Marine League football coaches agree to forfeit league games against Narbonne for ‘recruitment practices’

San Pedro, Banning, Carson and Gardena have chosen to not participate in games against Narbonne during Marine League play this 2024 season for concerns of illegal recruiting.

San Pedro football coach Corey Walsh talks to an official before his team takes on Garfield on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. / Tarek Fattal

There’s drama in the Marine League, an LA City Section high school football league in Southern California that’s set to begin Friday night.

Banning has chosen to forfeit its game against Narbonne, but the Pilots aren’t the only program ready to take a loss for what the rest of the league — clearly — believes is the appropriate action to get the City Section’s attention.

• MARINE LEAGUE PREDICTED FINISH

A letter signed by all the Marine League coaches from Carson, Banning, San Pedro and Gardena to City Section commissioner Vicky Lagos was issued on September 25 stating they will all join in forfeiting games scheduled against Narbonne due to their strong belief that the program is illegally recruiting.

An excerpt of the letter reads: “Reports in the past of players being flown in from out of state to join an already stacked roster reinforce the belief that this is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader strategy. We believe Narbonne's practices undermine the level playing field that athletics are supposed to offer, and if allowed to continue, these actions will create lasting damage to the reputation and integrity of our league.”

It goes on to state: “ … Therefore, until action is taken, we will not schedule or participate in any football games against Narbonne. Our programs deserve an even playing field, and we believe that these steps are necessary to restore the principles of fairess, safety and competition within our league.”

The letter was brought to light Friday afternoon on Twitter/X.

Lagos told the LA Times, “Until something is uncovered or they provide documents of something, they’re saying someone has committed a crime without going through the proper channels.”

Narbonne was put on probation from the postseason in 2019 and 2020 after its standout 2018 campaign that saw the Gauchos win the City Open Division championship. The championship was later vacated by the City Section due to a violation of CIF eligibility rules involving an ineligible player participating in the 2018 playoffs.

The beginning of the letter from the Marine League coaches alludes to this era.

“ … As you are aware, there have been persistent concerns for roughly a decade regarding Narbonne's recruitment practices, specifically related to financial incentives and housing arrangements, with allegations that athletes are being offered tens of thousands of dollars to play for their team.”

FULL LETTER

Letter from Marine League coaches to LA City Section commissioner Vicky Lagos stating it will not participate against Narbonne in 2024 season. /

More to come on this story …