L.A. Prep Officials Vote to Try to Save Seasons

Athletic officials from the Los Angeles Unified School District voted to try to salvage the winter sports season Tuesday despite earthquake damage to facilities at many of its schools in the San Fernando Valley.

All district athletic events have been postponed since the Jan. 17 earthquake, and none are scheduled to begin until next week. Many schools have not resumed classes.

Despite all the troubles for the nation’s second largest district, there was unanimous support to try and save seasons in a meeting Tuesday at Grant High in Van Nuys. The sports affected include boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ soccer and wrestling.

“Now I have to go out and look for a place to play,” said Steven Kalan, athletic director at Van Nuys, whose two gymnasiums are being used as shelters. “These sports mean the world to some of these kids.”

Most of Tuesday’s meeting concerned basketball, which is played by all of the district’s 49 high schools. Two of the district’s six conferences, Northwest Valley and Valley Pac-Eight, are made up of schools from the San Fernando Valley. Many of those schools have gymnasiums that are damaged or being used as shelters.

The lack of facilities and concerns over transportation had some schools considering canceling their seasons on Monday. But it was a different story Tuesday, as Barbara Fiege, district athletic commissioner, vowed to do whatever she could to meet the demands. Fiege had coaches and athletic directors meet with others in their conference to work out plans. She will compile their requests and make a proposal to her supervisor, Dick Browning, today. An announcement is expected by the end of the week.

The other four conferences, made up of schools from central and South-Central Los Angeles, the Westside and South Bay, will resume their schedules next week.

Times staff writer Gregory Sandoval contributed to this story.