The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced on Jul. 20, 2020 all high school sports will be postponed until December at the earliest due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in California. Fall sports are planned to have their own season, while winter and spring will likely merge seasons. The fall season is expected to begin in December and end in March. If merged, the winter and spring season will start in March and end in June.
Merging seasons will mean limited practice space and potentially forcing athletes who play a sport in both winter and spring to select one. When asked about how students who play two sports from the combined seasons are going to pick they had multiple things to consider.
“I am choosing based on what sport I have been playing and committed to longer,” sophomore Emma Bach said.
Bach will be choosing basketball over track if the seasons merge. Other students had a different approach.
“I know it is going to come down to two things: what sport I enjoy playing more, and which sport I will be getting more playing time in,” senior Bella DeRuvo said.
Deruvo will be deciding between basketball and softball, and is still making her decision.
Sports were postponed in hopes of returning to a safer and more prepared environment. However, some sports held camps during the summer to keep players active. They followed CIF health guidelines which included: limiting each cohort to 15 people, not allowing participation in more than one sports program, and meeting outdoors. While doing so, they also maintained a safe distance at, and outside of the cohorts, as well as wore a mask whenever exercise was not taking place.
“I think it was a wise decision to delay the season,” Junior Varsity and Varsity volleyball coach Michael Mann said. “I think it was also wise to implement some of the summer coaching and cohort models, so that we can start to figure out how to return successfully.”
All sports will need to abide by safety precautions and follow CIF regulations if they return, but they will vary between each sport. The precautions and regulations depend on each sport’s equipment use, level of physical contact, and where they practice. Players will be required to keep a distance at all times, and be responsible when it comes to their own safety and the safety of others. Not doing so may lead to the end of their season.
“When it comes to each specific sport, I think each coach is going to have to make a lot of decisions on their own about how their sport works and what makes sense,” Mann said.
View of empty sports field at San Marin with the logo highlighted in the center. In the afternoon it would typically be full of sports teams, but due to COVID-19 the field remains empty.
Comparison of traditional seasons (top three circles) and the new modified layout for this year (bottom two circles).
