Prep column: Cook’s departure stirs the stew

Man, a school could get a complex.

Estancia High, its mascot an Eagle, continues to be the school that cries

wolf when it comes to hiring coaches.

“o7 Come media, come community members, come athletes and parentsf7 ,”

Estancia administrators have trumpeted, “o7 come meet our new varsity

head coach -- but don’t get too attachedf7 .”

Roy Scaffidi (football), Joe McKettrick (baseball), Kirk Bauermeister

(baseball) and now Rick Cook (basketball) -- who combined to coach a

whopping one regular-season game before turning in their keys -- have

shuttled through the red and gold revolving door since the summer of

1997, creating more than a minor source of embarrassment to those who

work, study and compete along Placentia Avenue.

Once or twice, a coincidence, perhaps. But with Cook’s resignation, after

one meeting, two lightly attended practices and one disastrous summer

league game, maybe it’s time to look for symptoms behind the epidemic.

Granted, each situation had its own nuances. And, Bauermeister’s

flirtation with the Eagles, then kiss-and-make-up return to Costa Mesa,

his alma mater, should, in all fairness, be absolved from the equation.

Cook, who says he left because he believes the program would be better

served with an on-campus coach, noted the hiring process itself does

nothing to insure a perfect union between incoming coach and the school.

Cook believes the process, largely dictated by Newport-Mesa Unified

School District policy, but still orchestrated by school administrators,

is too drawn out. By the time he was hired (two days after graduation),

there was, he said, no margin for error when it came to getting everyone

on board to prepare for a successful season.

A scheduling conflict between summer basketball games and football

passing league games, with an atypically high number of athletes involved

in both sports, helped create the sporadic attendance Cook experienced.

So, seeing no short-term solution, Cook decided an on-campus coach would

be necessary to negotiate better attendance by football-basketball

players to make the program work.

One problem: There is still no full-time teaching position and one is not

foreseen for any prospective coach. So, a walk-on will be asked to come

forward, riding out an indefinite period without full-time teaching

employment.

Long and political is the debate over prioritizing teaching openings for

athletic coaches, at the supposed sacrifice of educational integrity.

But, somehow, Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa and Newport Harbor seem to have

found a way to keep teacher-coaches around long enough to launder at

least one pair of coaching shorts and a practice T-shirt.

Are Estancia’s problems in this area too difficult to overcome? Or, have

administrators merely failed to meet the challenge of filling coaching

vacancies in their most high-profile boys varsity sports?

These questions deserve to be posed.

Estancia isn’t the only program left reeling by Cook’s recent career

detour. He also left behind good friend and admiring colleague Larry

Hirst at Newport Harbor High.

And, with Cook’s iron in the fire for the vacancy at Artesia High, it’s

unlikely Cook will return to Sailor land.

What’s more, Hirst is unsure whether assistant John Mounce, whom Cook had

recruited to join him at Estancia, will be back.

Hirst, who initially said he was left “numb” when Cook and Mounce told

him they were Estancia-bound, may be unwilling to recommit to either.

Hirst’s Sailors, as well as Paul Orris’ CdM Sea Kings, have committed to

a three-day, 32-team George Yardley Summer Cage Classic, scheduled

Friday-Sunday at Newport Harbor, Ensign Intermediate and Vanguard

University.

Thanks to a sizable contribution from the Tars’ most famous hoopster, a

member of the Basketball Hall of Fame for which the tournament is now

named, the event, formerly the Surf City Classic, was expanded to include

schools from six counties.

Harbor opens Friday, hosting Katella at 2:30 p.m., while CdM opens

against La Sierra Friday at 11 a.m. at Ensign.

The title game is 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Harbor.

Mater Dei, Edison, coached by former Estancia head man Rich Boyce, and

Northwood, guided by former Estancia and Orange Coast coach Tim O’Brien

are also in the field.