High school athletes in Southern California might get news Friday, Feb. 19 they have been waiting for – an announcement from Gov. Gavin Newsom that the state’s restrictions on youth sports are being scaled down.
There was a report by the Bay Area News Group on Thursday that leaders from the Golden State High School Football Coaches Community met with two Newsom aides on Wednesday evening. The meeting was the latest in a series of talks with the governor’s office.
One of the coaches in the meeting, San Mateo Serra High football coach Patrick Walsh, said: “We have moved the ball down the field. We are on the proverbial 1-yard line. … We’re on the 1-yard line and we believe a positive announcement is going to be coming up in the next couple of days.
He added, “I am confident that we are going to get news in the next 48 hours that will affect millions of kids and even more millions of parents — and that’s good.”
The start of the 2020-21 high school sports year has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down all athletics this past March. Under current restrictions and with the revised high school sports calendar, cross country is the only sport now having inter-team competitions.
“We don’t know what to anticipate,” CIF Southern Section commissioner Rob Wigod said Thursday. “We are hopeful of some positive news very soon, but are subject to the decisions of the Governor’s office and the California Department of Public Health, as has always been the case.”
The report sparked a lot of talk on social media Thursday, as well as hopeful discussions among coaches, administrators and others involved in high school sports.
Roger Anderson, the girls basketball coach for Troy High of Fullerton, said he expects the state to alter the colored-tier system the CDPH has used to determine when a sport is allowed to begin its season.
“I think what we’ll see will be a substantial change to the tiers,” Anderson said. “I would be happy for baseball and softball getting their seasons back, because they were taken away last year. But as far as basketball goes, as long as basketball stays in the yellow tier, I don’t know how basketball can possibly happen.”
Richard Yoon, the girls basketball coach at Rosary Academy in Fullerton, is hoping for the best.
“Kids need to compete,” Yoon said. “That’s got to be the goal, right? To get this thing going. They need to play at some point.”
Marina athletic director Michelle Spencer said she is being as optimistic as she can be about Friday’s anticipated announcement.
“Let’s just hope it’s good news,” she said. “If it’s not? Nobody wants to hear that it’s going to be five more weeks before we get another update.”
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