HomeSportsPrep Sports on Hold Again as Virus Surges

Prep Sports on Hold Again as Virus Surges

Photo by Mitch Lehman / TRIBUNE
Sophomore Andrew Hornberger takes part in a recent workout as part of San Marino High School’s football team. Recent COVID-related regulations have put the beginning of the Titans’ season in jeopardy.

An update from CIF Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod last week led off with the question for which thousands of young people are still awaiting an answer: Are we going to play?
If only the answer was that simple.
Amid a recent surge in cases of COVID-19 and new guidelines reinforcing a curfew and limiting the number of patrons who can physically enter businesses, the CIF — the governing body for prep athletics in California — announced that state health officials will probably not release updated guidelines for youth sports until after Jan. 1, thereby postponing any education-based practices and competition scheduled for December.

Photo by Mitch Lehman / TRIBUNE
Nathalie Genyck, a sophomore, works on her skills under the direction of coach Melwyn Pereira. A part of the Season 2 – spring – sports calendar, tennis is set to begin in March with CIF Finals in early June.

“We believed that if we allowed the maximum amount of time possible to gain control of the situation, we could deliver to our student-athletes what we all want for them and give them what they deserve,” Wigod said in the statement. “Since July, there clearly has not been any progress made toward gaining control of the pandemic. In fact, it has gotten worse, and here is where we are.”
The CIF also announced the cancellation of regional and state championships for the fall season, a decision that affects football, cross-country, volleyball and water polo. The move gives teams an opportunity to participate in a longer regular season.
The CIF also moved the boys’ volleyball season to the spring, or Season 2 in the new scheduling arrangement that was released in July. The move was made to reduce the chances of boys’ volleyball having two consecutive seasons with a sharply diminished number of games.
The state’s guidance on youth sports hasn’t been updated since Aug. 3, making it difficult for CIF to develop a clear path to move forward. The new guidelines were supposed to be announced last month but were delayed by state officials three weeks ago.
“Under the circumstances, that is the best information they can get to us,” said David Irie, San Marino High School’s director of athletics. “Because of the number of COVID cases, we are basically in limbo.”
Irie said the mood is still optimistic, though some frustration about the postponement has seeped in.
“The coaches, the players … everybody is disappointed,” Irie said. “We were supposed to play a volleyball, game this Friday and now it is not going to happen. Now L.A. County is going to have to give us approval but the timeline is being pushed back.”
He also said that the altered schedule will make it difficult to play any nonleague contests.
“If we get clearance at the beginning of January, it looks like we would only get in a league schedule,” Irie said. “It would be tough to do much more.”
SMHS will continue to hold live workouts.
“At this point, we are going to continue,” said Irie.
He also said coaches and players alike still enjoy the experience, despite the almost constant letdown.
“Our coaches have enjoyed the opportunity to see the kids in person,” he said. “As we know, the Zoom experience is totally different than the in-person experience. Likewise, the athletes have enjoyed seeing their teammates in a socially distanced manner. We have received nothing but positive feedback from our parents about our workouts.”
The San Marino Unified School District closed its doors on March 13 and halted all extracurricular activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19. On July 20, the CIF announced its updated schedule for the 2020-21 school year that retained all previous sports but employs a two-season format that is scheduled to begin in December. The CIF’s new calendar postponed the beginning of the traditional fall season — Season 1 — to that month, with several sports being shuffled between seasons. Winter sports, such as basketball, will be woven into spring sports, with regional or state playoffs ending June 19 and those offerings now designated as Season 2.
The typical athletic year contains three individual seasons, but the CIF chose to reduce the number to two and move some of sports to accommodate the new arrangement. Season 1 now includes football, field hockey, gymnastics, girls’ volleyball, and boys’ and girls’ water polo.
Season 2 will feature baseball, softball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, badminton, boys’ and girls’ golf, boys’ and girls’ soccer, boys’ and girls’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ swimming, boys’ and girls’ track and field, boys’ and girls’ wrestling, and now boys’ volleyball. Season 2 will begin in March.
SMHS’ first game of the fall sports season was scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 19, a girls’ volleyball game pitting the Titans against Flintridge Sacred Heart. The game was canceled by Sacred Heart prior to last week’s announcement.
The Titans were scheduled to kick off the football season on Friday, Jan. 8, against Crescenta Valley High School, but there is little hope at this point it will be played. CIF bylaws require days of practice prior to playing a football game.
“On Tuesday, January 19, 2021, when we have a better sense of the overall situation at that time, I will update you on the status of Southern Section championships for fall sports,” the section’s statement continued. “Where we are today is not as important as where we are on Dec. 15, 2020; Jan. 4, 2021; or Jan. 19, 2021. In the time we have before the new year and into the new year, we must strive to make progress within our Southern Section footprint to have the opportunity to return to play when the time comes. Let us resolve to do everything we can to make that happen for our student-athletes.”
According to Wigod, the CIF has been working with the California Department of Public Health since October in developing plans for each tier — based on positivity rate and adjusted case rate — of the state’s reopening plan.
“The centerpiece of our proposal was an attempt to incorporate the four-colored tier system — purple, red, orange and yellow — that is applied to each of California’s 58 counties, and directly connect those color designations to high school sports,” Wigod said.
Wigod also mentioned in his update that the Southern Section could face revenue losses of $600,000-$700,000 if there are no sports championships this academic year. The CIF currently expects a loss of $275,000, an amount that does not include the figure for sports championships.
Which brings us back to the million-dollar question that was posed at the beginning of this story. Sadly, area high school athletics are still searching for the answer.

Staff writer Oscar Areliz contributed to this report.

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