Five signs that high school sports could be returning to normal in 2021-22

Segerstrom’s Alijah Sadler makes the catch and runs with the ball. (File photo courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone)

ANALYSIS

After a challenging 2020-21 athletic school year due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are some encouraging signs that high school sports will be on track for a more normal 2021-22 year with seasons starting as scheduled.

It’s difficult to predict what will happen between now and late August and if cases rise significantly in Southern California there could be challenges including more safety measures, but here are five positive signs based on what we’ve reported so far this summer:

NUMBER ONE

High school football teams are taking part in off-season competitions, lots of them. Mission Viejo, Huntington Beach, Western, Segerstrom, Santa Ana, Irvine, Northwood, Tustin, Santa Margarita, Mater Dei and Crean Lutheran are among the ones.

Segerstrom had a solid showing at an event in Elsinore.

With no summer dead period this summer, it’s up to each program to set the schedule and teams seem to be making progress. Irvine’s football team, coached by Tom Ricci, went 5-0 in a mini-tournament Saturday. The Vaqueros will meet Katella Wednesday in a two-way passing scrimmage.

NUMBER TWO

High school coaches have been holding youth football camps. Among them have been the popular Dan Selway Youth Football Camp in Lake Forest. Selway is the offensive coordinator at Capo Valley. A number of other programs have also held camps, including Tustin High which hosted a youth football camp Friday night.

NUMBER THREE

Most football teams appear to have released their schedules. You may recall last year around this time, coaches and players were in a waiting game to see when the season would start. As it turned out, an abbreviated five-game schedule started in March. Northwood’s football schedule was posted on OC Sports Zone last week along with an update on the team.

NUMBER FOUR

Events that were cancelled are returning: We’ve noticed a couple of events that were cancelled last year due to the pandemic have already been scheduled, including the Tustin Classic, a boys basketball tournament which will have a great 16-team field Dec. 27-30. In addition, the Ryan Lemmon Senior Baseball Showcase is scheduled to have the 25th anniversary games next spring.

NUMBER FIVE

The first list of CIF playoff groupings by divisions for the fall were released on Monday. The sports include boys water polo, girls volleyball, cross country and girls tennis.

So, that’s a clear indication that it’s possible, a somewhat normal athletic year is on the way.

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