At U.S. International, Three Sports Get Go-Ahead to Play ’91 Seasons : Athletics: Baseball, softball, golf will get no financial support from the school. Gulls still will relinquish membership in NCAA Division I.

SAN DIEGO —  U.S. International University’s board of trustees, after reviewing appeals and proposals by three coaches who guaranteed they could financially support their own seasons, voted to let the Gulls’ baseball, softball and golf teams go ahead with their 1991 seasons Friday.

The decision by the trustees came two weeks after the university filed for bankruptcy and one week after the trustees voted to suspend all USIU sports programs indefinitely. The authorization was made after the coaches presented detailed plans showing that they had the resources.

“Absolutely no university dollars will be spent to support the programs,” said USIU President Kenneth McLennan, who specified the necessary funds must be in a special bank account before the first event of the season.

McLennan said, however, that the preservation of baseball, softball and golf this spring would not reverse the school’s decision to relinquish its Division I standing at the end of this year.

“This is the end of an era at USIU,” Athletic Director Al Palmiotto said. “Our Division I program has brought a number of great athletes and achievements to USIU in recent years. (However, I’m) pleased the players and coaches will be allowed to complete their seasons.”

“I’m extremely pleased the players will have an opportunity to finish their season,” said baseball Coach George Kachigian, the most vocal of the three coaches during the appeal process. “That was my sole purpose in this effort. I recruited them, and I want them to have an orderly transition to the future.”

All USIU athletes under scholarship will remain so until the end of the school year, McLennan said. But many are expected to leave the university at that time, because the future of athletics at the school are uncertain and will depend on how quickly it can turn assets into cash through its bankruptcy proceedings.

However, some of those athletes are considering transfering now. USIU is currently between sessions, with its spring quarter scheduled to start Monday. Softball Coach Ray Hewitt said he will hold a meeting Sunday, during which his team will vote on whether it wants to play the season. Hewitt said other schools have expressed interest in many of his players, who could transfer and immediately be eligible to play elsewhere.

It was the parents of many of those players that guaranteed Hewitt they would make up the difference of any funding shortage to save the season. USIU’s softball team is expected to crack the NCAA preseason top 20.