CIF’s plan for high school sports to start in December still on, commissioner says

CIF officials intend to follow through with their current rescheduling plan which has high school sports tentatively starting in December and football in January 2021 if health officials allow, CIF Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod said Thursday.

Wigod made his comments at the conclusion of the CIF Council’s regular meeting which was held virtually for athletic league representatives throughout the section. Media members from Southern California also attended the Zoom conference.

The scheduling changes were made in July by the CIF in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has haulted high school sports since March and postponed the start of fall sports, including football.

“They are in place and they are not changing,” Wigod said. “I’ve had schools ask me are we going to be making adjustments to those calendars and the answer at this point is no. And the reason for that is we wanted to give you as much time as possible when we announced these calendars in July so you could prepare for that mid-December launch all the way through hopefully to mid-June and if we were changing it up again, at this point as we get closer to mid-December, we realized what a disruption that means and how difficult that is going to be.

“So, please be assured we are going to keep these calendars as they are and what you have already been doing to prepare for that can remain in place as well.”

In July, CIF state and Southern Section officials announced that football and other fall sports, which normally start in August, would be postponed.

The plan calls for some sports to be played in December and football to start in January 2021, if health officials provide the final approval.

Wigod also thanked and acknowledged the efforts of the athletic directors and coaches to help bring high school sports back.

“I know many of you have worked so hard on scheduling with all the different things you have to juggle with facilities, coaches, student athletes, transportion, officials, all these different things involved and you’ve worked really, really hard to get this done,” Wigod said. “And you have done it in a way I really hoped you would in that you’ve been very positive about it.

“Our student athletes have been heard enough negativity and what they can’t do and what we’ve had to cancel or shutdown and I really want to compliment the adults and our leadership at our member high schools for the way you’ve approached this and the way you have delivered to come through for our student athletes and shown them the path of what we can do starting in mid-December if our health authorities are going to allow us to do it.”

Wigod indicated he was encouraged to hear reports about students returning to campus and athletes doing conditioning drills.

“The reports we’re getting back have been so positive,” Wigod said. “They’re managing the health and safety protocols and just that environment of students on campus with coaches and teammates it’s doing wonders for our students. That’s so great to hear. Obviously, we still have work to do to go from these first steps but if we can just continue on in this path and do what we need to do, we certainly already see the benefits of students being back on campus and beginning to work with their coaches and their teammates.

“Students hate conditioning and here they are, it’s really all they are allowed to do and yet we’re hearing about how happy they are to be back even doing conditioning drills.”

Wigod added that CIF section playoffs and championships are also planned at the end of the regular seasons for each sport.

“We are going to have a destination for our schools that return to play,” he said. “There may be variances in what some of those section championships might look at. We’re going to carry on with the schools and the divisions they are supposed to be in and try to do our very best to provide that championship experience.

“The notion that perhaps there wouldn’t be enough schools or the divisions wouldn’t be balanced ….. none of that is in the plan.”

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

RELATED STORY ON SPORTS RETURNING:

CdM football coach says ‘stop complaining and accept what it is’ during a pandemic