going on to represent their school at the AAU Nationals in 2005. And they’re in good company; this IHF season the CUSD-based teams skate against their peers from Marina High School who won the AAU National Varsity Championship in 2006.”

In the roller hockey hot bed of Orange County, high school club hockey traces it roots back to the mid 1990’s. Today, the Interscholastic Hockey Federation (IHF) governs fifty-four varsity and junior varsity roller hockey teams representing thirty area high schools from thirteen public school districts and four private schools from three southland counties. Over 600 high school roller hockey players compete in the IHF League.

On the local front, two examples of club roller hockey in CUSD’s neighboring communities include public school neighbor Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD), and private school neighbor Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS).

SVUSD offers club and varsity recognition to over 120 student-athletes playing roller hockey on teams from El Toro, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo and Trabuco Hills high schools. Private school neighbor Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS) recognizes over 40 student-athletes on its roller hockey teams on a “club” basis. SMCHS has given authorization to award both PE credits and Varsity letters to the team.

“It’s important to recognize Roller Hockey as a Varsity sport because it opens the door for students to be recognized by their schools and peers for participating in a sport that teaches so much,” says Appleton. “Not all children are cut out for mainstream sports such as football or baseball,” she said. “This sport requires a lot from an athlete; you maneuver a little round puck down the rink with a 5-6’ stick, dodging 4 players from another team while balancing yourself on a set of 4-wheeled skates. You obviously have to have a lot of athletic skill to do that!” 

“In our hockey travels across the state and the region, we meet many teams and families who confront these same issues. We’re not alone in this cause,” said Dunbar. In her reference to the upcoming February 12th meeting with CUSD, she quips, “we’re ready to take the gloves off.” 

On January 31st, IHF president Art Wells announced the Board of Directors’ approval to suspend all Varsity games on Monday, February 12th to rally support for the CUSD action and all interscholastic Roller Hockey teams in the area. “It’s important to the sport and we’ve asked our high school roller hockey players to attend this meeting wearing their respective High School team jerseys,” says Wells. 

Games for the fourteen varsity teams will be rescheduled to complete the current 15-game regular season at both the 949 Roller Hockey Center in Irvine and the Anaheim Roller Hockey Center. 

The IHF presently governs the southland high school roller hockey teams of: Beckman; Brea-Olinda; Chino Hills; Corona del Mar; Dana Hills; Edison; El Dorado; El Modena; El Toro; Esperanza; Fountain Valley; Huntington Beach; JSerra; Laguna Hills; Loara; Los Alamitos; Marina; Mater Dei; Mission Viejo; Newport Harbor; Northwood; San Clemente; Santa Margarita Catholic (SMCHS); Santiago; Servite; Tesoro; Trabuco Hills; University; Villa Park; and Woodbridge High Schools. In addition, other schools have already expressed their interest for forming teams to compete in the 2007-08 season.

“We acknowledge common arguments by school districts across the county,” said IHF spokesman Jay Piz. “These women are ambassadors for us all through their dedication not only to their children and their teams, but to the sport. They have taken on this issue before the CUSD in the interest of interscholastic roller hockey players everywhere and they can count on the support from the hockey community.”


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The above 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 
Jay Piz, Media Director
Interscholastic Hockey Federation (IHF)


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