The Sacramento Bee, May 25, 1995
RAY OF HOPE FOR SCHOOLS - ONCE MIGHTY ENCINA FINDS IT DIFFICULT TO GET BACK
ON TRACK TO GLORY DAYS
By Tim Oglesby Neighbors sports writer
   At the back of the boys locker room at Encina High School looms a
4-by-6 sign. A cardinal background highlights large gold letters emblazoned
across the placard's upper section. "Encina Athletic Records," it reads.
Metal slots below the board's headline are designed to display names of the
best football, basketball, wrestling, baseball and track athletes in school
history. Many of the slots are askew. Three are missing. Not one
record-holder's name is listed.
The old board stands as a symbol of Encina High's athletic neglect.
Still, Encina officials bristle at comparisons between the school of
today and its athletic heyday. They are tired of outsiders' ignorance
and inability to understand that there is no quick-fix remedy to
Encina's athletic woes. Rebuilding the Bulldogs' sports program is
much more complex than repairing the deteriorating symbol of former
athletic pride.
   Officials, though, say they are headed in the right direction. They
have already made some far-reaching decisions. When Tom Gemma became
principal two years ago, he threw open all coaching positions, meaning
everyone had to reapply for his job. "About 60 percent of our coaches
stayed," said vice principal Dick Gonsalves. "They all said they'd work over
and above what would normally be required of them to coach their sport here
at Encina." It was a much-needed first step. But not a panacea.
   Enrollment at Encina has declined in recent years. There are 883
students enrolled this semester, but administrators say the talent pool for
athletes is no larger than 350. The Bulldogs have dropped to
Division IV competitive status, where they still struggle in many
sports. That's a far cry from the competitive level of the 1960s and '70s.
In those days, Encina was nestled in Division I. And it consistently
challenged for many sports titles.
   Changes in the socioeconomic make-up of the student body, along with a
declining talent pool, have shaken the stability of the school's 12 boys and
girls sports teams. Nearly 31 percent of this year's students about 274 live
in poverty. Many of those students cannot take part in after-school sports
because they must work to help support their families or return home
immediately after their last class to supervise younger brothers and
sisters.
   Twenty-nine dialects are spoken at Encina. More than 200 students have
limited proficiency in English. Coaches find it difficult to communicate
instructions to students who have limited English skills. Many of those same
students are unfamiliar with the skills needed to play sports. Soccer, in
many instances, is the exception. But stressing team tactics in soccer also
is limited by language barriers.
   Encina suffers from a 60 percent annual student turnover rate. Numerous
apartment dwellers near the campus contribute to the transient nature of the
student body, school officials say. With new students coming in while others
are going out almost on a daily basis coaches find it difficult to establish
continuity in programs.
   "No matter how great our coaches are," Gonsalves said, "if you don't have
the (athletic) material to work with, winning is not going to happen. I do
think we're seeing improvement in our sports programs. But we're not going
to see greater improvement until more kids are exposed to sports at the
lower levels. In most of the communities in our (Golden Empire League),
sports is the only game in town for their kids."
   Winning teams in recent years have been rare at Encina. Since the
1990-91 school year, only six teams have ended the league season with
winning records, according to the limited league statistics available.
Football and boys basketball each possess one of those winning
records, while the boys track team owns the rest.
   None of the girls squads has had a winning season since the '90-'91
school year. Until last year, Encina was a member of the traditionally
less competitive Superior California Athletic League. And this year,
the Bulldogs have labored in what one co-athletic director, Russ
Hibbard, says is one of the strongest Division IV leagues in the state. In
girls sports especially, Bear River and Colfax have outstanding programs.
   "We'd like to see more comprehensive sports programs offered around
here so we could direct more kids interested in athletics," said John
Gallen, co-athletic director with Hibbard for the past five years, and
the school's track coach and assistant football coach. "When athletes learn
to work together as a team, it helps them in the
classroom," Gallen says.
   Senior three-sport athlete Lisa Zavala agrees. "Playing sports helped
force me to keep my grades up," Zavala said. "And it got me involved in the
more positive things in school so that I didn't have time to get involved in
the negative things."
   Peer pressure to associate with a gang or at least to appear to be
linked with one can deter some easily influenced students from
participating in athletics, school officials say. So, too, can drug use or
sexual activity or simply "hanging out." Encina administrators say there is
not significant gang influence at their school. And despite a highly
pubicized confrontation a couple of months ago with Sacramento sheriff's
deputies and city police, it is normally a calm campus.
   "I think, for the most part, that we've got good kids here," said
Gonsalves. Hibbard and Gallen get much of the credit for trying to stem
Encina's athletic slide. Yet they and the co-athletic directors have been
associated with the campus for five and six years, respectively. And not
until last year was Hibbard assigned to teach full-time at Encina. Gallen
doesn't teach, but he has coached track at the school for six seasons.
   "I feel strongly that Encina runs a good sports program and that those
programs are getting stronger," said Glen Blackman, a former president of
the Encina sports booster club who helps run fund-raising bingo games on
Sundays. He was heavily involved in Encina athletics when his son, Shawn,
and daughter, Shannon, participated in sports from 1986 to 1992. "Russ and
John have worked closely to get things back on track. And I think with them
involved that the sports programs at Encina can't do anything but get
better," Blackman said. "A lot of that has to do with respect: The coaching
staff respects the students more now than they used to. And the students are
showing the coaches more respect. Plus, the administration is now receiving
respect. It goes all the way to the top."
   Yet respect isn't enough to fund an athletic program, and money is in
short supply. Because the school competes in a league that demands a lot of
travel, much of the Bulldogs' sports budget is consumed by
transportation costs. While many schools allow their athletes to drive
themselves to athletic events, Encina is required by the administration to
charter buses for its trips to such out-of-the-way places as Golden Sierra
in Garden Valley, Marysville, and Bear River in Lake of the Pines. Besides,
as Gallen points out, most Encina students can't afford to own a car.
   "We spend about $19,000 a year just on transportation," Hibbard said.
That has prevented Encina from re-establishing the freshman sports programs
that were eliminated five years ago. Encina did restart a freshman boys
basketball program last year, but still does not field frosh teams in
baseball or football.
   To offset travel expenses, Encina athletes, teachers, coaches, parents
and boosters work bingo games from noon to 4:30 p.m. every other Sunday at
Fantasia Bingo Center on Arden Way. That workload recently doubled, as
Encina officials volunteered to replace a vacating Mira Loma booster group
on the alternate Sundays. Each Sunday, Gonsalves says, produces $1,000 for
an assigned athletic team or academic club.
   "I just wish we could win the lottery," said Gonsalves, who noted that
the so-called revenue-generating sports at Encina actually lose money. He
estimates that each home football game costs the school between $400 and
$500, as attendance is often sparse.
   Money isn't the only problem. Turnover in the Bulldogs' coaching ranks
has paralleled student body turnover in the '90s. Since the San Juan
district dropped middle school sports five years ago there has been a lack
of feeder programs. Recreation districts have tried to fill in with
volleyball, basketball, track and flag football programs. But the quality of
coaching has been inconsistent and some parents of potential Encina athletes
can't afford the fees.
   Gallen for the past several years has run an off-season track program.
That may help explain how the Bulldog boys were able to triumph in 21
consecutive SCAL dual meets and win or share SCAL track titles in '93 and
'94.
   Hibbard assists youngsters in youth football programs. And he runs an
off-season conditioning program for incoming football players. But hiring
experienced coaches for recreation sports programs is difficult, says Mark
Koller, director of recreation services for the
Mission Oaks Recreation and Park District. Still, he, too, sees hope
for a better future at Encina.
   "The coaching in our programs has improved immensely in recent years," he
said. "At least the kids in the Encina area are starting to get exposed to
sports, even if they're not getting the high-tech training they need."
   Encina coaches and school officials say they think the school's
athletic programs have a bright future. So does senior Jeffrey Tobin, a
three-sport athlete. "There have been a lot of good times in sports here and
some bad times," said Tobin, who added that a part of the problem is the
inability of some athletes to remain academically eligible. "But we've never
been able to get over the hump, so that we could call ourselves winners. And
until we as athletes begin to believe in ourselves as winners, we aren't
going to be winners, no matter how good the coaching staff is."