Anticipation for the return of high school sports has built since school closures in the spring, but the official start dates for all seasons have been pushed back by four months.
On July 20, the California Interscholastic Federation published a statement regarding the plans for the 2020-2021 school year’s start of athletics. Instead of three seasons, there will only be two: fall and spring. Fall sports include volleyball, water polo, cross country and football. In the spring, badminton, soccer, swimming, tennis, wrestling, basketball, golf, baseball, track and field, softball and lacrosse are expected to play and practice. Teams will hold tryouts starting Dec. 14. They will begin competing as early as Dec. 28 and end as late as June 26.
There was discussion around starting sports in which athletes could safely social distance sooner. However, this option still brought up concerns within the athletic community.
“We had hoped to start the safer sports, the ones you could do [while] social distancing, like golf, tennis, badminton, swimming and cross country,” said Athletic Director Steve Sell over the summer. “We were hoping to do those in the fall sometime, but then the cases around the state just really skyrocketed. Then the state came out with its guidelines saying that you cannot have competitions of any kind. … [CIF doesn’t] want to be bringing people from different schools and maybe different cities together even if the sport allows them to be six feet apart.”
Though discarding the traditional three season schedule, the CIF has been able to give each sport a full season. In order to do so, games and practices will have to be held on some Saturdays. Sports traditionally held in the fall will now have to adapt their schedules to account for holidays and breaks.
“For some sports that have never dealt with holidays [or] with spring break, this is going to be new,” said San Mateo High School Athletic Director Jeff Scheller on Aug. 13 in an athletic program meeting. “We all have to be flexible … just to get the best experience possible during these times.”
“We all have to be flexible … just to get the best experience possible during these times”
Because there will now be more teams practicing and competing at the same time, the demand for field, court and pool space will increase, meaning coaches will have to communicate with each other now more than ever.
“You have to make concessions for other sports,” Scheller said. “It might be taking an alternative practice somewhere else. Maybe you’re not using the field because another team might use it and you’re going to find and use the weight room, or you’re going to do a study hall.”
Another change is that athletes will now be able to play for their school and club teams simultaneously which was previously prohibited by the CIF’s Bylaws 600-605. Student-athletes will also be able to play more than one school sport during a single season.
“We’re recognizing that sports like softball and basketball are now in the same season, which hasn’t been the case ever,” Sell said. “So now we are going to allow a kid to concurrently participate in two seasons at the same time.”
Because the start date for fall practices has been pushed back to Dec. 14, the official end date for athletic conditioning has also been adjusted to end on Dec. 12. Athletes and coaches will continue to follow state guidelines and precautions in order to keep the sports program alive for the official season start date.
“Having the athletic conditioning is sort of a privilege right now, certainly at this point, and we don’t want to jeopardize our ability to continue to provide these programs at each of our sites,” said deputy superintendent Dr. Kirk Black during the Aug. 13 athletic program meeting. “We need to trust each other on this. We need to be open so we can guard against a possible exposure, which if we do experience, it could very well have the effect of canceling the whole athletic program, just in one fell swoop.”
“We need to be open so we can guard against a possible exposure, which if we do experience, it could very well have the effect of canceling the whole athletic program, just in one fell swoop”
If sports open up as scheduled, there is a possibility that spectators may not be allowed in certain situations, either only at outdoor events, at all events or not at all. However, Aragon has bought a live streaming service in order to ensure that competitions can still be watched no matter the circumstances.
“In the North Gym we’re going to have streaming, and on the main field we’re going to have live streaming,” Sell said. “People will still be able to see their kids, their grandkids, their relatives and their friends play even if there are no fans.”
Conditioning for certain sports began on Sept. 15 and will continue until Dec. 12. Although this is the current plan for high school athletics, there is still a possibility of change. As COVID-19 cases rise and fall, coaches and athletes will all have to continue to adapt.
