Welch Says Cash Isn’t Refundable : Canyon: Boosters claim former coach reneged on promise to return money from defense fund when he won case.

CANYON COUNTRY â€”  When the Southern Section wanted to suspend Canyon High football Coach Harry Welch for rules violations in 1991, many of the school’s parents dug into their pockets to help him mount a two-year court battle.

Chris Connelly, a team mother who headed the Harry Welch Defense Fund, said the group raised $30,000 with the understanding that if Welch won the case, at least some of the money would be repaid to the Canyon booster club.

But two years after Welch won a settlement, boosters say they haven’t seen a dime. And Welch says he doesn’t owe them any money.

“It’s pretty discouraging,� said Tim McKeon, president of the Cowboy Touchdown Club. “(Welch) always promised he would pay (the money) back. I don’t know what his thinking is and why he hasn’t.�

Welch, who resigned as coach after the 1993 season, was bound by the court from disclosing terms of the settlement. He said no parent has asked him about the settlement and he criticized those who would suggest he kept funds that rightfully belonged to others.

“For people to presume I owe them money, it’s disgusting,� Welch said. “They’re somewhat out of touch with reality. Someone is demonstrating a lack of care and concern for what people went through.�

Welch, a teacher at Canyon, said his attorneys’ fees far exceeded money raised by parents, and his attorneys did not work without compensation, as some believe. Furthermore, he said, support for him and his wife, Cindee, waned as the legal battle dragged on.

“(The parents) were there at the beginning, and they were wonderful, but as time went on and expenses grew and grew, people went on with their lives,� Welch said. “The first year the boosters were there. The second year my wife and I were alone, risking our home and our financial security.�

Welch’s problems with the Southern Section began in June, 1991, when he received a one-year suspension after an investigation into rules violations by the Canyon football program. He received a temporary restraining order against the Southern Section a month later permitting him to return to coaching, and filed a civil lawsuit.

After losing numerous court motions, the Southern Section settled with Welch and dismissed charges of rules violations. The Times reported in June of 1993 that Welch would receive an undisclosed monetary sum for dropping his suit, according to informed sources.

Welch, though, seemed to question the accuracy of that report.

“For people to presume there was a monetary settlement is nothing more than a presumption,� he said. “A lot of people have theories about gold mines and buried treasure. It’s nice to think those things.�

Still, boosters wonder what happened. McKeon, who said he contributed more than $1,000 to the defense fund, believes Welch has raised suspicions by keeping people in the dark. Those suspicions were heightened, McKeon said, when Welch began driving a new Lexus shortly after the settlement.

“We don’t care what he discloses,� McKeon said. “Just pay us back the money. And if he didn’t get any money, tell us that.�

Said Welch: “I am required by law not to comment. . . . I did not ask that terms of the settlement remain confidential. The (Southern Section) asked and (San Fernando) Superior Court demanded it.�

Connelly helped raise the money for Welch’s defense fund because she believed the integrity of the school and the football program was under attack from the Southern Section and then-commissioner Stan Thomas. And she wanted Welch to continue as coach.

But Connelly also believed Welch made it clear that he would pay back the boosters if he won a settlement.

“I used to kid him about it,� Connelly said. “He used to say, ‘This is so much money.’ And I would say, ‘It’s all right, it’s only a loan. We’ll get it back.’ And he always said he would (pay it back).

“Even if he got a dime, we should have got part of that. But it’s not for me to question. If the boosters want to ask Harry, they can ask Harry.�

Welch would not comment on Connelly’s contention that he had agreed to pay back the boosters, saying, “It’s years and years after the fact.�

McKeon, who had a well-publicized physical altercation with Welch after the Canyon-Quartz Hill game in 1993, said some boosters have talked about pursuing the matter with Welch. McKeon said the booster club budget is $2,000 short of where it was last year, and the school weight room needs refurbishing.

But McKeon doesn’t hold out much hope of Welch reimbursing the parents.

“I think at this point, he has no plans of paying it back if this much time has gone by,� McKeon said. “Now the question is: What do we do and how do we approach it?�