High school football is back in play
Region’s lower coronavirus case numbers clear the way for outdoor contact sports
Riverside County’s coronavirus adjusted case rate dropped for the seventh consecutive week, and the county now meets the threshold for football and other outdoor contact sports to resume competitions.
In December, the California Department of Public Health released its guidelines for high school sports. At that time, only outdoor sports with minimal or no contact were allowed when a county was in the most-restrictive purple tier of the state’s coronavirus reopening plan. The department amended those guidelines on Feb. 19, allowing most outdoor contact sports to resume once a county’s adjusted rate (cases per 100,000 residents, adjusted for the amount of testing) had dropped below 14.
Los Angeles and Orange counties hit that mark on Feb. 22, but Riverside and San Bernardino counties fell short on that date. San Bernardino County reached the threshold on Feb. 23, according to county spokesman David Wert. Riverside County releases numbers every Tuesday, and the county’s adjusted rate this week was 11.3, according to the state’s
COVID-19 dashboard. That number is a 31.9% drop from last week’s rate of 16.6 and a 89.5% drop from a high mark of 107.2 on Jan. 12.
“I’m excited and I know our kids are excited,” Riverside Norte Vista football coach Ken Batdorf said upon hearing the news. “This is the longest football season I’ve been a part of, and we haven’t even played a game yet. I’m like a kid going to the candy store. I’m just waiting for the door to open up.”
Many high school teams have been allowed to hold conditioning workouts on campus with school or district approval, but competitions have been shut down since last March because of the pandemic. And it wasn’t until Jan. 30, when a couple of teams held cross country dual meets, that high school sports officially returned in Southern California.
Tuesday’s news means outdoor contact sports like football, water polo, baseball, softball, lacrosse and soccer can resume. The boys and girls soccer seasons started on Saturday. The boys and girls lacrosse seasons begin March 12, while the baseball and softball seasons will start March 19.
The California Interscholastic Federation, the state’s governing body for high school sports, requires football teams to have 14 days of practice before playing their first game and 10 days of practice before scrimmaging another team. The first three days of practice must be for conditioning only. After that, teams can begin practicing with full pads. The CIF Southern Section set an April 17 end date for the football season, and section officials have said that date will not change.
The timeline means Riverside County football teams will have an opportunity to schedule as many as five games, with the first possible games happening March 18-20. Many football teams in the county have released preliminary schedules, with the majority playing only league opponents.
Many football coaches said they have tried to remain optimistic, although it wasn’t always easy.
“It had been gut punch after gut punch for so long,” Beaumont football coach Jeff Steinberg said. “I can’t even fathom what has been going through the mind of these kids all this time. Most have stayed the course, and that says a lot about their commitment and desire. I’m just excited they will have a chance.”
Temecula Valley football coach Bert Esposito echoed those comments.
“It’s been such a crazy year for these kids,” Esposito said. “I told them we don’t know what is going to happen down the line, but we need to be prepared if we get a chance. These kids didn’t lose faith.”
Hemet football coach Dennis Gregovich hopes this will give his seniors some kind of normalcy.
“For a majority of kids out there, this is probably going to be the last time they will play football,” Gregovich said. “I’m ecstatic that they will have a final bonding experience with their friends and teammates.”
The boys and girls water polo seasons were scheduled to begin in December. Inland teams will have a limited amount of time to play matches because the season end date is March 20. Volleyball also can hold competitions, but only if matches are played outdoors. The girls volleyball season was also was scheduled to start in December, and has an end date of March 20. The boys volleyball season starts March 13.
The CDPH requires weekly testing of athletes and coaches for football and water polo until a county reaches the red tier (adjusted case rate below 7). San Bernardino County’s weekly adjusted rate dropped to 9 on Tuesday, a 40.8 drop that moves the county closer to the red tier.
The decision whether or not to compete in certain sports will be made by each school or district. Many Inland schools, districts and league already have held meetings to discuss future plans, including scheduling of events and testing.