The December 7 date originally set to begin official practices has passed but another one is on the horizon
The D-Day that is written into the history books took place on June 4, 1944 when Allied Forces in World War II invaded northern France by means of mass landings of troops that stormed the beaches of Normandy. With ultimate respect and honor for those that did not survive, the event was a huge success in ending the war in Europe.
Here in California we had our own D-Day in the world of high school football when on December 7 teams were supposed to be able to start practicing with pads and contact.
Unfortunately, our D-Day has come and passed and the players are not storming the football fields.
In fact, after the California Department of Public Health made an announcement last week that it was postponing the release of guidance for youth sports activities until at least January 1, the California Interscholastic Federation followed shortly thereafter with an announcement that cancelled all regional and state championship events for all sports from the Season 1 sports calendar.
The bottom line is with respect to football and the amount of time required for full practice before teams are allowed to play, it would push things out to mid-January even if activities could get going immediately after New Year’s Day.
If things could start at that time, it would still result in the shortening of Season 1 of the current two-season schedule, and that was the main reason the CIF pulled the plug on its championships. This could allow some wiggle room for preserving longer seasons for all CIF member schools, not just those qualifying for various playoffs.
In reality, unless things turn around quick fast and in a hurry, and since the original announcement by the state has now gone even further in the wrong direction by the lockdowns ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom, a January 1 date would seem a very long shot.
It would appear that kicking the can down the road is the only thing the CIF and the 10 sections can do right now. Without a firm start date, one can only surmise what the future may bring, and when and if we will have a Season 1 at all.
With respect to football, in our opinion it’s looking like a five-game season of all league games might be the best-case scenario if things can get going sometime in February. Some leagues don’t have five games and some have more, so that further complicates that potential situation. Plus, there could be travel restrictions that won’t allow some schools to play out of their county.
Ron Nocetti, the CIF Executive Director would not agree or disagree with what we were surmising, but saw some possibilities in the scenario. He even saw some possibilities to our suggestion that even if things were reduced to a maximum of five games for the regular season, the sections might be able to squeeze in a championship game in their various divisions by taking the top two teams from each division. But that will be up to each individual section, and they are hard at work trying to figure out how to be ready if and when things get going.
There are some that don’t think beyond football and among them there are those that have suggested moving football to Season 2, but that would be unfair to Season 2 sports, like boys volleyball that had its season moved from 1 to 2 in an effort to prevent participants in that sport from losing a second consecutive season.
In his response to a shortened season for football and any possibilities of moving it to Season 2 and affecting other sports, Nocetti was clear in his answer:
“We have to continue to be flexible during this extremely fluid time and to do what is best for the greatest number of student athletes and schools.”
At this point, the various section officials are making contingency plans, and are constantly communicating with the athletic directors on how best to move forward.
According to the most recent issue of the CIF North Coast Section Newsletter that goes out to ADs in the section, here is a portion of what Commissioner Pat Cruickshank had to say:
“At the section level, we will continue to wait on updated guidelines from CDPH. While I do not anticipate any guidance from them until after the holidays, if we receive anything we will communicate that immediately. When we have those guidelines we will move accordingly to begin Season 1.
"In the meantime, come December 7th, school may not begin their official practices, but only continue what counties allow under the current guidelines. We have also targeted January 19th as a date to alert our schools about a decision to either continue with section championships for Season 1 or give those weeks back to our leagues to extend play.”
Cruickshank went on to say: “I understand what you wanted to hear was better news than this, however, with cases rising, and all but one of our counties in the purple tier, and the realization of the holidays that surround us, this is the best we can do at this time moving forward.”
We were also able to contact CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Assistant Commissioner Will DeBoard to see what their plans were moving forward relative to the NCS..
“It’s a similar set of circumstances as the NCS. We’ll be making an announcement some time during that week but we haven’t set a date."
DeBoard added: “First and foremost, it’s about the kids, but our ADs are in a bind here. At some point the guidelines are going to come out and we’re going to see our realistic start dates for our sports – and every AD will be scrambling to redo every schedule that they’ve probably redone a couple of times already.”
As one of those ADs, DeBoard feels for, here is what Heritage athletic director and Prep2Prep Content Editor Nate Smith had to say pertaining to the possible start of Season 1 and current expectations – and this should provide and answer for those who think that planning is not taking place to make every effort to provide a season for high school student-athletes
"If we get the green light, any sort of green light to compete, it will be a mad scramble to make it all work. But all of us in high school athletics will be beyond excited to put in that effort and make it work for everyone involved.
"Ultimately, it is still impossible to predict what a season might look like at this point. And at the end of the day, we just want to be able to look back and see that some sort of season took place, that our effort all year to keep our student-athletes engaged and ready to go has paid off in a safe and responsible manner for all schools involved."
"The big thing to keep in mind is that everyone is trying to work together to do what is best for our student-athletes, and that there has been great, open dialogue between our section leadership and the athletic directors,” continued Smith. “The hardest thing is that we don't know what we don't know, and that means that until we can actually see the updated guidance and the benchmarks we need to reach, it becomes impossible to create plans to go with that guidance. We also know that any updated guidance will likely have restrictions on who we can play against, where and when, so that will all impact changes to this year's calendar once we see what it looks like."
Some football coaches voiced their opinions as well.
“I just hope we can get in five games so these kids can get some film they really need to help them get to college,” said Clayton Valley head coach Tim Murphy.
“If we can just play even one game,” wistfully remarked Rancho Cotate head coach Gehrig Hotaling.
The first D-Day for high school sports has come and gone, but now we have a new one coming in the third full week of January.
However, unless the CDPC issues some guidelines prior to or shortly after that, Murphy’s wish could be in jeopardy, and Hotaling’s dream of one game may be a last hope for some type of football competition during this school year.
