CIF continues to update the future of high school sports

By: Krissy Hetherington

On January 19th, 2021, the CIF Central Section released a new update regarding the future of this year’s sports seasons. This press release was in response to the California Department of Public Health’s update from December 2020.

Since then, the Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) has authorized sporting events/competitions to take place and for winter/ spring sports seasons to start conditioning.

Included in this press release from CIF was an updated competition schedule per sport and protocols for which sports are allowed to take place in each tier.

The CIF decided to get away from the traditional sports seasons and started to evaluate their return based on their status with the current CDPH tier (purple, red, orange, yellow tiers).

CIF Central Section Commissioner, Ryan Tos, says the CIF Bylaws state that “Sections and/or Leagues are encouraged to follow their traditional season of sport” HOWEVER, they are not required to.

This means sports in those orange tiers could still potentially start their seasons in May, but at this point, some of those athletes may have already moved onto another sport or are playing for their travel club teams.

One thing to keep in mind is how quickly decisions can be made. Guidelines could change and restrictions could be lifted. So right now the best thing coaches, teams, athletes, and schools can do is take it one week at a time.

Tos says, “That’s the hard part. We’re trying to predict what’s going to happen and who knows what the future holds. CIF would love for all sports to be in the purple or red tiers but it’s just not practical.”

On January 21st, a more specific update was released per sport if and when they are allowed to resume.

The COVID guidelines for the CIF still remain in regards to health and safety. Any athlete who tests positive for COVID-19 may not return to conditioning, practices, or competitions until cleared by a physician.

If a competition is canceled due to a COVID outbreak, the decision to reschedule would be made by the schools involved.

“What we tell the athletic directors at every meeting is whatever schedule you make, make sure you do it in pencil because everything is going to change. It will be interesting to see how coaches and ADs keep their sanity during this time.”

Ryan Tos, CIF Central Section Commissioner

Sports return, but not in-person learning for VUSD

There has been much debate over the return of high school athletics before students are allowed to return for in-person learning.

Visalia Unified School District Superintendent, Dr. Tamara Ravalin, explains that all decisions made for students’ return to school and for youth sports are determined by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). 

The Tulare County Health Department can add additional requirements to that required by the state. 

At the time that CIF released the update, California was still under Governor Newsom’s stay-at-home-order and conditioning (under strict limitations) was the only thing allowed.

The order was lifted on January 26th allowing competition to take place for sports in the purple tier as long as the local county health department and each school district allow it.

Other sports are still allowed to hold conditioning but without competition until the county moves into each sport’s respective tier.

In-person learning for secondary students can only take place when the county is in the red tier.

Before the school year started, there was a general understanding that sports would only return when in-person learning resumed but since then, that has changed.

“As the scientific and medical research continues to better understand the COVID-19 virus, the guidelines and procedures continue to evolve.  The requirements for youth sports and in-person instruction are entirely different – the CDPH has separate documents for ‘school’ and for ‘youth sports,'” said Ravalin.

Tos noted that he could rationalize for both sides of the debate.

“It’s a really important question for districts to answer. That’s the starting point. I understand them saying ‘No, education comes first. We have to get our kids back on campus first’ but I could vouch for the opposite too and say ‘It’s also very important to keep kids connected even if they can’t be on campus for academics.’ I have complete respect for either decision made by the districts,” he adds.

As the end of the school year is quickly approaching, purple tier sports are finally getting started but time is running out for the other sports.

Ravalin says, “Don’t give up hope.  Things are changing every week.  We all need to be united to bring down our COVID rates so we can get out of the purple tier.  Wear your mask, stay six feet from those outside your household, avoid social gatherings and encourage those you know to do the same.  Together we can change the tier and open up more opportunities for our student-athletes and all of our students.”

Limits on multi-sport athletes

The new CIF update also stated that “Based on current CEPH guidance, student-athletes may only participate in one cohort (team) during the same time or season.”

This meant that although there was discussion of multi-sport athletes being able to participate in multiple sports at once, it was no longer an option at the time.

The previous guideline was set in stone until February 10th when the CIF lifted this limit. With this new update, the specific language is “cohorting and multi-team participation is not a mandate, but a recommendation.”

This was a decision that the CIF, including Tos, was strongly fighting for in order to allow multi-sport athletes to have a chance at playing each of their sports.

More to follow on this topic as VUSD decides whether their students can now intermix cohorts/ training groups.

Football changes

CIF also stated that if and when a football season takes place, it MUST conclude by April 17th. Football is the only sport with a strict deadline for mutliple reasons.

There are so many limitations and safety concerns for football as far as the number of hours they can have contact during a week.

Tos explains, “The end date we suggested for April correlates with the start date we have for next fall and our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee strongly believes there needs to be a 12-week gap in-between seasons. It’s a health and safety issue. Plus, all the football equipment needs to be reconditioned before the next season. So if you go much later than potentially May 1st, then there is a chance that teams won’t be able to begin their season by their planned start date.”

Additional updates

Section Championships were also officially canceled for fall sports.

“As difficult of a decision as that is, it really didn’t take that long because the current guidance only allows for competition within your county or a bordering county no matter what tier your county is in. So ultimately, that makes Section Championships impossible,” said Tos.

Also keep in mind that the Central Section covers 11 counties in California with schools from the Central Coast, Bakersfield, Clovis, and Yosemite.

By eliminating the post-season for these sports, CIF was able to give teams the opportunity to have a longer season.

This also allows some flex time for coaches and leagues to create new competitions with teams within their county that aren’t in their league such as a County Championship rather than Section Championship.

“I think our students, coaches, and athletic directors wanted something to work towards and look forward to at the end of the season, so we encourage that. But I know some teams are just going to schedule league games and meets and that’s totally fine too,” says Tos.

The Central Section Committee members were also debating whether or not to just cancel State and Section Championships for all sports (like other Sections have decided to do). But they didn’t want to go down that route because Tos says, “We are still holding out hope that a spring sport athlete, who last year had no chance at a championship, has close to as normal of a season by May.”

“It’s a hard decision because we are betting on things in the future that we don’t even know will even happen. There are so many things that still have yet to be determined…”

Ryan Tos, CIF Central Section Commissioner

Some teams may not even get to compete against all the teams in their league since the league might include teams from other counties which limits the schedule even more.

Final words of encouragement

“We must acknowledge the loss that people are experiencing but also celebrate new experiences that we have.  Especially in these times, it is important that we reflect on family, health, friends, love, and caring for each other.  As athletes, we learn to pull together and work through difficult moments and to uplift our teammates.  It is important to plan for the future and focus on what you want to do next year.  Continue to condition.  Uplift your friends and family.  Try new things that are outside of your normal comfort area.  If you can’t play football this year, go out for track or tennis.”

Dr. Tamara Ravalin, Visalia Unified School District Superintendent

Obviously, this isn’t what anyone had planned for but the CIF, leagues, and school districts are trying their best to get kids back in sports in the safest way possible.

“We’ve always preached that athletics teach us how to overcome adversity. We never imagined that our adversity would look this extreme where we don’t even get to play but I do think involvement in these sports programs has taught kids to persevere and be resilient,” says Tos. “I hope they will find ways to overcome this and stay connected.”

“I do think that if our student-athletes were able to make it through the 2020-2021 year, they will forever look back and miss their experience for their senior year but they will also be strong, tough, individuals because of the circumstances they have had to go through. Often times in our hardest times we go through in life is where we grow the most and I hope we can all find a positive avenue out of this. This is not a dead-end, just a really long and frustrating detour.”

Ryan Tos, CIF Central Section Commisioner

Tos shares his disappointment in this year because he knows that eventually everyone stops playing but this isn’t how anyone wanted a players’ last season to end.

“High school sports are meant for the masses, everyone gets to play. So I share the frustrations and sadness with those who don’t get to experience that.”

Tos agrees that there is a sense of prioritizing those spring sports teams who were not able to have a season last year.

Fortunately, most of those spring sports are purple and red tier sports so they have a good chance at happening this year and the CIF is doing their best to ensure they get a fair shot at having as normal of a season as possible.

“I think about the athletes who only play a spring sport, they’ve gone almost two full years without playing their one sport…Clearly we want sports back but we also want to make sure it’s safe for coaches and kids to be involved as well,” he ends with.

Follow up interview with Redwood Athletic Director, Michael Wright, coming soon as well as an update on Redwood’s first sports competition of the school year, a dual cross country meet versus Lemoore.

Tags: CIF