What CIF Decision in Tortilla Throwing Incident Could Mean for Coronado

Coronado has always been best known for the Hotel Del and the Naval air base and the home of Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers.

Right now though, Coronado is getting nationwide attention for the tortilla throwing incident and the controversy and criticism it has generated. And now the decision by the state’s high school athletics governing organization regarding the incident at Coronado High School is sure to stir up even more controversy and even more attention.

As it announced the stripping away of the Coronado boys basketball championship, and the high school’s athletic program being on probation until 2024, the CIF issued a statement that said. “There is no doubt the act of throwing tortillas at a predominately Latino team is unacceptable and warrants sanctions.”

The CIF also requiring all of the school’s administrators, athletic staff and student-athletes to take a workshop on sportsmanship, which will include racial and cultural sensitivity training, means this tortilla incident will remain something they will be talking about for some time yet in Coronado and at other schools and in other communities.

The tortilla incident could even spark a broader debate about high school sports and about sportsmanship and about what the role should be for athletics in school.

And the tortilla incident also will now be part of the ongoing debate about racism, what it is and what it is not and how we deal with it in Coronado and all across the country.

(Photo reporting partner 10News)