SJS-- Youth Advocate or Adversary?

[BigMann08]

Is the CIF's SJS a true champion for youth? Are the SJS administrative staff members responsible for processing transfer eligibility requests staunch advocates for all youth participating in youth sports?

Their rulings and decision-making regarding transfers have been incredibly tone def and show them great adversaries and opponents of youth in the Sacramento region.

The Kiku Parker fiasco made for bad press and left a sour taste in many people's mouths, especially those with strong ties to Sacramento. But, thankfully, NBA players, ex-MLB stars, politicians, youth activists, and members throughout the Greater Sacramento region supported Kiku Parker Jr. in his quest to play out his senior season at Grant.

I understand the need for a certain level of governance when it comes to governing youth sports. But the spirit of youth sports should always be advocacy!

There's no need for kids to miss six football games or half of the basketball season because they transferred schools, especially if they transferred before the school year or several months before the season starts. The CIF should grant the transfer full access to play sports if the new school accepts the student.


Does the SJS have a transfer problem? For example, what percentage of students athlete transfer schools in the SJS?

The Southern Section (SS), located in Southern California, is the largest in the state, with 400,000 student-athletes participating in athletic sports programs. Opponents accuse the section of high transfer rates, aided by a lax transfer policy that lets student athletes transfer relatively easily. According to their website, 98.25% of their student-athletes do not transfer schools during their high school experience. The section has a 1.75% transfer rate, which is neither extreme nor alarming.


I don't think that the CIF SJS respects the state legislature's power! I think it's time to meet with the California Legislature, which authorizes the CIF to administer High School sports in California, and share the countless stories of how the CIF SJS has ruined student-athletes career's/seasons. The SJS needs a firm reminder that just like it is a "privilege" for the athletes to participate in sports, it's also a privilege for the CIF-SJS to serve as governing body of the High School Sports of Sacramento.

If the CIF SJS doesn't want to ease up on the transfer rules, maybe it's time to tie them up in court and drain them of their resources! Per their website, "SJS Championship events generate 75% of their operating revenue." In other words, they can use the SJS championship earnings to fight lawsuits instead of making payroll to ruin kids high school seasons.

 

[vukovich]

Is the CIF's SJS a true champion for youth? Are the SJS administrative staff members responsible for processing transfer eligibility requests staunch advocates for all youth participating in youth sports?

Their rulings and decision-making regarding transfers have been incredibly tone def and show them great adversaries and opponents of youth in the Sacramento region.

The Kiku Parker fiasco made for bad press and left a sour taste in many people's mouths, especially those with strong ties to Sacramento. But, thankfully, NBA players, ex-MLB stars, politicians, youth activists, and members throughout the Greater Sacramento region supported Kiku Parker Jr. in his quest to play out his senior season at Grant.

I understand the need for a certain level of governance when it comes to governing youth sports. But the spirit of youth sports should always be advocacy!

There's no need for kids to miss six football games or half of the basketball season because they transferred schools, especially if they transferred before the school year or several months before the season starts. The CIF should grant the transfer full access to play sports if the new school accepts the student.


Does the SJS have a transfer problem? For example, what percentage of students athlete transfer schools in the SJS?

The Southern Section (SS), located in Southern California, is the largest in the state, with 400,000 student-athletes participating in athletic sports programs. Opponents accuse the section of high transfer rates, aided by a lax transfer policy that lets student athletes transfer relatively easily. According to their website, 98.25% of their student-athletes do not transfer schools during their high school experience. The section has a 1.75% transfer rate, which is neither extreme nor alarming.


I don't think that the CIF SJS respects the state legislature's power! I think it's time to meet with the California Legislature, which authorizes the CIF to administer High School sports in California, and share the countless stories of how the CIF SJS has ruined student-athletes career's/seasons. The SJS needs a firm reminder that just like it is a "privilege" for the athletes to participate in sports, it's also a privilege for the CIF-SJS to serve as governing body of the High School Sports of Sacramento.

If the CIF SJS doesn't want to ease up on the transfer rules, maybe it's time to tie them up in court and drain them of their resources! Per their website, "SJS Championship events generate 75% of their operating revenue." In other words, they can use the SJS championship earnings to fight lawsuits instead of making payroll to ruin kids high school seasons.

They should absolutely be taken to court much more often. The Kiku situation got over ruled by the state level of the CIF not the SJS. The more bad press they get and lawsuits coming forward they will make changes.

 

[BigMann08]

They should absolutely be taken to court much more often. The Kiku situation got over ruled by the state level of the CIF not the SJS. The more bad press they get and lawsuits coming forward they will make changes.

Indeed! I wonder if an advocacy group in the city exists. I'll definitely be inquiring. If one doens't exist, I will certainly bring more awareness to the situation. I wonder how many kids have experienced loss of half or full season? Seems extreme to me.

 

[WWHS44]

There are two sides to every story. Today the Bee posted the El Camino coach's side...believe what you will.

 

[larry legend33]

There are two sides to every story. Today the Bee posted the El Camino coach's side...believe what you will.

Yeah. Messy all the way around. I still say know your risk.
He’s a good player.in today’s world he still has plenty of opportunities. It was a lot worse years ago. You sat and pounded sand. Or you didn’t transfer.
Hopefully grant gets back to winning ways with him in lineup.

 

[BigMann08]

There are two sides to every story. Today the Bee posted the El Camino coach's side...believe what you will.

Indeed! I seen that the coach and AD are pushing the “advocate” angle real tough. That’s interesting given the fact that these gentleman “put together a timeline of text messages and photos showing pre-enrollment contact between Grant and Parker, including images of Parker playing summer ball with the Pacers days after leaving El Camino.”

Sounds more like “advocating” for his demise. An advocate would have said we had a bad falling out, we couldn’t reconcile/it didn’t work out, he went back to his neighborhood school, we wish him the best….

The coach knew he was from DPH…

 

[MLMatador]

I've read the Bee articles on Kiku's tranfer eligibility, and I read the article this morning giving El Camino's side. There is a box to check on the transfer paperwork from the original school that states "Unrestricted Eligibility" for the student-athlete. If the El Camino AD did indeed check this box, then I believe his statements that the Section office followed up on Kiku's request, and EC simply provided the information they had on any contact with Grant's program. If the section asked for a timeline of text or email contacts regarding the issue, that would be easy to put together. Same with pictures of Kiku playing for Grant's team during this time period. In the age of social media, these pics would be easy to find. My understanding is that Kiku transferred out of EC at the end of the school year then enrolled at Grant before he started playing for Grant's summer team, which sounds legit since the Section is dark over the summer. Too bad there was a falling out between the Parkers and the EC coach. It's even worse if the family felt they needed to assassinate the coach's character to get eligibility. The rules are the rules, and if high schools want to change the rules regarding eligibility, then high school ADs can lobby the section office and vote to make these changes. The SJS works for the member schools, not the other way around.

 

[BigMann08]

It was determined in the hearing that the young man was from the DPH area and had grown up playing at Grant’s gym/field. It isn’t hard to find photos/videos to support this claim as they too are circulating online.

The initial investigation wasn’t thorough enough. For they could have easily determined that Parker was from the DPH community and was returning back to the community that he grew up in. Just as they did during the appeal.

So the whole recruitment/tampering thing is appalling. Especially since he grew up with all of the kids now attending Grant. That’s his home community.

I don’t buy the “rules are rules” argument. High School Sports governing bodies should be more about advocacy than opposing kids. And let’s not forget that the CIF is authorized to govern HS sports by the California Legislature, not the High Schools themselves.

It appears that the AD’s are happy with the way that things are ran. If they weren’t, they would have made changes a long time ago. This is why families will have to start tying the CIF up in court.

Two parties who can’t resolve their differences should part ways. The young man should have been granted unlimited eligibility and received full support from the AD.

Advocacy means squashing all of this recruitment nonsense. The EC coach knew where Parker was from and was bitter that he landed at Grant. He didn’t like seeing Parker playing summer league at Grant.