NORTH SECTION LEANING ON HEALTH DEPARTMENTS TO RESUME PLAY
The Northern Section is going rogue. Just minutes after the CIF Interscholastic
Federation announced high school sports can not be played until December
at the earliest.....the North Section released a statement saying member school districts'
seasons can begin only when county health officers approve implementation of youth sports.
Butte County officials have already said they can not make that decison and
that its a State Health Department call. State Health officials have regulated youth
sports since the pandemic began in Mid-March. There has been no indication from
state officials that they will allow local youth sports in the forseeable future.
One of the concerns that North Section officials are trying to navigate is the preponderance of small schools with overlapping schedules in their region. In many cases athletes play multiple sports during the fall and spring. The belief is that this decision gives the Section
the autonomy to play sports on their timetables giving athletes the best chance to participate in sports, should the health crisis come to an end.
The North Section decision comes as young athletes ramp up for their upcoming
fall seasons. Sources tell KPAY that during a North Section call on Friday they discussed
various models, settling on a plan that has them operating separate from the CIF
Federation. If local schools decide to operate outside of CIF oversight they relinquish
their right to play in the state high school playoffs.