CONCORD — An administrator's warning to Mt. Diablo High — raise $9,000 by Oct. 1 or your students will not play— has alarmed football players, parents and coaches.

"We were told we need to raise our money coming specifically from Mt. Diablo High in order to have our schoolchildren participate in sports," booster club President Lenora Hay-Muagututi'a said Thursday.

She and others confirmed the stern warning that associate superintendent Alan Young gave the group Wednesday.

"If we don't raise the money, our kids will not be able to participate in athletics."

Young, who was attending an all-day conference in San Francisco on Thursday, did not return calls for comment.

Trustee

Sherry Whitmarsh said Young told her that he is asking all coaches to stress the importance of families paying whatever they can afford.

"He is talking to the coaches saying you need to do due diligence, because he'd heard from the parents that they're not," Whitmarsh said. "I think some of our parents are surprised that there is this donation to play, because it hasn't been communicated as much as it should be."

But Whitmarsh said that Young could not tell teams they cannot play if they do not raise enough money, because that would be a board decision.

However, two other boosters at the meeting said they also heard Young say the league would go on without Mt. Diablo High if substantial funds were not raised quickly.

Pat

Middendorf, president of the United Mt. Diablo Athletic Foundation and athletic director at Clayton Valley High, said word about the meeting also had reached her.

"I don't know if it was a threat or a statement or whatever, that they would not play," she said. "I'll be honest with you, if they're going to say Mt. Diablo can't play, the rest of us won't play, either."

Mt. Diablo High was expected to raise $39,750 for all sports, including about $30,000 for football, Hay-Muagututi'a said. But as of this week, the school's contributions amounted to little more than $100, although the coach had sent out two fliers and telephoned families about sports funding.

The school did not collect the donations of $400 for football during registration, as many schools do, Middendorf said.

"Mt. Diablo has assured me they probably were not as diligent as they could have been," she said. "Now, their understanding is they've got to be diligent. They weren't the only football team that fell behind."