SJS eliminates traditional postseason
Alteration to schools’ schedules to allow for more regular-season games played
On Thursday, Michael S. Garrison, commissioner of the CIF Sac- Joaquin Section, sent a memo to the heads of each league in the section and to athletic directors stating the section will forego a traditional postseason and will extend the regular season in the hope that student-athletes will be able to play more contests.
The dates reserved for the state and regional playoffs will be used for a potential “bowl game” matchup.
Garrison stated, in part, “On Monday, December 14, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released its guidelines for return-to-play for high school sports… The guidelines as presented by the CDPH are not what was recommended by the CIF Sports Medicine Advisory Committee; that request was to have all sports conducted in the red tier. The CIF will continue to advocate with the CDPH with the hopes for a little more leniency to allow more of our sports to be played… That being said, we need to plan for the upcoming Season 1 in the Sac- Joaquin Section. We are of the belief that the chance to play more sports contests outweighs the possibility for a postseason. With the guarantee that Season 1 will be starting late, the SJS will forego a traditional postseason to allow all our schools a chance to participate in more contests.”
The CIF created two seasons, labeled Fall and Spring, with all sports scheduled to be played from January to June.
The SJF alterations for season 1 extend the new regular season end- date for girls volleyball and water
polo until March 13, while the new end- date for football is April 10. The “bowl game” dates are March 20 (girls volleyball and water polo) and April 16-17 (football). The status of the “bowl games” will be evaluated by the Section office on Jan. 25.
The status of the cross country postseason will be evaluated in mid/late January.
The SJS is not looking at any changes to Season 2 at this time.
Garrison also wrote, “The CIF is currently advocating on behalf of our student-athletes with the Cali
fornia Department of Public Health. We are hopeful some of the guidelines will be relaxed when reevaluated on or around January 4. Until then, we don’t anticipate any further information.
“Some have asked about shuff ling seasons to allow for more sports to be played. We do not see this as a viable option at this time, because we don’t know exactly when our schools will be able to contest sports again. We do not want to jeopardize a spring sport after our spring sports were canceled for the 2019-20 season. The CIF put its plan together in July, and we are hopeful we will see that plan through. While the CDPH and our county color tiers will ul
timately determine what is played this year, we remain hopeful the majority of our sports will be contested this year.”
The CIF State office, in conjunction with the 10 sections, has released a letter titled “CIF Proposed Plan for the Return of Education-Based Athletics.” The document is a summary of those elements contained within the CDPH guidelines that pertain to education-based athletics. It states that no athletic competition is permitted in California until Monday, January 25, 2021.
The document also states that physical conditioning, practice, skill-building, and training may be conducted outdoors and within stable team cohorts and that
such activities may be conducted indoors consistent with the Gym and Fitness Center Guidance Capacity.
It also states that competitions, meets, races, or similar events are authorized only if both teams are located in the same county and the sport is authorized, or teams are located in immediately bordering counties and the sport is authorized in both counties.
That is good news for the Monticello Empire League, as all of its participating schools are located in Solano County. Currently, the county is in the purple (most restrictive) tier.
Out-of-state competition is prohibited.