CIF cancels ‘season one’ title events
No guidance expected by state health till new year
The California Interscholastic Federation on Monday announced it had cancelled all state championship events in its “season one” sports calendar. The governing body for high school athletics in the state also acknowledged it doesn’t believe any new guidance from state health officials will come before the new year.
“The (CIF) does not expect the (California Department of Public Health) will issue any guidance allowing for schools to return to full practice and competition until after January 1, 2021, at the earliest. Thus, all full practice and competition start dates are officially on hold until updated guidance is issued,” the release states.
The CIF had previously expected to begin practice for sports in its “season one” sports calendar, which includes football, on Dec. 14, and some sections had moved that date back to Dec. 7. The CIF said in its release that the decision was made to allow sections to hold more games and to allow student-athletes more time to compete in what will be an even more condensed season schedule that what was previously anticipated when the CIF came up with its two-season model in July.
As coronavirus case counts surge throughout the state, leaving all but one county in the state’s “purple tier,” or most severe tier, of COVID-19 risk, all high school sports have been postposed until state and county health officials allow for competition to resume. The CIF and its 10 sections canceled all sports in March and have not held any events since.
The Humboldt- Del Norte League in October was allowed by the North Coast Section, of which it is a member, to pivot to a 100% inter-league schedule with three seasons of sport rather than two.
While the H-DNL is not dependent on the NCS or the CIF to formally resume competition for it to do so, it is dependent on state and county health officials to allow events to take place. H-DNL commissioner Jack Lakin told the Times-Standard in November that the league must wait until sporting events are cleared by health officials before it can hold any events. Lakin said the league will likely have to rework some of its scheduling to try and fit as many sports as it can into a span of time that, in the best case scenario, will extend from late January until early June.
Some counties throughout the state, including Humboldt, are allowing for socially- distant conditioning and other noncontact forms of practice to take place.
NCS commissioner Pat Cruickshank wrote in an email on Monday to the section’s Board of Managers, “I know that many of you are frustrated with the lack of guidance up to this point, we as a section and statewide as Commissioners are also very frustrated with the same thing. The CIF’s continued efforts to work with our State has unfortunately produced no updated guidelines on their part … I understand that what you wanted to hear today was better news than this, however with cases rising, all but one of our counties in the purple tier, and the realization of the holidays that surround us, this is the best we can do at this time moving forward. I urge you all, to ask your communities, in the name of our kids, to wear a mask, practice the proper social distancing guidelines, and to think about our kids and our schools when making decisions around gatherings this holiday season. There is still a chance that we can have a season, but that won’t happen until some things change. We have control and power over what we do and I hope that we all use that power to influence a change!”