The dark specter of the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to haunt the world, and California specifically.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a limited regional stay-at-home order during a press conference Thursday (Dec. 3) afternoon in the wake of record numbers of infections tallied statewide in recent days.
The new order, which builds on a previously imposed nighttime curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for counties in the state’s most restrictive Purple Tier, those designated with a widespread infection rate, will take effect 48 hours after intensive care unit hospital beds drop below 15 percent capacity in any of five designated regions.
That number is expected to be reached sometime in the next few weeks. The limited stay-at-home order will be imposed for three weeks when activated in one of five regions: Northern California, Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California (including San Diego County).
“We are at a tipping point in our fight against the virus and we need to take decisive action now to prevent California’s hospital system from being overwhelmed in the coming weeks,” Newsom said at the press conference.
California experienced its biggest one-day jump in COVID-19 cases to date on Wednesday (Dec. 2) with 20,759 new cases. San Diego County reported its 10th consecutive day with more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases and its 22nd consecutive day with more than 600 new cases.
The state added 18,591 new cases on Thursday (Dec. 3) to bring the total to 1.2 million.
As of Dec. 3, 51 of the state’s 58 counties were in the most restrictive Purple Tier, including San Diego County, with six counties in the Red Tier, those designated with a substantial infection rate, and one in the Orange Tier, those designated with a moderate infection rate. No counties were in the Yellow Tier, those designated with a minimal infection rate.
The numbers are nightmarish close to home. South County has triple the infections as some regions in San Diego County do, making it a hot spot in the state.
More dire news could be coming soon.
Newsom said he expects a large increase in cases within the next week to two weeks due to Thanksgiving activities and gatherings. Such an increase could overwhelm hospitals by Christmas, thus the need for decisive action, Newsom said.
Understandably, this is not good news for the resumption of education-based athletic programs. Most areas of the state were scheduled to begin official in-season sports practices on Dec. 12, with some competitions to start later in the month.
That has now been put on hold, at least through Jan. 1, following a directive sent out by the California Interscholastic Federation State Office on Monday (Nov. 30).
According to the media release, the California Department of Public Health has postponed the issuance of its updated youth sports guidance due to the continued surge in COVID-19 infections.
“The CIF State Office does not expect the CDPH will issue any guidance allowing for schools to return to full practice and competition until after Jan. 1, 2021, at the earliest,” State CIF Executive Director Ron Nocetti said. “All full practice and competition start dates are officially on hold until updated guidance is issued.”
In an effort to provide the 10 CIF sections, 1,605 member schools and more than 800,000 student-athletes the best opportunity to compete in Season 1 sports, once allowed by the CDPH and local county offices of public health, the CIF State Office is removing all regional and state championship events from the Season 1 sports calendar.
This move could conceivably free up an extra two to three weeks to extend regular season play as well as section playoff competition.
“By canceling regional and state championship events, more student-athletes will have the opportunity to participate in a longer season, rather than a truncated season with regional and state post-season play for a limited number of schools,” Nocetti said.
The first football games were scheduled Jan. 8 following nearly a month of practices. Now several weeks of practices will have to precede any on-field competitions, pushing the start of the 2021 football season well into January and possibly into February.
“The CIF is confident this decision is a necessary and reasonable action for our member schools, student-athletes, and school communities in light of the current statewide crisis,” Nocetti underscored in the state media release. “This revision to the CIF State 2020-21 Season 1 sports calendar offers our sections and leagues the flexibility and needed time to plan for the return to practice and competition once updated guidance is provided by the CDPH.”
Season 1 sports currently include badminton, cross country, field hockey, football, gymnastics, traditional competitive cheer, girls volleyball and water polo.
The state office has moved boys volleyball (traditionally a spring sport) from Season 1 to Season 2 to avoid the loss of a second full season. An updated Season 2 calendar will be posted in January.
San Diego Section Commissioner Joe Heinz issued a memo to principals and athletic directors on Tuesday (Dec. 1) following a meeting with all 10 section commissioners throughout the state.
“At the conclusion of the meeting the decision was made to postpone the start of all Season 1 sports, until the point in which updated guidance has been released by the State of California,” Heinz said in the memo. “The State CIF Office does not expect the California’s Public Health Department will issue any guidance allowing for schools to return to full practice and competition until after Jan. 1, 2021, at the earliest.
“Currently, athletic competitions are not permissible for any teams at the youth or high school level in California, based upon the guidance released from the state’s Department of Public Health on Aug. 3. Approximately one month ago, we were informed that the state was set to release updated guidance that would encompass all youth sports, from which we would be able to solidify, or adjust our current plans of returning to athletic competitions at the high school level.
“Without this updated guidance, we simply do not have the information required to officially open a season of sport for our section. In his Press Conference on Nov. 16, Gov. Gavin Newsom shared that this guidance would not be released due to the significant increase of COVID-19 Pandemic cases across the state. At this point, all CIF sections across the state have made the extremely difficult decision to officially postpone the start date for our Season 1 sports, until the point in which we receive updated guidance from the State of California’s Public Health Department. Once we have this vital information, we will be able to re-evaluate our current plan, make any necessary adjustments, and potentially set a new date to open our Season1 sports for all our student athletes and coaches (who) make up the CIF-San Diego Section.”
Heinz, a Chula Vista High School alumnus, told the principals and athletic directors addressed in the memo that he thoroughly understood that “this is not the information you were hoping to receive from our offices today, and look forward to the date in which we are able to provide you with an updated plan and date for our Season 1 sports.”
The cancellation of the high school state playoffs mirrors a similar plan enacted by the California Community College Athletics Association to allow two separate seasons of sports to exist in a compressed time frame.
Heinz said the CIF State Office’s decision will benefit a compressed time frame for Season 1 sports.
“This move will provide all sections throughout the state additional time to adjust the length of the seasons for each sport,” Heinz wrote in the memo.
Heinz, who began his first year as section commissioner in July, said the section’s leadership will meet in the coming days to review these decisions and make any necessary adjustments to current plans for the year.
“Our sports calendar for Season 1 sports and Season 2 sports, for the 2020-2021 school year will remain in place at this time,” Heinz said. “Once the youth sports guidance is released from the California Department of Health, the CIF-San Diego Section will adjust the Season 1 sports calendar accordingly. We may not know what this will look like at this juncture, but as we have stated over the last six months all options will be on the table for regular and post-season play.”
The Sweetwater Union High School District’s Board of Trustees held a special meeting on Nov. 24 to address on-going distance learning. A decision was made to extend online classes into the second semester in January 2021.
The board also approved plans to continue and expand small in-person groups and supports where possible, and to continue our athletic conditioning program for students per the guidelines of the California Department of Public Health.
The board also updated metrics for reopening in-person learning on campus based on South County’s COVID-19 cases and positivity rates in the community and added an additional milestone checkpoint in the plan for Feb. 1, 2021. This would enable the district to continue to provide updates on small in-person groups and, if possible, move into the next steps of its reopening plan to return to in-person instruction.
The delay to the start of in-season practices, given the current rise in infection rates, was not a surprise to area high school coaches, who remain optimistic that the upcoming season can be completed in a safe manner, though in what form the season may take is open for discussion.
“As we approached Thanksgiving, the delay was expected as we await the release of guidelines from the CDPH,” Bonita Vista High School athletic director Tyler Arciaga explained. “I know that flexibility is the key this year and nothing is off the table to try and get as many games as possible. This could include having an additional cross-over game for teams that do not make the playoffs — an example would be the fourth-place team in the South Bay League playing the fourth-place Grossmont Valley League team, similar to a bowl game.
“I think at the end of the day, we need to do what we can to get the seniors an opportunity to play if we can do so in a safe manner. For most of them, competitive athletics is a terminal experience that ends at the high school level. I am confident that the CIF San Diego Section under (commissioner) Joe Heinz’s leadership will do everything they can to make education-based athletics happen in a safe manner.”
When the spring sports season was canceled in March, seniors lost their chance for a final hurrah in front of family and friends as well as invaluable exposure to college recruiters and athletic scouts.
Many are hoping a repeat does not happen in the 2020-21 school term.
Student-athletes, regardless of the sport, are anxious to get back on the playing field.
“I really feel for my roller hockey players with the season now being delayed again,” Bonita Vista High School coach Keith Quigley said. “Some of them have been practicing on their own and have been chomping at the bit for the season to begin. I just hope they get to play, even if in a shortened season. But I also understand we really need to be safe and smart about all this and how we handle it.”
Students have been restricted to distance learning since last spring and will remain in front of computers at home into the first month of 2021. Besides feeling a physical drain from the lack of competition, students are also experiencing adverse mental effects due to failing grades from difficulties with online learning, dealing with issues at home, most of which deal with the effects of the virus rather than the virus itself.
These obviously remain very challenging times.
“As adults, it is difficult adjusting to change but we can adapt,” Sweetwater High School football coach Ervin Hernandez said. “However, it has been gut wrenching for these high school kids to deal with so much uncertainty. They are already dealing with difficulties with distance learning, so the continued delay has dramatically affected the mental health of our student-athletes. We are hopeful for a season and will take what we get with opportunities to condition as a team, although a decision either way will help the mental health of our student-athletes.”
Mar Vista High School water polo head coach Chad Kavanagh was vocal in his assessment of the continual delays to the season. He called the latest push-back a “damn shame.”
“We are stealing this season away from these kids,” he said in an obvious disappointed tone.
Go or no go — that’s the burning question right now and it likely will not be answered for another month.
The frustration continues to build. But the need to stay safe supersedes everything, so existing health protocols need to be followed, at least until new ones are issued.
Community college sports calendar to move forward with individual institutions allowed to opt-in or opt-out
The California Community College Athletic Association voted on Nov. 6 to continue forward with the contingency plan to provide a framework for a return to competition this spring while also providing decision-making guidance for institutions.
The contingency plan, which was approved by the CCCAA in July, moved all 24 sports to one of two sessions in the spring with traditional fall sports, as well as men’s and women’s basketball, participating in the first half and the remaining sports competing in the second half.
The CCCAA’s board of directors reaffirmed following the contingency plan while also allowing final decisions to participate in competition to institutions in consultation with their local health authorities.
The board requested the COVID-19 Work Group to determine opt-in/opt-out dates for schools to indicate participation for the spring while understanding that extenuating circumstances may arise that may lead institutions to opt out at a later date.
The board also approved a motion to provide student-athletes a waiver for any CCCAA competition during the 2020-21 athletic year in order to support the success, safety and well-being of student athletes.
The CCCAA suspended its spring sports on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic and canceled them a week later.
Session 1 sports for the upcoming spring semester include basketball, cross country, football, women’s golf, soccer, women’s volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
Session 2 sports include badminton, baseball, beach volleyball, men’s golf, softball, swim and dive, tennis, track and field and men’s volleyball.
For more information, visit the website at www.cccaasports.org.
