High school sports on schedule for 2021-22, according to CIF Commissioner Rob Wigod

Santa Ana Stadium is the home to a number of Orange County teams including Santa Ana High and Mater Dei football squads. File photo: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

High school sports, including football, are scheduled to begin on time in late August as planned, CIF Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod said in a report previewing the 2021-22 school year.

“Three seasons of sport, full regular seasons, Southern Section Championships and CIF Regional and State Championship opportunities are all on schedule to begin as originally planned. After all that we have been through, it is gratifying to be able to state that fact as we embark on the upcoming school year,” Wigod said in his report released to the media Tuesday.

The 2020-21 school year presented numerous challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic with sports being delayed until at least January. In addition, there were no playoffs for some sports, including football. Seasons were moved around and the spring ended with boys and girls basketball and baseball and softball being held at the same times.

Wigod said that local schools will still be responsible for hosting events.

“…..individual schools/school districts/private schools still have the sole responsibility for hosting athletic contests on their campuses following California Department of Public Health and local county health department guidelines for capacity limits, social distancing, mask wearing, etc.,” he said.

Wigod said in an earlier interview that it will be up to schools to determine how many fans can attend events.

To see the start dates for high school sports, click here.

Wigod also covered some other topics in his preview:

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

It will be added to the list of CIF approved sports. There must be a minimum of 20 percent of member schools participating to have CIF playoffs, he added.

“Our goals for year one are to make sure we reach that minimum threshold of schools offering Beach Volleyball and for schools/leagues to have League finals in beach volleyball as we expect league finals to be the qualifying mechanism for the eventual Southern Section Beach Volleyball Championships. If we can achieve those goals this year, we will be on track to hold a Southern Section Beach Volleyball Championship in the 2022-2023 school year,” Wigod said.

FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

Wigod indicated CIF officials are excited about the new football playoff format.

“After a one-year delay, we are ready to debut our new Competitive Equity Football Playoff system which will utilize only current regular season results to formulate divisions for the2021 Football Championships,” he said. “Once the season starts, weekly power rankings will be available on www.calpreps.com, which will allow you to follow the progress of your team’s ranking from Week 0 through Week 10.”

Wigod talked about the new playoff format in an interview with OC Sports Zone. To see the plan, please click here.

ON-LINE TICKETING

“With the variety of challenges we faced with the return to sports last year, one of our greatest accomplishments working together was having the entire ticketing process for Season 2 sports done entirely online through the GoFan platform. It was an unqualified success for our member schools and our office and we are glad to continue to build upon what was achieved by having all tickets for all Southern Section Playoff events done electronically through GoFan,” Wigod said.

TITLE IX ANNIVERSARY

“This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the landmark legislation that created opportunies for female student-athletes in our high schools and colleges. During the 2021-2022 school year on a national level, state level and section level we will be celebrating the history of Title IX, but also focusing on what still needs to be done to promote participation of female student-athletes and ensure equality in all our athletic programs,” Wigod said.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com