REACTIONS TO CIF DECISION TO DELAY FALL SPORTS
The California Interscholastic Federation announced its plan Monday to push back fall sports into the winter and spring as the coronavirus continues to spread within the state.
Football, volleyball, water polo and other fall sports will see their championships pushed into the early spring, and traditional winter sports will have their championships moved to the end of the school year. Most if not all local sections are expected to move their schedules and playoffs into the time just preceding the CIF’s regional championships, meaning fall sports would begin in January and winter sports will move into concert with spring sports like baseball and softball.
Here is reaction to the news from coaches, athletes and officials.
Tim Lugo, Saratoga football coach/athletic director
“The first thing I worry about is by putting soccer with lacrosse will my lacrosse team survive? Lacrosse depends on soccer kids ... I start to worry about some of those smaller sports. We will have to find a way to build interest and get kids out. We’re a small school and our teams are tough to fill now.”
“I don’t know if I am excited about moving football to the middle of flu season, especially if there is no vaccine. I don’t know how you are going to determine” if they have the virus. “During flu season they are going to start showing a lot of the same symptoms as COVID. Let’s hope we have a vaccine so we can do this safely.”
North Coast Section commissioner Pat Cruickshank
“We now have a goal. And our schools and our communities and our state and our section, we have to work to get to that goal. There are things that obviously we need to do and, hopefully, this will spur us trying to take care of this thing that’s basically paralyzed us all.”
Nelson Gifford, Palo Alto football coach
“Are they disappointed they can’t play in the fall? Absolutely. But you can play in January? Great, let’s go. More than anything they just wanted a date. We’re driven by a calendar. Having some dates gives us a target to work for.”
Sue Phillips, Archbishop Mitty girls basketball coach
“Given our current state of our pandemic I have to be cautiously optimistic. While the calendar is in place, some things have to fall into place still.”
“(This spring) we made it to the state finals but we aren’t allowed to play. I’m hoping we can get back there. I’m elated to know that is a possibility. Being a spring sport allows us the greatest chance for this to happen.”
Justin Alumbaugh, De La Salle football coach
“I thought they were going to try to break it into three 8-10 week seasons. I just did not see how that was really going to go. So I was pleasantly surprised, not just from a football standpoint but everybody is getting a little bit more of a robust of a season. But the question becomes the multiple-sport people. To be honest, during the playoffs, we’re probably going to have some guys practicing baseball at the same time. I was a two-sport guy. Eighty percent of our team plays multiple sports. It’s up to the adults to try to figure out how they can get the best of their experience as possible.”
Christian Pedersen, Serra football player
“I’m a hopeful person. I trust it will be cleared up by then. I think we’re playing in winter and that’s the reality of it.” “We’ve got to treat it like a new offseason. It’s six months of preparing for the season.”