El Toro Parents Tell Their Side

Editor’s note: What follows are excerpts from a letter sent to Steve Kozaki, director of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions high school girls’ basketball tournament. A copy of the letter was also sent to The Times. Because of incidents surrounding the Dec. 23 game between El Toro and Chino Don Lugo in the TOC, Kozaki said El Toro would not be invited back to the tournament. El Toro girls’ Athletic Director Sheri Ross also decided to withdraw the girls’ basketball team from the recently completed Marina tournament.

We, the parents of the El Toro [girls’ basketball] team, recognize that participation in the Tournament of Champions is an honor and a privilege. We do not condone violent behavior by any fans and it is unfortunate that this incident has marred our reputation.

With all respect we wish to set the record straight, inasmuch as we feel the media have not reported fairly on the events surrounding the TOC game between El Toro and Don Lugo.

Let us start with responsibility. Both sides of the court need to be responsible for the behavior of their fans. From the outset of the game the Don Lugo fans were loud and obnoxious with name-calling and yelling. After the foul in the fourth quarter that resulted in the technical foul against El Toro, the Don Lugo side became even more verbally vicious (in English and Spanish). The media failed to mention these verbal assaults in their reporting.

It must be noted that during the game our fans did not step onto the court until it became clear that our girls were at risk of being injured by the Don Lugo fan who entered and began to cross the court toward our team.

As for the alleged assault that occurred outside the gym, it is important to note that although a police report was filed, no charges were filed. We want everyone to know that none of the players, their parents, family or El Toro Booster Club members was involved in the attack. After the game was over, we were concerned for the safety of our girls, which prompted us to remain in the gym with them until all fans had left.

In response to these events, we have resolved to support a code of conduct that is respectful, and one that we will be proud of. We have every hope that all our fans will support this code of conduct.

We would also like to note that there had not been any complaints or incidents of any sort [at the TOC] prior to the Don Lugo game. We feel strongly that this was an isolated incident and should not be the basis to disqualify future El Toro teams from participating in the TOC.

Parents of the El Toro girls’ varsity basketball team