Proposal Would Add Football Scrimmages

A proposal to allow high school football teams to add a preseason scrimmage to their 10-game regular-season schedule is expected to be introduced at today’s Southern Section Council meeting in Buena Park.

If passed at the council’s April 29 meeting, the proposal, to be presented by Frontier League representative James Christianson, would go into effect this fall.

“Presently, schools that want to have a scrimmage could only play nine games instead of 10,” said Christianson, principal at Calabasas High. “Football is about the only sport that doesn’t give teams the chance to look at themselves against other teams before the season starts.”

Christianson said the scrimmages would not be mandatory. “We know some coaches would be hesitant, thinking of it more as an 11th game. That’s not the intent.”

Several Orange County coaches contacted by The Times said they would favor such a proposal.

“I like the idea,” Orange Lutheran’s Jim Kunau said. “In that three-week period prior to the first game, it gets a little old working against your own players. And when you’re without great depth, it gives you the opportunity to run your top offense and defense personnel against other schools rather than your own scout teams.

“I don’t see it as an 11th game. It’s a controlled, teaching experience. It’s something I can support.”

Other coaches, including John Barnes of Los Alamitos, were less enthusiastic.

“My first thought is ‘I’m not interested,’ but maybe that’s not the right thought,” Barnes said. “I just wonder how much extra pounding you want your kids to go through during the year. And for teams that can be in playoffs, even a controlled scrimmage is extra pounding.

“If somebody wants to have a scrimmage, more power to them,” Barnes said. “If I have a new program, I’d want to see what I had. But established programs know where they have to be, and the year-round programs have made it a different story. You are more ready to play now than you used to be.”