CIF commissioner addresses outdoor hoops, case rates, fans and length of football season

Westminster High senior Tadan Smith goes up for a dunk during conditioning drills on campus in January. The squad is among those in OC conditioning on outdoor courts. (Photo courtesy Westminster basketball)

Could high school basketball and volleyball actually start on outside courts this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, which currently restricts indoor sports?

A couple hours after releasing the latest guidelines for the return to play for a number of outdoor sports, CIF Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod took questions from the media Friday and addressed that topic, among others.

While many outdoor sports have been given the greenlight, indoor basketball and volleyball are still grouped in the minimal yellow tier. However, outdoor volleyball is allowed in the substantial red tier and basketball in the moderate orange tier. So it would be a quicker path to those tiers for those sports to happen unless additional revisions are made to make it possible for games to be in gymnasiums.

Wigod talked following the release of the new guidelines as a result of Friday’s announcement by Gov. Gavin Newsom that the California Department of Public Health officials were revising their guidelines.

Reporters from Southern California media outlets, including OC Sports Zone, asked a number of questions in the press conference, which was carried via Zoom.

When are the thresholds (14 or below average coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in a county which allows sports to start) determined?

Wigod: “The way it’s been explained to us, it is every Tuesday when the state does designate county tier assignments. Without competition until Feb. 26, with the exception of (girls) tennis for us, the one that will start Monday, that’s the way it’s going to go forward. It won’t be on a daily basis. It will be updated on Tuesday.”

What about indoor sports, such as basketball and volleyball, possibly being played outside if counties reach the red tier (for volleyball) and the orange tier (for basketball):

Wigod: “We want to see full indoor participation return as well. So far, we’ve been working constantly with the California Department of Public Health and the governor’s office trying to get revised guidelines ever since December and actually it dates back to October when we submitted our original thought process and our planning with our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. The guidelines we got today deal with outdoor sports and they deal with the indoor sports that can play outdoors until the time would come that we would get the greenlight so to speak for indoor sports to go back indoors.

“If schools want to start playing outdoors, they can. And then we’re still going to continue those discussions and still work on getting the revision for indoor sports so they potentially can return, so that will all depend on that process playing out to know what our situation would be with championships at the section level.

“To remind you, we had talked earlier about looking at early April to mid April where we would make a determination on holding our Southern Section championships in spring sports, so we do have some time for this to go forward and see where we are.”

What are the options for fans if high school sports does return?

Wigod: California Department of Public Health guidelines recommend and basically allow what we call immediate family. Now that will be up to schools to make the determination what immediate family means. As we go forward depending on the facilities and depending on what the circumstances are, they will make those ultimate decisions on who is going to be allowed in to watch. They talk in the guidelines about appropriate social distancing, mask wearing and the other kinds of basic types of protocols we’ve been looking at.

“Don’t forget we have 36 pages of protocols that were released back in December by the CIF and the CIF Sports Medicine Advisory Committee that give help to schools on how to conduct these contests on their campuses. Those guidelines still remain in place and you can get them on the CIF State website.”

If one county meets the 14 threshold average and others don’t, would a season go on?

Wigod: “We have to see how it plays out. Again I would like to be very hopeful and optimistic about these numbers. As I mentioned, our lowest number was 15.6 in San Luis Obispo County and our highest was Riverside County at 28.8. With the rapid decrease in these numbers in these adjusted case rates, I really would anticipate that all of our counties are going to get there (to 14) if not by this coming week, certainly hopefully by the first week of March.

“If that’s the case, then again, there are going to be opportunities for our programs to be out there and get athletes back to what they love to do and what we love to watch them do. We will have to monitor. If we only have one or two counties that are able to resume, we will have to take a look at that at the time. But I also want to remind everybody regardless of California Department of Public Health guidelines, regardless of all the information you’ve been given today, these are still going to be individual school, school district and private school decisions on whether they are going to bring their programs back on campus.

“Even if a county or a California Department of Public Health is allowing for this to happen, our individual schools and school districts and private schools are still going to make the decisions that are in their best interests as to what they’re going to have going back and we’re going to respect those decisions and support those decisions and we’re going to do everything we can to help our schools in the effort to get the sports programs back on campus.”

What happens if a county starts at the 14 or below threshold and then goes above it? Would the program have to stop?

Wigod: In this initial circumstance that we’ve gotten the information, our understanding is that they can continue on. If they get started, they can continue.

Under the guidelines, teams can only play other teams in their counties or adjoining counties so how would that affect the playoffs?

Wigod: It would make it complicated. The travel limitations as they exist allow adjoining counties to compete with schools from one county and the county next to them as long as they’re both in a county in the same situation. So if Ventura County gets to below 14 and Santa Barbara County is still above, then they aren’t going to be allowedto play each other across those county lines. But if they both get to below 14, then they can. Ventura County can go North or they can go South one county, but they wouldn’t be able to go down to Orange County, let’s say, or another county across more than one.

“And that’s how it’s initially going to be done. Now obviously it’s a starting point and we’ve said from the beginning, we just needed a chance. We needed an opportunity to bring sports back and get going. Once we do and hopefully we can prove it can be done in a healthy and safe way, we can start to approach multiple county travel and start talking about multiple school events that can take place and start talking about some other steps that we would love to see happen going forward. But like a lot of things, it doesn’t all happen at once.”

Will there be protocols in place in the event an athlete tests positive and how would it affect CIF championships?

Wigod: The testing issues are going to be school issues. Those are their students, they’re not our students. And coaches too. Right now, the only sports that have to be tested are football and boy and girls water polo. By the time we talk to some of these spring sports, there is not currently a testing requirement. We’re going to have to work with those health departments (at locations for CIF championships) and make sure the protocols (are followed).”

Would the end of the football season be extended from April 17 to April 30?

Wigod: “At this time, we have no plans to extend the football season beyond April 17. What everyone needs to remember is we have a bigger picture here than just one sport and we have a very ambitious list of spring sports that’s already been in place and the schedule for those sports has been in place for a long time. If we were going to continually look at moving any of our fall sports further back, it’s going to impact that spring sports situation and our student athletes, our coaches and our facilities. We’re staying the course on the original schedules that were released in July 2020 and we believe that’s the best course for our schools.”

How would testing work for athletes in football and water polo?

Wigod: “The COVID-19 testing requirement that the California Department of Public Health put in there, very important in the conversation that we had was that it was fair and accessible to everyone. If you’re going to mandate a testing program, you have to make sure there is access to everyone. So, what we heard today was that the state government is going to allow for the testing to happen and flip the bill for everyone and so we will take them at their word and say that will mean it will be accessible to everyone who wishes to do it. It’s supposed to be a weekly testing program.”

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