Commissioner Rob Wigod made CIF better through some challenging times

Rob Wigod was the CIF Southern Section Commissioner for the past 11 years. (Photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

COMMENTARY: Sports were added and section appears to be on solid ground.

Rob Wigod’s tenure as commissioner of the CIF Southern Section officially ends on Tuesday, Aug. 1 when he retires from the post he’s held for the last 11 years. Wigod was assistant commissioner for 11 years before that.

No question, Wigod leaves the CIF in excellent shape as he turns it over to new commissioner Mike West.

It hasn’t been easy, especially navigating through a pandemic that put a stop to high school athletics for a while and forced CIF officials to adjust schedules to get in as many games as possible when conditions improved.

“I’m very excited for the coming year; I really feel we had a tremendous year last year, to be able to have had all of our sports return, section, regular season, regional, state championships,” he said in an interview with OC Sports Zone in August 2022 as sports were beginning to get back into normal cycles.

“Every single thing that had been lost has hopefully been restored through last year. I look to this year to just continue to build on that.”

The challenges may have been overwhelming for some, but Wigod remained flexible and positive through the coronavirus pandemic. He was realistic about the problems faced during that time, but also optimistic that one day, high school sports would be back to full steam.

If you attended any high school sporting event in the winter and spring and saw the energy in the stands and on the field, it was evident that high school sports was back and bigger than ever, largely due to Wigod’s leadership.

We never heard Wigod complain through any of it, even though there may have been those in the sports community second guessing some decisions by the CIF.

Wigod outlined many of the accomplishments he’s most proud about in his final letter to school principals and athletic directors.

Among them:

—The 100th anniversary celebration of the CIF, including the publication of the top 100 athletes for those 100 years.

—Implementation of competitive equity playoff groupings for select team sports: baseball, boys/girls
basketball, football, boys/girls soccer, softball, boys/girls tennis, boys/girls volleyball, boys/girls water
polo. (2016-17).

—Held the inaugural boys and girls lacrosse championships in 2020-21 and the inaugural girls dual meet wrestling championships in (2020-21).

—Implemented current year data for the first time in formulating CIF football playoff divisions in 2021-22.

—Conducted the inaugural girls wrestling masters meet championships in 2021-22.

—Conducted the inaugural beach volleyball team championship and inaugural beach volleyball
individual pairs championship in 2022-23.

—Added girls flag football as a CIF-approved sport for implementation as a fall sport in the
2023-24 school year.

In his final letter, Wigod thanked his staff: “As I have said many, many times, whenever I speak of them, our staff is second to none. I am so grateful to them for their dedication to our membership and to our organization.”

The executive committe: “To our Executive Committee, present and past, for their leadership, vision,
and oversight of our organization.”

And the member schools, which he said includes principals, athletic directors, coaches, and school communities: “I want to express my gratitude to all of you who embrace the importance of education-based athletics and have devoted so much of your time in service to young people. I am so thankful for the spirit of cooperation and collaboration that has resulted in significant changes to the way we have administered to our student-athletes, and I am extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish by working together.”

The accomplishments of Wigod’s tenure were many and significant and will have positive ramifications for decades to come; more athletes have opportunities to play high school sports than ever before.

But most importantly, Wigod loved what he did.

He loved visiting campuses and honoring students, being at the Woollett Aquatics Complex watching water polo finals and handing out championship and runner-up plaques, or being at Cal State Fullerton for a baseball final and Deanna Manning Stadium for a softball final on the same day.

It seemed fitting this year that the CIF baseball finals were in Long Beach, the city where Wigod played baseball for Long Beach Wilson.

Through the years, Wigod was out there, and he was eager to share stories about the CIF with the media, even if it was on Zoom during the pandemic. Wigod was always available and very informative during interviews, and we’re grateful for the time he allocated to us so we could inform our readers.

In his final interview with OC Sports Zone, at least as commissioner, Wigod said he didn’t know what was ahead, but indicated he “wanted to give back. ”

We expect Wigod will be involved in sports in some way in the future.

His message to athletes in that interview was one he often talked about during his tenure:

“Celebrate this great opportunity, embrace what education-based athletics is, being with your teammates, your friends, your classmates and the student body.”

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