Kahl Late for Indians’ Powwow After Saying Hail to the Chief

After a 38-33 loss to St. Louis High in Hawaii last week, Hart football coaches weren’t in the mood to hear an excuse for why second-string center Alex Kahl was late for a Saturday team meeting.

Kahl’s reason: He was with the President of the United States.

The Indian coaching staff’s response: “Sure, Alex. Sit down.”

“The coaches didn’t believe me at first,” Kahl said.

But now he has photographs to prove it. Kahl’s family dined that evening at the Outrigger Canoe Club, a members-only establishment. To their surprise and delight, the Kahls were seated at a table next to President Bill Clinton and his family. Clinton was in Oahu that day for the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“As we walked up, there were Secret Service agents plastered everywhere, wired up and just looking around,” Kahl said. “When we entered the restaurant they searched us with a metal detector.

“When we finally walked in, straight ahead, at a corner table, there was a guy drinking a Beck’s beer, talking on a cellular phone and watching the sun set.”

It was Clinton.

Shortly after the Kahls were seated Clinton was joined by wife Hillary, daughter Chelsea and a friend. Two agents were assigned to stand watch over the Kahls’ table. Alex said he and his family were awed and lost their appetites.

“We tried not to stare at [Clinton],” Kahl said. “There’s a policy against taking pictures or approaching people. But everybody was taking pictures.”

The Kahls joined in. Alex now has a snapshot of him eating sirloin steak with the First Family in the background. His sister, Kayse, later posed for a photo with the President. Alex, knowing he probably would never have another opportunity like this, spotted Clinton in the hallway on his way to the restroom and approached him.

“I shook his hand and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you,’ ” Alex said. “His demeanor is just like you see on TV. He was real calm and real soft-spoken. And he shook my hand like I shook his, with a firm grip.”

Should I stay or should I go: The 1995 season hasn’t even begun yet and already Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman is hinting of retirement. But Engilman’s words must be taken with salt aplenty because this is the third consecutive year he is “seriously considering it.”

Engilman, who took over at Sylmar in 1987 and produced the region’s winningest football program (57-6-1, .898) of the 1990s, is blaming himself and his rabid style of coaching for the low player turnouts. The number of students interested in playing at Sylmar has been dwindling yearly, according to Engilman.

Sylmar, ranked No. 2 in the area by The Times and the 1994 City Section 4-A Division champion, will suit up only 34 players for tonight’s game against Taft. It is the lowest number of players Engilman has ever had at Sylmar.

“Maybe it’s my style of coaching, I don’t know,” Engilman said. “I ask a lot of these guys.”

Ghost schedule: There’s good news and bad news regarding the Cal State Northridge football schedule for next season.

The good news is the schedule doesn’t include any teams that will handily beat the Matadors. The bad news is it doesn’t include any teams.

Because Northridge administrators didn’t know if they would have a football team until the fee referendum passed in the spring, no long-term contracts were signed, leaving Athletic Director Paul Bubb with an empty schedule for next season.

“I hope eight games will be taken care of,” said Bubb, referring to the Big Sky Conference’s consideration of Northridge as a member for next season.

With enthusiasm: Coaxing kids out for football has been a major chore at Hueneme High for a number of years, but this fall the numbers have skyrocketed, much to the glee of second-year Coach Larry Miller. Fifty-one players are out for the varsity and the freshman and sophomore teams combine for an additional 94 players.

“We had more than 40 guys at our practice on Labor Day,” Miller said. “Last year less than half that showed up.”

Not only are the players present, they are accounting for themselves in fine fashion. Senior running back Ronney Jenkins, who rushed for 1,316 yards last season, and four-year starting quarterback George Jones are known quantities, but Miller said the linemen are playing with unprecedented enthusiasm.

“They busted a blocking sled in practice and you should have heard the hoots and hollers,” Miller said.

Imagine the noise should Hueneme improve dramatically on its 4-56 record of the past six seasons.

Quotebook

“I felt the nerves for him.”

--Cal State Northridge punter Joe LaFirenza, who watched Notre Dame High graduate Chris Sailer punt for UCLA in front of 60,000 in his college debut Saturday.

Stats

If size means anything in football, look for Birmingham High’s Emmanuel Evans, Damien Tabor, John Price, Adrian Sanchez and Stacy Black to play key roles. They are the only five players on the Braves’ preseason roster who are taller than 6-feet.

Things to Do

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The Ventura College water polo tournament, featuring some of the top junior college teams in the state and a touring club team from Germany, starts today and concludes Saturday at the school. Games are scheduled today from 10 a.m. to 7:10 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. The championship game is set for Saturday at 4:20 p.m.

The Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team will play its home opener against No. 23 San Diego State on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Compiled by Irene Garcia. Contributing: Jeff Fletcher, Dana Haddad, Steve Henson, Michael Lazarus, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega.