State paves way for more competitions

High school sports teams in California will no longer be confined to competition in only their home county and those adjacent to it, health officials announced this week. Teams may schedule contests against anyone within state lines but not beyond California’s borders.

The California Department of Public Health on Tuesday updated its youth sports guidelines to remove the restrictions on games beyond bordering counties that had been in place since youth sports returned last month from a year-long hiatus.

The rule change comes as the first abridged season of spring

sports is winding down and as schedules for Season 2 sports are being finalized. Football teams have only two weeks of competition left, while other Season 1 sports have come to a close. It could ease the burden of hosting postseason play but the North Coast Section has already canceled all playoffs for this spring.

NCS commissioner Pat Cruickshank said his section’s postseason decision was made in January but that he was waiting on clarity from the California Interscholastic Federation, the statewide governing body.

CDPH also made official changes from last week that will allow for fans in the stands at outdoor high school sporting events under its new rules for outdoor seated live performances.