By Kellie Mullin
Staff Writer
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees approved three new Costa club teams as official school sports at its Jan. 22 meeting and plans to create a policy for adding new sports in the near future.
Representatives from the three sports, club ice hockey, rugby and girls beach volleyball, spoke to the Board during the public comment session, confirming that they met the required criteria to become MBUSD athletic teams.
“The students indicated how excited they were to play for the school and how disappointed they would be if there wasn’t a Mira Costa hockey team,” hockey coach Trevor Oystrick said.
Prior to approval, the ice hockey and beach volleyball teams, spring sports, and rugby team, a winter sport, existed as Costa clubs that did not receive P.E. credit and whose coaches did not earn a stipend.
Now as teams, they must turn in athletic packets and have their schedules and school-connected fund raising organizations approved before their seasons start.
“I’m glad rugby, ice hockey and girls beach volleyball have been approved as official school sports at Mira Costa,” School Board representative senior Sara Chamberlain said. “They were often confused for official sports anyway, so it made sense to authorize them.”
Throughout the process, the district did not clarify on how a club sports team could become an official sport.
“We are creating a policy for approving sports teams to ensure that our athletics program and the associated policies and procedures are consistent and clearly outlined,” MBUSD Board President Karen Komatinsky said.
To accept future teams, MBUSD will base team approval on the availability of coaching staff, administrative supervision of teams, transportation for teams, student interest in new sports teams and Title IX, a law which states that students must have equal opportunity to participate in sports teams, regardless of their gender.
“The pros of adding more sports to Costa is that our students get one more opportunity to be involved in our school,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said. “Even though these new teams have many advantages, there are costs involved, there is administrative oversight required and there is additional liability.”
Matthews will bring a policy recommendation to the Board regarding the application of new sports teams in February.
“There’s a lot to do now that we have three new school teams,” Matthews said. “We have to make sure all the procedures are followed.”
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