The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State office announced Monday that the start of high school sports in California for the 2020-2021 school year has been delayed to at least December 2020.

The decision was made in collaboration with each of the ten CIF sections across the state, including the local CIF-Southern Section (CIF-SS).

A modified 2020-2021 CIF sports calendar accompanied the announcement, which identified the last date for Section championships as well as Regional/State championships, where applicable.

While CIF-State has provided the framework for delayed sports seasons, each CIF Section Office is expected to release their own calendar to reflect regular season starting and ending dates and Section playoffs built around the dates provided.

Those start dates are expected to be in either Dec. 2020 or Jan. 2021, according to CIF-State officials.

The Southern Section released their own calendar shortly after the announcement from the state office and held a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss the changes.

“Our ability to make this adjustment to try and make this work for the Southern Section was more on the front-end, where we talked about the starting of our competition and the last league dates for competition,” said CIF-SS Commissioner Rob Wigod. “That’s where we were making our own stamp if you will on what was released by the state, and trying to put it together in the best interest of the Southern Section.”

The updates specific to the Southern Section are available here.

“We are continuously monitoring the directives and guidelines released from the Governor’s Office, the California Department of Education, the California Department of Public Health, and local county health departments and agencies as these directives and guidelines are followed by our member schools/school districts with student health and safety at the forefront,” the statement read.

The state office did leave the door open for a potential resumption of athletic activities under the summer period rules of each local section, if the government guidelines potentially change moving forward.

The full release from the CIF State office, including the modified 2020-21 sports calendar, is available here.

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