CIF-Southern Section Announced Revised Sports Calendar for 2020-2021; Athletes Face Tough Decisions
The CIF Southern Section released its revised sports calendar for the 2020-21 school year on Monday, July 20.
The Southern Section resides over most private and public schools in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all sports will be delayed until January. There will be two seasons, fall sports and spring sports. The fall sports will run from January until March and the spring sports from March until June. Some fall sports playoffs will be played in April.
The fall sports will consist of football, boys and girls water polo, boys and girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, girls field hockey, competitive cheer and gymnastics.
The spring sports will consist of boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, boys and girls tennis, boys and girls track and field, boys and girls swimming, boys and girls golf, boys and girls lacrosse and boys and girls wrestling.
There will be no high school sports until January of 2021 and will be a two season sports calendar, condensing down from three. Here is a look https://t.co/DtcqYiBCsW pic.twitter.com/8tJs89WKXq
— Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻💻 (@SGVNSports) July 20, 2020
Football teams will be allowed to practice beginning on December 14. The first games will be played January 8. The regular season will be 10 weeks with no bye weeks, unless a team elects to play 9 games.
The regular season will end on March 12, and the playoffs will be played on March 19, March 26 and April 2. The CIF Championship games will be played on April 9/10 and the State Championships will be played on April 16/17.
8-man football will have a similar schedule, just with one less round of playoff games.
The decision by CIF is a mixed bag for football athletes and coaches. The good news is they get to play a fully scheduled season, with 10 regular season games and a normal playoff system. The bad news is some colleges want their recruits on campus in the spring.
If colleges make athletes choose between playing their senior season or coming to spring camp, it puts the athletes in a tough position. Nearly all the athletes want to play their senior season with their friends, but they also don’t want to irritate their college coaches before even arriving on campus.
if they make me choose between my senior season or going to college … please believe i’m headed to my first camp .. no questions asked
— Korey Foreman (@koreyforeman54) July 20, 2020
No. 1 recruit in the nation Korey Foreman Korey Foreman 6'4" | 265 lbs | DL Centennial - Corona | 2021 State CA of Centennial High in Corona tweeted Monday, “if they make me choose between my senior season or going to college…please believe I’m headed to my first camp..no questions asked.” Centennial plays in the Southern Section and may not have Foreman playing defensive end for them this season.
Foreman is uncommitted as of now and has narrowed his list of schools down to seven. It remains to be seen if the school he chooses will ask him to forgo his senior season.
Peter Costelli Peter Costelli 6'3" | 210 lbs | QB Mission Viejo | 2021 State CA , a quarterback from Mission Viejo High, told the Orange County Register that he is undecided. He is committed to Utah but also wants to play with his teammates.
“It’s definitely tough,” Costelli told Dan Albano of the OC Register. “But everyone has a goal that they want to achieve, so I kind of just got to look at the goals and see how everything is playing out and kind decide from there.”
“And of course, I want to play with my teammates. We’ve been building a bond.”
Utah’s coaches have reportedly told Costelli that they will support whichever decision he makes.
Other colleges may not be as gracious and supportive of their recruits.