Flexible thinking will be key to high school sports season
As the pandemic gripping the world continues to seemingly raise more questions than answers, a survey of various stakeholders in the Imperial Valley revealed all are preparing for the return prep sports this upcoming school year.
From superintendents to athletic directors, coaches and officials, it is agreed that however the return plays out, it has to be done safety for all involved.
Inevitably, the return of sports and other extracurricular activities is tied to the return of students to “school,” and they are an important part of those plans.
“Being a former athlete and coach, I know how important it is for students to stay engaged in activities like athletics and clubs outside of the classroom setting,” said Brawley Union High School District Superintendent Simon Canalez, who is a former Wildcat varsity football offensive coordinator and baseball coach.
Sports in particular forms life-long bonds between players and coaches that are vitally important to the overall success of many students.
“Athletics provides a differentiated form of mentoring and relationship- building between coaches and athletes. We will do everything we can to ensure these opportunities are availed to our students during the upcoming school year,” Canalez said.
Southwest High School athletic director Ruben Valenzuela points to his own life as an example.
“I played sports growing up, and it was part of my everyday life. When I stopped playing, I started coaching, and I’ve always believed that athletics and activities are a part of being a student,” Valenzuela said. “At Southwest, we have a lot of activities, and it gives us a diverse group of students. I cannot in my mind separate them, but we have to be safe first.”
Since schools closed down last spring due to COVID-19, “schools opening” had been a point of debate both nationally and statewide, leaving the stakeholders in limbo.
On Friday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ended a large part of the debate by mandating that public schools in most counties, including Imperial, begin the 2020-21 year with online classes.
While other states have not made any final decisions regarding students on campus, until the CIF-San Diego Section meets, virtually, this week, how Newsom’s decision affects sports is unknown.
“As a teacher I have been told to prepare for 100 percent distance learning, and that is going to be ‘ school,’ but no one is sure at this point,” Valenzuela said. “Do I see athletics going on in that scenario? No, because if I cannot have my biology students do a lab together safely, I can’t see players on field … but who knows?”
Normally, summertime finds fall athletes conditioning and gearing up for the start of practice in August, but with shelter in place and other measures to protect the public, everyone involved has had to be innovative.
“We have 73 players in our program including 21 seniors and everybody is on app and it’s beautiful to talk to these kids,” said Holtville football coach Jason Turner. “Many people, look on electronics as obstacles believing that kids spend too much time on them. And although some players are getting burned out on online meetings, we try to use them as a solution right now.”
Turner believes Viking athletics will follow whatever general plan Holtville High eventually use to reopen.
“I’m thinking that schools will have problems gaining traction to open soon enough, so I told my kids there is a lot we can’t control,” Turner said, noting that the CIF-SDS had earlier in the summer said that practice might begin this month, an unlikely occurrence here in the Valley. “Like everyone else, we are waiting for the green light to start, and if it doesn’t happen soon, we will do what we can do to stay ready for when it does.”
Taking a similar attitude, Imperial Valley Football Officials Association President John Seaman has used the internet to have his fellow officials ready whenever play might resume.
“I guess you would say we are distance- learning, as I created tests to send to the officials along with video links to study,” Seaman said. “We are keeping track of the officials’ progress, and physical training is on the officials for now.”
One difficulty is the uncertainty of what sports will look like, and while decisions ultimately wait on the advance of science and the politics of governing in a pandemic, sensible ideas are emerging.
In June, the CIF State Office has published timelines and conditions for athletics to begin practice with the caveat that those conditions were deemed safe by the state Public Health Department.
While all the CIF sections had input into that plan, the various sections will now have to update their plans and then again convene a State CIF meeting to give statewide guidance.
CIF-SDS also published tentative plans in June aimed at starting fall sports as areas become safe. Low numbers in parts of San Diego County earlier this summer saw some teams begin conditioning.
That is not good news for the Valley, as COVID-19 numbers indicate any activity will not begin soon, and for teams that normally would opt out of playing in the Valley, CIF competition may be out of the question this year.
The CIF-SDS plan aimed at pushing the start of the fall seasons into September or October, for example truncating the football season to include six or eight games and no playoffs with the number of the winter and spring season games being reduced as well.
Truncating the seasons also includes the specter that non-league games would be limited to a school’s geographical area; that is, that Valley schools would not play outside the Valley or do so on a limited basis.
“We understand that each county is in its own unique situation regarding health conditions and realize we will be fortunate to have any type of fall season at all,” Canalez, a member of the CIF-SDS’ executive committee, said. “While having a differentiated modified schedule is not ideal … we will take what we can get.”
The idea of playing locally has also gained traction nationwide as schools struggle to re-open and funding levels make travel difficult. Just last week, the PAC-12 conference announced that its member schools will play only conference opponents this fall … if that.
“Travel is expensive, and we may not have the budget, but we as ADs are trying to keep an open mind,” Valenzuela said. “The key is that we can give every team some sense of a season and insure everyone gets to play safely.”
Adding to the local-only scheduling dynamic is an announcement last week by the Arizona Interscholastic Association that they were truncating their football season by at least two games.
For Valley teams, many of those first two games were against Yuma schools with potentially more games to be cut.
However, what happens if football is not safe to be played at any time this fall but potentially other sports are?
There are indications coming out of the Southern Section and State CIF offices that the schedules for the three seasons of sports ( fall, winter, spring) may be overlapped somehow, scuttling the premise that fall sports should be cut because they’re traditionally up next.
This week the California Community College Athletic Association announced all sports will be played next spring, an idea that probably will not gain traction with high school sports as many athletes play multiple sports and sports share facilities at the prep level.
A related idea that is gaining traction on both the collegiate and prep level nationwide is that “seasons of sport” should not be etched in concrete.
The concept is simple, play non-contact sports, such as baseball and softball, this fall because they will be the COVID-19 safest and therefore have the best chance of completing their season.
It is also insures those two sports, who along with other spring sports that cut short by the pandemic, could potentially have two opportunities to compete, defaulting back to the spring if they are cut off in the fall.
Furthermore, pushing football and volleyball into the winter or spring makes sense because they will need the most time to have their inherent contact between opponents deemed safe and, with potential advances in testing, etc., the best chance to play a season.
The same can be said for soccer and basketball, which could move to spring from the winter as those players cannot escape close proximity.
Also, moving football forward on a practical basis gives the greatest opportunity to have spectators because football generates the most ticket income for schools.
In any year, especially one of looming budget cuts to education, generating that revenue anytime is better than not generating it all.
In the end, the common goal remains getting athletes the ability to compete safely, and any scenario that gives them that opportunity will work.
“We understand there are greater health risks for sports that involve contact and are not opposed to sports moving to different seasons as long as we ensure equity for all student athletes,” Canalez said.
For Turner, either moving the season or modifying it in number and locations are reasonable, given the motivation to get on the field as his schedule already includes games with six Valley schools.
“We have seen it discussed where CIF would give us three weeks to start, and when they do, fall or later … whatever it takes, we’ll be ready,” Turner said.
This week the CIF-SDS will hold a meeting to adjust their original plan to the current conditions in both San Diego and Imperial Valley, which may give everyone involved much-needed direction.
Realistically speaking, people close to the meeting are not optimistic that a “plan” for the fall is forthcoming this week, noting that there are still too many variables currently in the mix.
They hope things will be clearer in August to develop a plan for possible implementation in September.
“Like everyone else, we are waiting for the green light to start, and if it doesn’t happen
soon, we will do what we can do to stay ready for when
it does.”
Jason Turner, Holtville football
coach