Officials with the Santa Ana Unified School District announced Monday that the district is suspending all in person group activities through at least Jan. 11, 2021 putting conditioning drills for high school athletic programs on hold.
The plan is effective on Tuesday.
The decision will affect athletic programs at Segerstrom, Santa Ana Valley, Century, Godinez, Santa Ana and Saddleback high schools and causes more uncertainty over the future of high school sports due to the coronavirus pandemic.
SAUSD Superintendent Jerry Almendarez said in a statement the decision was made in response to the regional stay at home order by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday. The governor has asked residents to stay home as much as possible in light of surging coronavirus cases throughout the state. SAUSD schools had not yet returned to in-person schooling.
“…..out of an abundance of caution, Santa Ana Unified School District leadership has decided to suspend all in-person group activities involving students effective Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020,” the statement said. “These activities include SAUSD’s Learning Labs and group athletic conditioning programs. The suspension of these programs and activities will remain in effect at least through Jan. 11, 2021.
“It is important to note that remote learning for all of our students will remain unaffected. Additionally, meal distribution services will continue uninterrupted. Families of students having connectivity issues are encouraged to reach out to their schools for additional tech support and resources. All other essential activities at school sites will continue following district established safety protocols. Athletic conditioning will also resume in a virtual-only environment.”
Cases continue to increase throughout the state and county. The city of Santa Ana had 17,247 coronavirus cases, the most in Orange County, according to the Orange County Health Agency, as of Monday. Orange County remains in the most restrictive purple tier.
“The tentative goal is to bring these groups back Jan. 11,” said Fermin Leal, chief communications officer for SAUSD. “But that would depend on health conditions at the time.”
It is not clear how this will affect high school sports for district teams. In football, teams need 14 full days of practice before playing games.
“Of course the first priority is the safety of our students and their families but I’m extremely disappointed for our student athletes,” said Saddleback Athletic Director Rob Thompson. “For most of them, athletic workouts have been their only break from virus hysteria.
“They looked forward to working out with their teammates in a very safe environment on campus and now they have had that taken away. I will continue to communicate with them virtually so we can all try and keep our hopes positive. We’re in this together.”
“I am remaining positive that we will get an opportunity to play this year,” Segerstrom Coach Joseph Tagaloa said in an interview last week. “Under what circumstances, remains to be seen. There are a lot of factors that go into the decision making as far as whether or not we will be able to get out there. Realistically, we are going to have to play some sort of condensed schedule. Most people I have spoken with to seem to be hoping for at least a league schedule.”
Santa Ana Unified becomes the second district to stop athletic conditioning. The Anaheim Union School District announced on Friday that athletic conditioning and other activities were being suspended until further notice.
CIF state officials announced last week that the season scheduled to begin this month for a number of sports was being put on hold as they await further guidance from the California Department of Public Health on return to play guidelines.
They do not expect another update until at least Jan. 1, 2020.
In addition, CIF Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod said in an interview he and section officials are still committed to having high school sports in 2021, but they are waiting for further direction from state officials. Wigod said he will provide an additional update on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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