By Derek Wilson
Marinscope
High school athletes received a Christmas present in July as the California Interscholastic Federation announced July 20 that football and other fall season sports will return in 2020, although not until December.
A press release from the CIF read: “The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has determined, in collaboration with our 10 Sections, that education‐based athletics for the 2020‐2021 school year will begin with a modified season.”
Concerns about the COVID-19 virus and questions about quarantine restrictions have kept sports in limbo until now.
The North Coast Section, one of 10 in the state, covers six leagues, with schools in the North Bay, including Marin and Sonoma, as well as San Francisco and the East Bay. The NCS issued an announcement that practice for fall sports will start on December 14, when those teams usually have finished their seasons. Five CIF State football title games in 2019 were held on December 14.
Fall sports this year will include: cross country, football, boys and girls volleyball, boys and girls water polo, field hockey and gymnastics, with NCS and CIF State playoffs scheduled for between March and April.
The start for winter season sports, such as soccer and wrestling, has been pushed back to February and March, overlapping with traditional spring sports, such as baseball and softball. That will force some two- and three-sport athletes to make hard choices.
Still, just the idea of getting back on the field is enough for most athletes and coaches.
“It’s pretty exciting,” San Marin High School football coach Dom Dimare said. “It’s great to have some guidance on how the season is going to go.”
San Marin has been hosting a three-week training and conditioning football camp, with athletes working in small groups with an assigned coach, in order to limit the possible spread of COVID-19.
Many coaches around the Marin County Athletic League and other Marin schools have struggled to find ways to organize camps or plan practices, while following quarantine restrictions and keeping in mind the health and safety of coaches and players.
NCS Commissioner Pat Cruickshank wrote in a press release, “This is the effort of many individuals and groups that have been charged with finding solutions to an unprecedented challenge in our lives. All of us know the importance of education-based athletics to our student-athletes, schools, and communities. This calendar considers the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of those students that we are so fortunate to serve in our section and throughout the state. This upcoming school year will require creativity, flexibility, and working together to best serve those student-athletes.”
In the meantime, Dominican University of California learned that the PacWest Conference will delay the fall sports season until January 1, 2021. PacWest fall sports include men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball.
“The well-being and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, families and communities are our top priority,” Dominican athletic director Amy Henkelman said. “We will continue to help and support our student-athletes transition during this time. I appreciate the adaptability and positive mindset that our coaches and student-athletes have had during these changing and challenging times. I also want to thank my fellow PacWest colleagues for working closely and collegiately through many difficult decisions that impact us all. We will continue to work diligently on models and plans to get back to competition safely.”
A decision on the start of the 2020-21 winter sports season, as well as the non-championship segments of spring sports, is expected to be made by October 1.
“This was a very difficult, but well-thought-out decision and one that so many individuals worked together on over the past several weeks,” Hogue said. “We’re appreciative of everyone’s efforts and look forward to a time when we can all be safely out on the field of play again.”
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