Will high school sports happen in SLO County this year? Here’s what needs to happen first
Morro Bay High running back Dylan Turner has been doing conditioning or weight-lifting nearly every day this fall, hoping to get a chance to play high school football this year.
But the junior, who also plays linebacker, said some of his teammates are starting to lose hope that a season will happen at all.
“We’re a really tight-knit group of 20 to 25 guys, and we were really looking forward to the season,” Turner said. “They kept changing the dates on us, and I’ve seen some guys lose motivation and hope.”
Turner said he’s hoping to get some games in, even if it’s just a few, but is already thinking the opportunity may not come until next year.
While many of the traditions and routines of daily life have been upended by COVID-19, a lingering question for high school athletes remains: “Will we get to play this year?”
The latest announcement posted by the California Interscholastic Federation — Central Section, covering many San Luis Obispo County schools, lays out a plan that would allow sports to resume if the regional stay-at-home order is lifted.
No sports may take place until the order is lifted under California Department of Public Health (CDPH) guidelines, wrote Ryan Tos, CIF-Central Section commissioner in a letter posted on Tuesday.
“Current CDPH guidance does not allow for any competition to take place while a county is under the regional stay-at-home order,” Tos said. “Competition can only take place as allowed by CDPH, county and school/district guidelines.”
SLO County remains in the Southern California stay-at-home order status as the pandemic remains prevalent on the Central Coast and throughout the region.
Plans for 2021 sports
The CIF-Central Section has laid out plans for all high school sports in 2021 that will allow for scheduling if the regional stay-at-home order is lifted, while also taking into consideration the various public health tiers of California’s safety guidelines, which based allowed activities on regional case levels.
For example, sports with extremely close player contact such as basketball, wrestling and cheerleading can’t take place unless a county is in the yellow tier, the least restrictive for COVID-19 public health guidelines.
Football, soccer, volleyball and water polo can be played if the county is in the orange tier, the next least restrictive, or yellow.
Baseball, lacrosse and softball can be played if SLO County and other areas are in the red, orange or yellow tiers.
And sports with the ability to better physical distance such as cross country, golf, tennis, swim and dive, and track and field can happen if the county is in the purple tier, or the others.
Each of the sports has recommended start dates and last contest dates to be able to have a rest period between starting up the next season. Football, for example, is recommended to start by March 16 and will need to conclude by April 17.
Central Section playoffs and championship events for cross country, football, girls volleyball and water polo are canceled, the CIF has announced.
“Across the state, this a waiting game,” Tos told The Tribune on Friday in a phone interview. “Unless we get out of the stay-at-home status, we’re at a standstill. ... We want kids to have the chance to play, and we feel the frustration and the heartache, not just for sports, but for high school choir, band, debate and more.”
Tos added: “But we’re under the state Department of Education and we have to follow the state guidelines.”
SLO County football season in jeopardy
While some local teams have held conditioning exercises and encouraged individual workouts that don’t involve close contact, SLO County football coaches are growing concerned that a season will be able to take place at all this year.
“We are still on pause (with practices),” said Morro Bay football Coach Jake Goossen-Brown. “The longer we are waiting, the less confidence I have in getting some form of a season in, unfortunately.”
Goossen-Brown said he has 10 seniors on his squad — such as standout quarterback Kevin Franco (second team all-league last year and team MVP); Frankie Woulbroun (team defensive MVP and leading tackler) and second leading tackler Hayden Brown.
“It’s definitely hard on the kids,” Goossen-Brown said. “It’s tough because this could be their last chance to play organized football.”
Atascadero Coach Vic Cooper said that he remains hopeful a season will happen.
“I do believe there will be a season,” Cooper said. “I am not sure what it will look like yet, but the fact that nothing has been canceled is a good sign. ... It would be a shame beyond comprehension if these seniors do not get some sort of season. Thousands of games have been played over the last four-plus months (elsewhere in the U.S.) with not one confirmed case of on-field, player-to-player transmission.”
Cooper joined in the called to “Let Them Play,” a statewide movement among coaches, players and parents to hold high school sports.
“I’m not sure I can call what we are doing practice, but we are getting outdoor workouts in,” Cooper said. “We have moved from individual 14-man pods to a full team cohort with masks on and socially distanced. The football cohort (team) does not mix with other cohorts.”
At SLO High, Coach Pat Johnston said his team was on a practice pause as well, having previously conducted some drills and conditioning. Johnston regularly talks with other coaches, he said, and they’re hopeful for competition, even if it’s just among county schools.
“We have been practicing in pods and will continue to do so for all sports until we are told otherwise,” said Marci Beddall, SLO High’s athletic director.
A fluid plan for sports
Tos said that the issues surrounding a return to play are fluid and open to consideration, but dependent on reduced coronavirus cases and lifting of the current order.
One particular concern is for those senior student-athletes hoping to continue pursuing athletics in college.
The CIF-Central Section commissioner said that seniors who were already on the radar of colleges will get scholarships as they normally would.
SLO High seniors Thomas Cole, a 6-foot-7 offensive tackle who signed a letter of intent to play at UCLA, and Christian Jones, a 6-foot-9 offensive lineman, who will play at San Diego State, were among the obvious standouts.
Tos said he feels for student-athletes who might have been under the radar as juniors and could see their senior seasons shortened or cut as a result of the pandemic.
“Nobody is getting out of this without difficulties,” Tos said. “For those students on the cusp, we might see more attending junior colleges to play and get that chance to further their sports careers.”
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