Hartnell, MPC opt in for Season 1 athletics
2 schools join 15 of 17 Coast Conference members
MONTEREY >> With testing for COVID-19 becoming a vital part of the potential return of community college sports in California, Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell College have both opted in for Season 1.
The two local colleges will be joined by 15 of the 17 members in the Coast Conference, which also includes Cabrillo and Gavilan.
“I’m of the mindset that we keep moving through the process until officials say we can’t anymore,” first-year MPC athletic director Wendy Bates said. “I’m not trying to provide false hope. I tend to be optimistic.”
All schools in the California Community College Athletic Association had until Dec. 18 to decide whether to opt-in for Season 1, after it was postponed in the fall because of the nearly year-long pandemic.
A meeting was held Monday to learn of the number of schools that opted in. Only 35 of the 107 community colleges in California opted in for Season 1. Some schools opted in for certain sports and opted out for others.
The primary reason for asking schools for an answer was so schedules could be set up for an abbreviated conference season, if given the green light to move forward sometime in January. The seasons have already been reduced by 30%.
“There are still a lot of obstacles in our path,” Hartnell athletic director Danny Teresa
said. “We’re going to do what is best for our student-athletes. We didn’t want to shut the door.”
Unlike high schools attempting to jump-start their seasons, all community colleges in California that opted in will be required to have testing for all student-athletes participating in sports.
Sports that are considered high risk, such as football, basketball and volleyball, will require 100% of their athletes to be tested — with a result 48 hours prior to competition.
Other sports such as track and field, cross country and baseball will be asked to have 25- 50% of their athletes tested with a result 48 hours prior to competing.
“It’s optimistic cross country can go,” Hartnell cross country and track coach Chris Zepeda said. “We have been cleared for conditioning by our administration. It felt like a gradual reopening. We didn’t have any issues. It was great to see the kids and connect with them.”
Testing is one of the reasons that the seasons have already been cut by 30%. That could drop to 60%, depending on a potential starting date. For sports that play twice a week, testing could get costly.
“Maybe we need to look at those sports that play twice a week and have back- to- back games, instead of two or three days apart,” Bates said.
The expense for testing their athletes will fall on the colleges.
“The schools will be paying for the testing,” Teresa said. “Some insurances will waive it. Who will do the testing?”
Season 1 sports include football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s wa
ter polo.
“The hang-up is waiting until January to see how the COVID-19 cases are,” Teresa said. “Every county has different restrictions. We’re still in purple. And schools can still opt out.”
If administrations and county health departments give their approval, practices could start as early as Jan. 19, with a shortened season slated to begin March 1. There will be no postseason for Season 1.
“We’re going to do everything we can to give these kids hope,” Bates said. “We have had the full support of our administration. It has not been a fight. I feel fortunate to have this support.”
Another concern is traveling, particularly with programs with larger numbers such as track and field, football and baseball.
“Traveling could include multiple buses for certain sports,” Teresa said. “You have to space them out. Some programs might need two or three buses.”
Outside of events at Gavilan and Cabrillo, road events for Hartnell and MPC are a minimum of 75 miles for other conference opponents.
Regardless of the length of the season, student-athletes will not be charged with a year’s eligibility this year for any sport in the CCCAA. Most divisions at the four-year level will honor that as well.
Yet, some student- athletes who are sophomores may be prepared to move on academically. Without a season of any kind, scholarship offers may be difficult to come by.
“If we have some sort of a season, it will be a way to showcase our athletes and get some film on them should they choose to move on,” Bates said. “We owe it to our student-athletes to pro
vide those opportunities. The truth is academically, they may not need to remain here after two years.”
Traveling to other counties could be an issue with testing. If the season started today, any school in Santa Clara County would require 100% testing for any sport to come to Monterey County.
There are seven teams in the Coast Conference that are in Santa Clara County. As of now, none of those schools are allowed to practice or have an event in their county.
“The county health department dictates the decision,” Teresa said. “It’s not going to look like a normal schedule if we’re fortunate to have a season.”
Even if all sports are canceled for the entire year, Bates says there are conversations already under discussion about having events locally.
“There are people that are coming up with creative ideas, to where we could do some type of competition if we don’t have a season,” Bates said.
While the deadline for Season 2 sports isn’t until Feb. 26, MPC and Hartnell have already opted in for a spring that would start in mid-March.
Those sports would include baseball, softball, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s golf, men’s tennis and women’s beach volleyball.
A Season 2 would start practice on March 27, with events beginning April 10 and potentially running until June 12.
“We’re prepared if there is a Season 1,” Teresa said. “If there is not, then you start to focus on Season 2.”