SAUSD to allow competition for high school cross country; no decision on football

Santa Ana Unified School District officials announced Monday that high school athletes will be allowed to return to in-person conditioning programs in all sports and compete in cross country, the only sport currently allowed by the CIF and the California Department of Public Health.

The announcement would lead the way for the first competition in the district since last March when the coronavirus pandemic haulted high school sports. Santa Ana Unified suspended high school camps in December.

High schools in SAUSD include Century, Segerstrom, Godinez, Santa Ana, Santa Ana Valley and Saddleback. Athletic directors are expected to meet Tuesday with district officials to come up with a plan, according to Matt Cavanaugh, athletic director at Century.

While coronavirus cases have been trending lower, Orange County remains in the most restrictive purple tier and the only CIF sport currently allowed is cross country. In addition, the city of Santa Ana had nearly 43,000 cases as of Sunday, the most in the county.

All teams, including football and basketball squads, may resume practices, which must be outdoors and limited to small groups with athletes socially distanced, according to Fermin Leal, chief communications officer for SAUSD.

No decision has been made on whether competition can eventually be held in football and basketball, Leal added. Football is in the moderate orange tier, two tiers below purple, so under the current tier system, conditions would have to improve dramatically in a short time for all schools in the CIF to field football. Baseball is in the red tier.

CIF officials have said they would like to see football games beginning in March and running through the middle of April, but no decision has been made. However, the National Federation of State High School Associations revised its guidelines regarding to the risks of athletes playing during the coronavirus pandemic last week and CIF officials and coaches are hoping to convince state officials to allow the sport.

“The plan is to allow in-person conditioning for all sports following all safety protocols,” Leal told OC Sports Zone in an email.

“Competition in cross country would be allowed, and baseball could be allowed if our COVID-19 numbers continue to decline in coming weeks. A determination on football, basketball, and other close-contact competitions has not been made. We currently have no plan to resume competition in these sports. Our COVID numbers would need to continue to fall further before a decision on competition in close-contact sports is made.”

Baseball, scheduled to begin in March, is currently in the substanital red tier.

“The SAUSD community remains in the purple ‘widespread’ tier,'” SAUD officials said in a statement. “Under CIF and California Department of Public Health (CDPH), athletes in districts in this tier can participate in outdoor, socially-distant conditioning, practice and skill building within designated small pods.

“The district plans to resume this month these activities at high schools following all safety protocols. Individual schools will determine when to safely resume these activities, and will provide more information to student athletes.

“Additionally, CIF and CDPH currently allow for competition in cross country under the purple tier. Our plan includes reviewing the option to allow competition in cross country at our schools that have the sport. CIF and CDPH allow competition in sports including baseball and softball for districts that are in less restrictive red ‘substantial’ tier. If SAUSD falls to this tier, the district plans to consider competition in these sports. 

“The decision to allow sports programs to be first to resume in-person extracurricular activities was made in consultation with our principals and other key management teams, including those from our performing arts programs. The next phase is to prepare for the return of performing arts programs including marching band, JROTC, and similar activities.”

Now it it will be up to each school in the district. Cavanaugh, the Century AD, said that Orange League athletic directors will meet Wednesday to “try to put a plan together.” Century is part of the league.

“Both AHUSD (Anaheim Union School District) have been shut down for athletic activities since the holiday break,” Cavanaugh said. “My guess would be we may have a league varsity event (in cross country) after some time for kids to train, all moving targets now.”

Saddleback High School Athletic Director Rob Thompson added:

“Yes, we plan on fielding the teams that are allowed to play: cross country, track, swimming, baseball and softball. Hoping for soccer.”

CIF officials have cancelled post-season competition for football and cross country but are hoping that regular season competition can be held in those sports.

RETURN TO PLAY GUIDELINES

(As of Feb. 2)

CIF State:

Season 1 sports (January – April): Traditional competitive cheer, cross country, field hockey, football, gymnastics, skiing/snowboarding, girls volleyball and water polo.

Season 2 sports (March – June): Badminton, baseball, basketball, competitive sport cheer, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and
diving, tennis, track and field, boys volleyball and wrestling.

Tiers by California Department of Public Health:

Purple (Widespread): Sports allowed cross country, golf, skiing/
snowboarding, swimming and diving, tennis, and
track and field.

Red (Substantial): Sports allowed baseball, field hockey,
girls lacrosse and softball.

Moderate (Orange): Sports allowed badminton, football,
gymnastics, boys lacrosse, soccer, volleyball and
water polo.

Minimal (Yellow): Sports allowed basketball,
competitive cheerleading and wrestling.

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