Due to the continued surge in COVID-19 infections, the start of the high school interscholastic athletic season that was originally scheduled to begin on December 7, 2020 has been delayed. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is awaiting the approval of its guidelines by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) before try-outs, practices, and games can begin. At this point, that is not expected until sometime after January 4, 2021 at the earliest, but it could come later in the year as key health indicators improve. Once those guidelines are announced, it is possible that “Season 1” could begin immediately.
Currently, the “Season 1” sports that Dublin High School (DHS) offers are Football, Boys/Girls Cross Country, and Girls Volleyball. Boys Volleyball was originally scheduled in the “Fall” to coincide with Girls Volleyball, but given the fact that their season was truncated last spring the CIF moved their start to “Season 2.” Water polo is the other sport that is part of Season 1, but that is not currently offered at DHS at this time. The end dates for “Season 1″have not changed from what the CIF announced in July (Volleyball – March 20th, Cross Country – March 27th, Football – April 17th). However, the CIF has eliminated the State and Regional Championships, giving those dates back to the North Coast Section (NCS) to allow more student-athletes to participate in a longer season. An announcement will be made by the NCS by January 19th on whether there will be Section championship events or whether those dates will be given back to the leagues (the EBAL in our case) to schedule contests. Although it is not anticipated that the end dates for “Season 1” will be pushed back, that still remains a possibility. However, if that does happen it likely would not be adjusted by more than one or two weeks at the most.
All of the start dates for “Season 2” remain the same at this time (February 15 – Boys/Girls Soccer and Badminton; March 8- Swimming/Diving, Boys/Girls Tennis, and Wrestling; March 15 – Baseball, Boys/Girls Basketball, Stunt Cheer, Boys/Girls Golf, Boys/Girls Lacrosse, Softball, and Track & Field). The start date for Boys Volleyball is TBD and will be announced sometime in January. It remains the hope and expectation of the CIF to conduct full schedules complete with Section and State Championships for all Season 2 sports, but those calendars can and will be adjusted as well if warranted by health conditions.
Despite the current Stay at Home orders, the state and county still permit extracurricular youth sports camps which operate outdoors. Please contact the Varsity Head Coach for information on any camps that may be taking place for any sports you are interested in participating (contact emails for all head coaches are posted in the Athletic Department Directory). In addition, regardless of the start dates, it is important that all student-athletes interested in participating in any of the programs offered by DHS Athletics to get cleared at www.athleticclearance.com.
For any additional questions, please contact Athletic Director Tim Sbranti at (925) 833-3300×7110 or email him at sbrantitimothy@dublinusd.org.
