Assembly Standing Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism

Wallace. Here. Fong. Here. Friedman. Hart. Here. Lackey. Here. Valencia

Okay, we have only one item today. SB 486. Hurtado. Interscholastic Athletics. California Interscholastic Federation. Better known SCIF state football championships. Neutral locations. You may begin.

Good morning, Madam Chair and Members. I'm here to present SB 486, which ensures that the California Interscalastic Federation holds all state football championship games for all divisions at comparable neutral locations. California continues to grapple with disparities in the quality and accessibility of opportunities between high income and Low income schools, but particularly when it comes to sports fields and educational facilities. In early December 2022, under the current rules of the CIF, 30 high school football teams competed in state championship games. For teams competing within the top five divisions, their games took place at a neutral location, which was a saddleback college with better field conditions, better medical accessibility, better seating, better sidelines, and overall, better media participation. The remaining divisions were not afforded the same level of attention or opportunities, and the conditions under which those games were played varied significantly from the CIF state Championship games hosted for the top five divisions. These players and communities were relegated to outdated facilities and were deprived of the chance to play in a neutral location devoid of media coverage and scouting exposure. While all winning teams can rightfully claim the title of California State Champion, it was evident that the playing conditions were far from equitable. Students who earned the opportunity to play in any CIF state championship game deserve the same treatment so they can be safe, so they can showcase their talents and skills, and so they can be recognized for the hard work and discipline it took to get there. Making it to the CIF State championship is a great accomplishment that should highlight the student athletes and the communities where they come from. These teams and communities should have been celebrated and treated with the level of attention that they deserve, but that was not the case. Unfortunately, the athletic experiences for students from rural, Low income and disadvantaged communities across California are shaped by the neighborhoods they live in. To this very day, we continue to see inequity issues in the quality and availability of opportunities again between high income and Low income schools in California, including access to high quality sport fields and educational facilities. SB 486 dives into this deeper issue of inequity seen throughout our education systems, especially when it comes to those in our rural, Low income and disadvantaged communities. I do want to acknowledge that CIF for allowing meaningful conversations with my office on this issue. They have expressed that they appreciate our goal and intent behind this Bill and agree that our student athletes should be able to have similar state championship experiences. However, through this Bill, we are asking the state to assist in providing equitable experience for all student athletes who have earned the opportunity to compete and be forever known as a California State champion. And for the reasons outlined here today, I will continue to move the Bill forward until, as a state, we are certain that all of our student athletes get the experience they deserve. I do have two witnesses here with me today. Both students will be sharing their experiences from their recent state championship game. Witness one, Ezekiel Osborne, second rated freshman quarterback in the state and third in the nation, and witness two, Marion Sloan, also a freshman standout.

Good morning. My name is Marion Sloan and I will be a sophomore at Shafter high school. First, I want to thank the Committee for allowing me to speak to you on this topic that is really special and important to me. As a young boy, I played travel flag football and was able to play in many championship games. I had the honor and pleasure of playing several of these games at NFL stadiums across the nation, including the LA Rams, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints. Those experiences created positive memories that will cherish for the rest of my life. As a freshman, in the week leading up to the state championship game, I was super excited and when I thought of a varsity football state championship game, I thought of a big and nice field with even hundreds or thousands of Shafter fans ready to support their team. Not saying I thought it would be an NFL stadium, but I expected it to be something pretty nice and memorable. When we got to Orlando High School on December 10, 2022, it was the exact opposite of what I expected. The visitor stands weren't even big enough to set all of our Shafter fans before we even came out for warm ups. The stands were full with people sitting on the stairs, standing along the gate and standing on the sides of the stands. There were even people who brought inside in their own chairs. The field was flooded with puddles spread out across different areas of the field. As soon as I took a step, my foot would just sink and get stuck in the mud. The mud was so bad I couldn't move how I wanted to. I felt extremely limited and restricted. It was difficult to catch the ball because it was so slick and muddy. On defense, I was having a hard time switching directions and making tackles because every time I would make impact with someone, my feet would simply slide out from under me. The mud wasn't only affecting my mobility, but it was also getting into my eyes, significantly affecting my vision. Towards the end of the game, I was squinting because the mud burned so bad. Normally during a game I'd be hot and sweaty, but during this game my body was sweating. Although it was really cold, the water and mud getting into my jersey pants and shoes made my entire body feel really cold and tight. Most high school football players will never have the opportunity to make it to the big game during their high school career. I was extremely excited about making it to the CIF state championship game, but it was not what I dreamed a state championship would look like since I couldn't perform at my best in those conditions. I know for a fact that my teammates and Orleans players were not playing at their best either. It would be nice to get this fixed because it's not only important to me, but more important for the future of California high school football. Each year, over 1000 California high schools compete for just 30 CIF state championship football game spots. So it's definitely an honor to play in a CIF state championship game and it should be provide a positive experience and lasting memories for generations to share. I don't want my fellow football players around the state to have the same CIF state championship game experience I did. I would love for them to play in a big stadium at a neutral location with all their fans watching, cheering them on. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Ezekiel Osborne and I'm a freshman in the starting varsity quarterback for Shafter High School on December 10 of 2022. My team played in the Division Five state championship game another team from my hometown also made it to the state championship game for Division One and the team's experiences could not have been more different. My team was not a powerhouse and we are a young team of only 26 guys from a small rural school. We grew as a team through the season of struggles and barely made it to the playoffs. Our team grew closer and closer and went on a win streak that you could write a movie about 14 miles south from us. A team from Liberty High School was returning to the state game for the second year in a row. They had around 90 players from all over a much bigger town. I, like every other quarterback, had always dreamt of leading my team to state. The only vision of the big game I had was what I saw on TV and social media from Liberty state Championship last year. A huge college turf Stadium, a DJ, instant replay, full media coverage and live stream by a professional media team, all on a fair and neutral site. I was surprised when I found that we would be traveling six and a half hours on a bus to our opponent's field, a field that was worn out with barely any grass and soaked from all the wearing. When we called to see if they had any seating for my uncle that is in a wheelchair, they said he would have to sit on their home crowd side or they would wheel him out on the track and my grandparents, who are his caregivers, would have to stand next to him when we asked whenever we got there. They could not accommodate for all of our fans and they said that they would have to stand along the side of the track or go sit on the other side. So my dream night turned into one of the most disappointing times of my life. A game played in the middle of nowhere, neither team getting to play anything that resembled a football game in ankle deep mud. No scouts came out to the tiny town in the terrible conditions to watch great players roll around in the mud. My uncle and the rest of our fans, instead of going, had to watch a spotty stream of the game that kept pausing and the announcer did not even know our town's name. I returned home to see the incredible day my friends from Liberty High School had on a field where five other games were played. They got to display all of their talents for the world to see in a first class stadium that can see thousands. The news and CIF's own website was playing up how nice their facility and game was. So I'm here to ask this why we all paid the same price. Blood, sweat, tears, time away from our families. How can you tell one group of us that we are worth less than people that live 14 miles down the road from us when we all put in the work to get there. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. We will now hear from the opposition. Good morning.

Before I want to go a little off script before I start, and I want to thank the students once again. We've heard them testify several times, and I'm hoping they're going to hear in our testimony today that we have heard them and we've listened. Good morning, Chair Quirk-Silva and Committee Members. I'm Dr. Ron Nocetti, Executive Director of the CIF, and I'm here in respectful opposition to Senate Bill 486. Before discussing our opposition, I want to thank the author's office for engaging in discussion allowing them to meet with their staff. As you'll hear in my testimony, we support the intent of the Bill. We just object to the state dictating this level of control over management of high school athletics in our state. As an aside, as far back as our legislative history goes, which is about 25 years of records, this is only the second time that we've taken opposition to a Bill, the last time in 2006. For more than 100 years, we've served as a grassroots organization while ensuring consistency in the application of rules and policies pertaining to our athletic programs in our state, which are adopted, reviews and revised by our membership. We believe the best setting for resolving most, if not all, matters through high school athletics is through this Member driven and collaborative approach. As you heard, after the numerous historic atmospheric rivers that hit California in December of 2022, we heard from several of our high schools that would we consider moving all games to a neutral championship venue like our main championship site. We agreed that all of our student athletes deserve to have the same or similar championship experience and so therefore, over the course of the next several months, CIAT began meeting with our Football Advisory Committee, our section Commissioners from our 10 sections around the state, our Executive Committee and staff to discuss the feasibility of hosting all 15 games at comparable neutral sites. We've submitted applications to various junior colleges throughout the state and is our intent to use neutral and comparable sites for this fall, pending availability of the sites? Because obviously that's not completely within our control. While these sites willingness to host the event is both out of our control and the Legislature's control, if we are successful, we will be able to accomplish the intent of this Bill this fall in 2023, before the law actually takes effect. In conclusion, we believe the best setting for resolving this matter is through the course already underway by the CIF and that SB 486 is an unnecessary use of state authority. For this reason, we oppose this Bill. Thank you.

Thank you. With that, we will hear from anybody who has joined us in the audience. To register their support or opposition, please come to the mic.

My name is Jack Osborne. I'm from Shafter, California, and I'm here to support the Bill. Is there time for comment or just your register? Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have anybody else? Did they change the button system here? Okay. With that, we have no other individuals registering support or opposition, so we will bring it back to the Committee for comments. Assembly Member Lackey.

I appreciate having the opportunity to speak to this. It's kind of an important issue. I'm from a very small high school that routinely competes in CIF, and the school that I graduated from has less than 300 in the school. So I'm also very sympathetic to the problems that you're addressing in this particular proposal. Even recently, I've expressed my dismay over a couple of things that are handled by the CIF. Even recently, my high school had to compete against a high school with an enrollment that exceeded 2000. And I continue to voice my perspective of unfairness with the CIF leadership. And even though I've been non compelling, I believe that CIF should remain an independent governing body. I've never brought my concern in the form of legislation because I believe in smaller local government and I feel like this kind of steps outside. I do completely support the intent of this Bill, and I'm hoping that CIF recognizes that this needs to be adopted. I'd still like to push my other issue, but this is not the forum for that. But I would just tell you that I just have reservations on this pathway. I think that your issue is very strong and I think it's very compelling, but using this pathway, I have trouble with. That's all.

Thank you, Assembly Member. Any other comments? Assembly Member Hart?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree that this issue is really important, and I appreciate you bringing it forward. And it sounds as though from the representatives of CIF that they're going to do everything they can to address this issue as soon as possible and make sure that the next student athletes are in that similar situation, don't have that experience and have the appropriate fields and have an equitable playing field and a neutral site to enjoy their experience. But I, too share the concerns that state legislation at this point seems to be ahead of the dynamic that's going on that you created by engaging with folks at CIF to get the resolution that we're looking for, and I'd like to let it have the time to resolve itself that way.

All right. I will make a few comments. I, too agree that there's an issue that needs to be resolved. I am happy to hear that you are working on it in a timely manner. And I think that, of course, some of the references were to last year with the heavy downpour, but I think overall I do support this Bill. It will be moving to Education Committee. I happen to live in an area where we have some very highly acclaimed college facilities and so forth. But I do understand the manner of what you're speaking as far as trying to make sure you can get others to buy into the concept. But I do think you are both in agreement and moving forward. I just ask the author to continue to work with the opposition and there could be a place where this could all happily end, because I don't think you're on opposing viewpoint. You made the point that you feel that there is some changes that need to be made with that. Do we have a motion? We have a motion, and I can second that. And we do have two missing Members, but we'll go ahead and take the roll call.

Madam Chairman, can I close?

I'm sorry. Yes, you may close.

Well, thank you. Once again, Members of this Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to come and speak. In my closing statement, I would just really want to emphasize that to what our colleague, as someone Lackey, mentioned, it seems like there's issues within that need to be addressed that haven't been addressed. Right. And this is the reason why we're pushing for this Bill, because we don't want to be in a situation where we have conversations without a piece of legislation and nothing gets done. I mean, it's been six months. I'm not aware of any policy that has been implemented internally within CIF to try to say, hey, we're moving along. We're going to get this done. All we're hearing is we're looking to get this done, but it hasn't been done. And so I think actions speak louder than words. That's why we're pushing for this piece of legislation. And the other piece that I'd like to say is that these are our students. Every high school pays into CIF. Every student pays into CIF. So as much as I'm also a supporter of local control, at some point we need to step in and say, hey, this is not right. You do receive state funding per student. They deserve an equal opportunity just as much as every other student across this state. And so with that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

All right. With that, we have a motion and a second, then we will go ahead and call the roll.

Quick-Silva? Aye. Wallace? Aye. Fong? Aye. Friedman? Aye. Hart not voting. Lackey? Not voting. Vallencia

At this point, we're going to hold the roll open for a remaining Member. We'll hold that roll open for five minutes. And we thank you for joining us. Thank you so much. And I really do think there's a resolution down the road here. Thank you. We can go ahead and do we need to do the roll for Friedman? You already voted.

All right, we have Assembly Member Avalino, I mean Avelino, Valencia and how are you voting? Assembly Member on SB 486 an aye, and with that. It looks like we have the Bill is out with a five ayes and two non votes and we will be closing our hearing.