Westminster High baseball players show their school spirit holding up fingers to make the W sign and celebrate in the dugout Friday after the announcement that baseball should be returning. (Photo courtesy Westminster baseball)
With the announcement that a number of outdoor high school sports are scheduled to begin soon, many Orange County high school athletes and players got the news they had been hoping for including the players on Coach Craig Jones Westminster High School varsity baseball team.
Baseball is scheduled to begin Friday, March 19 if Orange County meets the new threshold for measuring coronavirus cases and the Lions are looking forward to playing on their newly-refurbished field on campus.
The players celebrated upon hearing the update.
“My team is elated and yelling while blasting the speaker,” Jones said Friday afternoon during practice. “It’s a dance party at Westminster High School.”
The announcement will likely lead to the start of the season for the Beckman High baseball team, the defending Pacific Coast League champion. The Patriots are scheduled host Laguna Hills in the opener Friday, March 19.
“I think I’m speaking for everyone on our team when I say I’m fired up for the season to start,” said Beckman pitcher Keon Ghazimorad. “We’ve been preparing ourselves for this season and we’re gonna attack it head on.”
Woodbridge High School Athletic Director Rick Gibson also welcomed the update from the CIF and the California Department of Public Health.
“Cautiously optimistic,” Gibson said. “We need a few questions answered but we are super excited with the prospect of playing.”
The announcement was great news for football players, including Irvine High’s talented wide receiver/free safety Kade Zimmerman, who found out that full football practice can begin on Friday, Feb. 26, if the threshold is met and that games can start in March.
“Been nothing but hard work this past year,” he said. “We’ve been working hard and we’ll be ready to go. We want a league championship.”
It was also welcome news for girls and boys water polo plans who will begin their seasons soon if the thresholds are met.
“I’m ecstatic about today’s updates and I know that all of our water polo student-athletes are too,” said Northwood’s Kyle Kim-E, the coach for both the boys and girls teams. “For the past six months, we have been constantly stressing patience, perseverance, and resilience. Although it took longer than we had hoped, it feels like a big win.”
There was some disappointment too. after Friday’s announcement. Basketball coaches and players had hoped for better news for their sport.
But basketball remains in the minimal yellow tier and case numbers would have to improve signigicantly between now and March. One option is play basketball on outdoor courts, which would be allowed in the red tier.
CIF officials are hoping that basketball can start on March 12 and with coronavirus cases continuing to come down, there appears to be time for basketball in gymnasiums to be held.
“We will continue to be in discussions with the Governor’s Office and the California Department of Public Health on a plan for return to play for indoor sports,” CIF Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod said Friday. “However, if possible, indoor sports can begin to play outdoors, if your county meets the required threshold of 14 cases or less per 100,000 people …..”
Among the teams that have been doing conditioning drills outside is the Westminster High boys basketball squad.
Beckman High boys basketball Coach John Goins said he was disappointed to hear the news.
“Obviously, it was disappointing that the NFHS’s guidance was not applied by the state. NFHS’s data shows that indoor sports with appropriate precautions present no more risk of transmission as outdoor sports do, yet we still see basketball, volleyball and wrestling treated as higher risk than the outdoor sports.
“My hope is that their focus was to address the sports which are currently ‘in-season’ and will update their guidance in a few weeks for the spring sports season. I am happy to see that our outdoor sports look like they will be getting a chance to compete soon, and if basketball is in the cards, I assure you we will be ready when it does. This is the best team we’ve ever had at Beckman, and it would be a shame not to have a chance to show what the boys can do.”
Woodbridge High girls basketball coach Keith Clarkson is also remaining hopeful.
“Today’s announcement was encouraging for high school athletes on the whole but for basketball it is still an uphill battle,” Clarkson said. “We have been having workouts nearly every day on the outside courts since early December. I am really proud of my girls during this tough time.
“They have been working hard and staying positive throughout all of this. At this point we just need to stay hopeful that the cases will continue to decrease so we have the opportunity to compete this year. I would be very happy if we are able to at least get in our league games this year.”
Tustin High boys basketball coach Ringo Bossenmeyer remained optimistic.
“Any announcement that allows more student athletes, especially those in the senior class of 2021 to compete, is great news,” he said. “In terms of basketball moving forward, I am hoping that the increase in the number of spring sports being played will eventually result in less restrictions in basketball as well.”
Former Woodbridge boys basketball coach John Halagan added:
“That’s great obviously for football being able to start up being outside. The main concern is just keeping everybody safe as always. I know Steve (new coach Scoggin) has been working real hard under unprecedented circumstances to try and imprint his vision of the program.
“I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be. I know he’s assembled a great staff and I’ve seen the kids working on the outdoor courts and hopefully basketball can be salvaged to some degree. Again, they have to overcome that hurdle of being an indoor sport. Who knows? No one has a crystal ball. It’s unprecedented territory but we certainly want everybody to be safe and hopefully this year’s senior class can enjoy some type of competition in their senior year.”
It appears the games initially will go on largely without fans.
Under guidelines released by the California Department of Public Health, spectators at games and practices will be limited to immediate household members.
In addition, face coverings are expected to be worn by participants when they are not participating and face coverings are to be worn at all times by those not participating, including coaches and spectators.
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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