Momentum building for postseason in California
Many high schools in the Bay Area will have an opportunity to play in the postseason as a result of California’s loosened restrictions on intrastate competition, but others will be left out.
In the Central Coast Section, which is comprised of schools in six counties, including Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco, commissioner Dave Grissom said he plans to outline the postseason plan to his Board of Managers on Wednesday. All team sports — indoor and outdoor — have a clear path to postseason competition if schools allow for it, Grissom said, but the nature of tournaments in individual sports, with multiple matches between different competitors on the same day, makes those “more of an issue.”
In the North Coast Section, which includes schools in two East Bay and four North Bay counties, commissioner Pat Cruickshank said the section is sticking with its plan outlined in January that did not allow for playoffs in any sport.
As for statewide or regional tournaments? California Interscholastic Federation executive director Ron Nocetti said the statewide governing body was going to wait and see the plans of its 10 sections before making that decision, which is expected to come by late April or the first week of May, Nocetti said.
More postseason momentum came Monday with Grissom confirming the CCS plans, which he noted had always been in place for Season 2 sports, as well as the large Southern Section reaching a similar decision.
An update last week by the California Department of Public Health to its youth sports guidance paved the way for postseason play in the sections that will allow it. CDPH removed the rule the restricting schools to competition against opponents from the same or adjacent county; while interstate competition is still barred, any team in California can play another within state lines.
Grissom was actively planning postseason tournaments when reached via phone Monday morning.
A few weeks ago, Grissom said, the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch reached out about the the CCS golf championships, to which it plays host.
“I thought it was a done deal that we weren’t going to have playoffs,” Grissom recalled with a laugh. “I said, ‘Don’t get rid of it yet, but I don’t think it’s very promising.’ Now, we’re in a different world.”
In the next days and weeks, Grissom and the staff at the CCS office will be submitting paperwork to Santa Clara and Monterey counties, where the tournaments for its individual sports are hosted. While there are no obstacles to tournaments for team sports, there are additional hurdles for individual sports, such as tennis, track and field, swim and dive, golf and gymnastics.
The CCS must gain approval from the county that is hosting the tournament, then earn the permission of the other five counties that would send athletes to compete.
Two sports — wrestling and badminton — are unlikely to gain approval for postseason tournaments, Grissom said.
“It’s the same issue with badminton and wrestling, believe it or not,” Grissom said. “You have an individual playing against two different schools, that’s where the issue comes in. … That is what the guidance allows; it allows you to play one team but it doesn’t allow you to play multiple teams in the same day. Because of that, those two sports in particular couldn’t be played.”
Grissom left open the possibility of expanding attendance beyond households at outdoor playoffs events, which is allowed at limited capacities under state guidelines, though he noted that “remaining consistent … with limiting it to family households … is probably in everybody’s best interest.”