Get me the stats.

For those pushing for splitting public and private schools into separate playoff divisions, they'll need to produce more supporting evidence.

The Century League's controversial playoff proposal, which was expected to generate heated debate, was withdrawn at last Thursday's section Executive Council meeting.

The issue is not dead.

A committee will take a deeper look into argument that there is an uneven playing field in athletics: higher salaries for coaches, superior facilities and a high percentage of transfers that equate to section championships.

"The state legal council said that the league figures did not justify the rationale," said Nordhoff assistant principal and section representative at-large Susana Arce.

"There will be ongoing discussion with more evidence and more detail so that there can be absolute proof that there is rationale for such a move."

It is that detail that the section wants to build a case should a school or league decide to test the decision in court.

Dabbs in charge: For what may be a first for Ventura County, Pacifica principal Bill Dabbs has been elected as president of the CIF Executive Committee.

Dabbs, who has been the section's treasurer for the last two years, will become president-elect for the 2008-09 school year, serve as president beginning in 2010-11 and past president in 2012.

He has extensive section experience, serving on the advisory committee for the Central Section. Besides being a principal, Dabbs has been a coach and athletic director.

"Bill will bring a point of view from an administrator's perspective to the executive committee about the Northern Area, which is fairly far flung," said Arce.

Yea and nay: The passage of the association rule proved to be the biggest issue at the Executive Council meeting.

High school coaches, whether they embrace the concept or not, will now be able to devote their extra time on a year-round basis to training student-athletes.

We may see competition from club coaches for high school openings as walk-on coaches.

We may see competition from high school coaches for the services of the best athletes on a year-round basis.

Many athletes already have to decide between football, basketball and baseball high school and club teams in the summer. Now coaches from other sports will want their share of quality time.

The playoff and association proposals weren't the only issues before the Executive Council.

A proposal to seed teams for the playoffs without regard that two league teams could meet in the first or second round was defeated.

So was a measure that would have allowed the highest seeded team to own home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Changing of the guard: Assistant commissioner Paul Castillo has announced his retirement from the section office.

Castillo has been active with the section office for the last eight years. He has helped oversee basketball, track and field, cross country and tennis as well as playoff formats.

Also retiring is Director of Budget and Finance Shirley Frazier.

Frazier has been a member of the section office for 33 years. She was the first person outside the section commissioners to keep all financial records. Frazier wrote the section's first financial handbook and pushed for an audit committee to develop the budget.

Back at Home: After debating proposals from San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield, San Jose and Fresno, the CIF has decided to return its state championship football games to the Home Depot Center for the next two years.

Expanding from three games to five, the CIF will have a two-day tournament on Dec. 19-20.

Still to be approved is the concept of an open division championship game as well as enrollment breakdowns for the other four divisions.

— Derry Eads' e-mail address is deads@VenturaCountyStar.com.