Roosevelt Basketball Player Back in Game

An Interscholastic Athletics Committee appeals board has reinstated guard Jennifer Brambila to the Roosevelt High School’s girls’ basketball team.

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Brambila, a junior transfer from Wilson High, was ruled ineligible in January for varsity competition at Roosevelt this season by the athletic organization’s rules committee.

The appeals board overturned the decision Jan. 31 after an investigation into an opportunity transfer that was granted in July to Brambila by Wilson Principal Ramon Castillo and Roosevelt Principal Henry Ronquillo. That transfer placed no restriction on participation in athletics and was not for disciplinary reasons.

However, the Roughriders girls’ program was placed on one year’s probation and will have to forfeit a Jan. 7 game at Bell. Brambila played in that 75-30 victory, despite being ruled ineligible earlier that afternoon, according to City Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege.

Brambila sat out Roosevelt’s next game, Jan. 14, against Jefferson before being cleared to return Feb. 3 against Huntington Park.

Roosevelt administrators said they will appeal the probation and forfeit, contending Fiege did not return calls Jan. 7 for a status report on the three-week investigation and that the school was not notified of the ruling until after the team had departed for the game.

Sue Kamiyama, Bell High athletic director and chairwoman of the rules committee, was also at the Roosevelt-Bell game but the Roughriders said she did not notify them of any ruling.

“We’ve been exonerated of any wrongdoing and it’s ironic that we should have to forfeit any game or be placed on probation,” Roosevelt Coach Lorenzo Garcia said.