Wildfires Put Game on the Back Burner

The old fires continue to smolder and new ones could flare up in Legion District 20, where the last two weeks’ lowlights included:

* The June 26 disqualification of Scott Christensen and Dan Wasserman of Agoura Oaks for using two transfer waivers in their Legion careers, one more than allowed.

* Agoura Oaks Coach Lorry Gershon continuing to play the ineligible pair, leading to forfeitures against Newhall-Saugus, Verdugo Hills and Valley South.

* The revelation by District 20 Commissioner Mel Swerdling that he had not intended to tell Agoura Oaks’ opponents about the ruling on Christensen and Wasserman until the end of the season.

“I wasn’t going to change the standings until after the last eight or nine games so there would be a lot of intensity,” Swerdling said.

* Legion officials stripping Agoura Oaks of all its victories, leaving the team at 0-21.

* A protest by Burbank North Coach Frank Des Enfants on the eligibility of four more Agoura Oaks players on residency issues. It was ignored by officials because Agoura Oaks already was winless.

* Agoura Oaks players voting to play without Christensen and Wasserman after Legion officials notified them that the balance of the team’s schedule would be canceled if the two played in another game. The team has appealed the players’ disqualification.

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Now, Van Nuys West Coach Terry Stoller has filed a protest with Swerdling over the eligibility of Ryan Soroka, Jonathan Higashi and Erik Johnson of West Hills.

The protest, received Monday by Swerdling, states that the three are in violation of a state Legion rule that reads in part: “Players in . . . junior high and ninth grade freshman high school students . . . shall play for the base school team nearest their parent’s legal residence.”

Soroka and Higashi were Chaminade ninth-graders last school year. Johnson is an incoming freshman from Moorpark.

Swerdling said the protest “doesn’t mean anything” for Soroka and Higashi because the rule does not apply to private school students. Those athletes have the option of playing for the team based nearest their parent’s residence or for the team affiliated with the private school they attend, Swerdling said.

Swerdling, however, said he was stumped by Johnson’s situation.

“We’ve never had a case like this with a kid this young before; this is unique,” Swerdling said. “But the [state Legion officials] I talked to said this is such a small insignificant thing we can just let it go.”

Charlie Hatfield, Area 6 co-commissioner, however, read a copy of the protest and feels differently.

“Johnson would be ineligible for sure because he’s never attended [Chaminade],” Hatfield said. “But it’s up to Mel to rule on him first.”

Chaminade Coach Scott Drootin, a West Hills assistant, said Johnson has played “in four or five games,” this season, all West Hills losses.

Stoller is one of many coaches to express displeasure with Swerdling, who also coaches North Hollywood East, a Harvard-Westlake-based team that uses freshmen in the manner protested by Stoller.

“This isn’t a protest against [West Hills], it’s a protest against the way Mel does things,” Stoller said.

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In another developing situation, Area 6 co-Chairman Julio Yniguez said he will bring up for discussion at the next state Legion convention the dual roles of Swerdling and Stoller.

In addition to coaching Van Nuys West, Stoller is the district’s umpire-in-chief.

“Mel won’t make decisions because he says he’s a coach, so he turns them over to Terry Stoller and now I find out he’s a coach too,” said Yniguez, who was unaware before last Saturday of Stoller’s dual role. “That’s a conflict of interest and I’m going to look into it.”

Swerdling said he has been coaching Legion for 25 years and been the district’s commissioner for 23 and that his dual roles have never been a problem.

‘When it comes to my team, I have nothing to do with [a ruling],” Swerdling said. “And if a rule is broken and the rule is printed, it’s obvious, no matter who’s [ruling on] it.”

Swerdling said Stoller is the team’s “business manager,” so there is no conflict of interest.

“He hires coaches to run the team for him on the field and he sits in the dugout with his briefcase and no baseball paraphernalia,” Swerdling said.

Somebody call the hook and ladder truck. This thing threatens to burn out of control.