CIF officials and coaches respond after OC falls back to restrictive purple tier

About an hour after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that Orange County would be one of 41 counties moving into the more restrictive purple tier because of the coronavirus pandemic, officials with the CIF State Office released a statement regarding high school athletics.

CIF officials had been expecting an update on return to play guidelines in the state of California, according to published reports by Dan Albano of the Orange County Register.

But those guidelines did not come at Newsom’s press conference Monday.

“In today’s COVID-19 press briefing, Governor Newsom and Dr. Mark Ghaly from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) disclosed that the release of updated youth sports guidance has been postponed. Therefore, the current guidance remains in effect and CIF competitions are not allowed until new guidance is provded,” the CIF State Office said in its statement.

It is not clear what affect this will have on conditioning drills currently under way for high school teams. Officials at Bolsa Grande High School said on Twitter they had cancelled football practice on Monday and Tuesday awaiting further guidance. OC Sports Zone is reaching out to get clarification on the issue of practice.

“We are currently lifting, doing field conditioning and individual skill training with concentration on position skill sets,” Western Coach Dan Davidson said Monday afternoon.

“I am worried that this could cost us at least the start of our season now. But we will keep trying to prepare each day like the season will start Jan. 7. Hopefully we can at least get a chance to compete in league.”

Portola High School football coach and athletic director Peter Abe said his team does not hold conditioning drills on Monday. He added that officials with Irvine Unified School District will be meeting Tuesday to discuss how the announcement from the governor’s office affects academics and athletics.

“We will follow the guidance of our district,” Abe said in a text.

Some high school sports are scheduled to return in December while football is due to return in January 2021. CIF officials announced the plan in July.

But any return to competition would have to be approved by state, county and local health officials. In addition, athletes would need the proper amount of conditioning time to be ready for competition.

“CIF State Office has been actively working with the California Department of Public Health for the last month trying to get a plan approved by them for return to play,” Thom Simmons, assistant CIF Southern Section Commissioner said in an Email to OC Sports Zone.

“Our plan was developed by our CIF Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, which is made up of doctors and other health professionals from around the state. We have had dialogue with the CDPH but have no idea what their response is going to be to our plan, so we cannot share information we do not have.

“However, I have been told that there is supposed to be an announcement coming any day now from the Governor’s Office/CDPH regarding high school/youth sports and we hope that will include updated guidelines for the return of high school sports and the plan we have submitted.”  

City of Irvine officials said on Twitter that schools that have already opened do not need to close but that schools that had not re-opened for in-person instruction will not able to do so.

Coronavirus cases have been surging across the country and in California. On Sunday, the Orange County Health Agency reported 639 new cases and two new deaths. On Monday, there were 380 cases and no new deaths.

The purple tier puts restrictions on a number of businesses.

“Effective immediately, the County of Orange has moved to the Purple Tier. This is the most restrictive Tier (widespread),” according to a statement on the OC Health Care Agency Website.

The CIF Southern Section said in a release Monday it is closing its office beginning Tuesday until further notice and that officials will work remotely and be available by Email.

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