Preps / Scott Howard-Cooper : A Day of Decisions for Southern Section

A new commissioner will be named. The fate of foreign exchange students playing varsity sports will be decided. The referees are angry. Coaches are sure to be.

Welcome to big-game week in the Southern Section.

Thursday’s council meeting in Norwalk will bring decisions and action--and maybe some surprises--on at least four significant issues, all of which figure to have long-range importance. In a nutshell:

--The commissioner. Final interviews will be held today for the three candidates to replace Ray Plutko: Dean Crowley, Southern Section administrator; Stan Thomas, an administrator with the Tustin school district and a former high school football coach and principal; and Margaret Davis, associate commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation. The winner will be introduced Thursday.

--Realignment. Switching teams from league to league and switching leagues from division to division always manages to produce some disagreement.

--Foreign exchange students. The Southern Section’s rules committee has proposed that all foreign exchange students be eligible for junior varsity teams only. In Orange County, that is known as the Marco Baldi rule, in honor of the student from Italy who played basketball and volleyball at Irvine Woodbridge and went on to St. John’s.

--Referees. A good official is anonymous to the extent that he does not steal the spotlight at a game. Officials may not be the featured attraction Thursday but the federation in charge of 2,400 football officials is planning to be noticed and have its issues dealt with. Or else.

“If (the Southern Section) does not prepare to accept some kind of proposal or at least open fruitful negotiations, they are going to be surprised by the impact we are going to create,� said Dave Hull of the Southern California Football Officials Assn. “They could be very surprised by the way they are impacted.�

Hull, who will represent the organization at the meeting, won’t be specific on his plans until Thursday.

Ed Takahashi, representing the basketball officials, said that his group is concerned with the pay for double headers and increased fees in general, but that the group was not prepared to deliver an ultimatum.

“Maybe I’m not bent out of shape yet--and I say yet--but maybe that’s only because I don’t know what’s going to happen with football,� Takahashi said.

“I’m going to try to be upbeat going into the meeting and hopefully something will be resolved. Maybe that’s not the right attitude, but I will go into the program with good thoughts.�

Ratings Game: Like so many other coaches, John Klein knows that the only poll that matters is the one at the end of the season. Still, he can’t help but wonder if he blinked and missed something in the last couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago, his girls’ softball team from Cerritos Gahr was undefeated and No. 1 in the 4-A Division. The ranking was all the more impressive since the Gladiators were one of the few non-Orange County teams to get any recognition.

A week later, when the next coaches’ poll was released, Gahr was still undefeated--but had dropped to No. 4.

The fourth-ranked Gladiators are 19-0, the only unbeaten team among the top five. There is something to be said for the superior competition in Orange County, which Klein himself points out, but he is still having a tough time understanding the roller-coaster ride.

“I only know a couple of the coaches who vote, but what I hear is that some of them are thick as thieves together and keep voting for some of the Orange County schools if only in regard for the area,� he said. “I don’t know that for sure, but that seems to be the hearsay.

“I have no clue as to what they’re using as a guideline.�

Huntington Beach Edison, with a 21-4 record, is atop the poll this week, replacing Fountain Valley (19-4), which dropped only one place after losing last Friday. Cypress (21-5) is third, and Kennedy (21-5) is fifth. Gahr’s only hope appears to be for the other teams to keep losing, since winning doesn’t seem to do much.

The Gladiators have a bye today before playing Friday at Warren of Downey. The playoffs begin May 15.

Prep Notes The Fairfax basketball team will play in the King of Bluegrass Tournament in mid-December and then in the Las Vegas Holiday Tournament at the end of the month.