Power outages put team schedules in limbo

If recent football seasons have taught local officials anything, it is to be flexible.

Oppressive heat and unhealthy air quality due to wildfires forced the cancellations and postponement of dozens of contests in the previous three years.

And now schools are looking at having their electricity shut off — and they are powerless to do anything about it.

The possibility of PG&Einitiated power outages to ward off wildfires has left schools, teams, coaches and administrators in limbo, wondering if Friday night’s games will be moved to the afternoon — and if so, what day?

The California Interscholastic Federation, the state’s high school sports governing body, and its 10 local sections can’t make sweeping scheduling changes. Instead, they are relying on schools to contact this week’s opponent and find a solution.

As of Wednesday, the possibilities included Friday night games being moved to Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Monday afternoons. Hoping that the outages won’t involve multiple days, some games — like the big East Bay clash between AcalanesLafayette at Las LomasWalnut Creek — could be pushed back Friday night to Saturday night.

“Right now we’re going on as planned,” Acalanes coach Floyd Burnsed said. “But we’ll change if we need to.”

De La SalleConcord coach Justin Alumbaugh, whose team is scheduled to host undefeated CaliforniaSan Ramon on Friday night, said he’s hoping for the best.

“We should be good, but it’s beyond our control,” he said. “We’re ready to play Saturday or Monday, too.”

North Coast Section assistant commissioner Sonjha Phillips said communication is the key.

“This is a hitandmiss proposition,” she said. “The outages aren’t just city by city, but neighborhood to neighborhood. We encourage teams to talk to their opponents. Change locations. Find neutral sites. Postpone if you have to, but do your best to make up games.

“The most important thing is the safety of our students.”

The CIF does not allow teams to play more than two games in any eightday period.

CIF Executive Director Ron Nocetti said he’s encouraged by the communications from sections and schools.

“Ultimately, it’s all out of our control,” he said. “But what we’ve learned over the last few years is that we all need to be proactive to consider alternative plans. Let’s get out in front and not wait and see until things get worse.”

Nocetti said the CIF is setting up a conference call next week with section commissioners to share ideas of how to help in case of more power outages.

In the meantime, athletic directors like Nate Smith at HeritageBrentwood find themselves hamstrung by PG&E’s decisions.

“Last year we knew the air quality was going to be bad so we could make plans,” he said. “With this, we don’t know for sure what they are going to do.”

“The outages aren’t just city by city, but neighborhood to neighborhood . ... Find neutral sites. Postpone if you have to, but do your best to make up games. The most important thing is the safety of our students.” Sonjha Phillips, North Coast Section assistant commissioner