All community college sports seasons, including football, scheduled to move to spring 2021

All community college athletic programs throughout the state including Irvine Valley, Santa Ana College, Cypress, Saddleback College, Santiago Canyon, Orange Coast College, Golden West College and Fullerton College, will start up in February of 2021, according to a plan approved Thursday night by the California Community College Athletic Association Board of Directors.

The board overwhelmingly approved the plan and shifts all sports, including football, to the spring season, according to a release from the association. Football teams, who normally start in August, will now gear up for a February start.

Cypress, Irvine Valley and Santiago Canyon College do not field football teams.

The plan will affect 110 colleges in the CCCAA and approximately 24,000 student-athletes, officials said.

Fall sports normally would start in August, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, are being pushed back. Winter sports typically start in November and spring sports in February.

Keith Shackleford, dean, school of kinesiology, health and athletics. confirmed on Twitter that all the 11 Laser sports schedules will be played in the spring.

It appears the decision from the board of directors was not expected to be announced until Friday, July 17.

“ADs and deans were neither consulted nor notified prior to an Email to conference comissioners early this evening,” Shackleford said in a text to OC Sports Zone Thursday night. “Though the decision was not a surprise based on trending data for the state, the timing was. We simply anticipated this decision to be made on July 17.”

Football teams will have their first games on Feb. 13, 2021. Post-season play will end on April 17. Football practice would start on Jan. 18, 2021.

Cross country would begin on Feb. 5, 2021 with practices starting on Jan. 18, 2021.

Basketball teams will begin play on Feb. 5, 2021 and conclude on April 17. Practices would start on Jan. 18, 2021.

Baseball, softball, men’s and women’s track and field and men’s volleyball teams will open competition on April 10, 2021. Practices would start March 27, 2021.

All sports will have a 30 percent reduction in their schedules. While there will be regional post-season competitions, there will be no state championships, officials said.

“The Contingency Plan was among three potential scenarios approved by the board in early June,” according to the release by the CCCAA. “Each plan was wholly dependent on which phase of reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic the state of California was in on the CCCAA’s previously announced July 17 decision date. The return to athletics in January will only occur if it is safe to do so, a decision that will be guided primarily by state and local health guidelines.”

“We were very hopeful that we could go forth with the Conventional Plan,” said Jennifer Cardone, Interim Executive Director. “It’s the closest to what everyone is used to and provides for the least disruption to our student-athletes and colleges. Unfortunately, California’s reopening progress has slowed, and it’s become apparent that we would not be in position to put it into action on July 17.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staffs are our top priorities. While the Contingency Plan has the most drastic changes, it’s also the one that provides us the best opportunity to return to competition.” 

Shackleford added that the issue of whether fans can attend games has not been brought up and he expects it will be left up to individual colleges.

“It’s premature to speculate at this point, and we will address those issues as a college and a district as we get much closer to the spring start dates,” he said.

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