New coaches coming on board among uncertainty of high school sports getting greenlight -

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY—The calendar continues to click off the fall months but there is still no certainty that California high school sports will start as currently scheduled with practices in December and competition in January.

As CIF state and North Coast Section officials pointed out when a revised calendar shifting all sports to the January-June 2021 time frame was unveiled in July to account for the coronavirus pandemic they said “this is just the beginning of the journey this school year and there will be many challenges along the way.”

It was also stated by all officials that the final decision on holding events would rest with state and local health and government officials in line with the status of COVID-19 in the state and each county. As everyone is painfully aware, that situation is far from resolved with numerous starts and stops in many elements of the economy getting the greenlight to reopen.

Fluid situation

Even as things remain fluid the two local leagues have released their schedules for each sport and the schools are proceeding to complete their coaching staffs and making sure their facilities and logistics for training and competition are in place for a safe implementation when they are given the go-ahead.

The East Bay Athletic League and Diablo Athletic League schedules have made numerous changes as to how and when there are scheduling games and meets to reduce travel and other factors that might increase the possibility of exposing athletes, coaches and officials to the virus.

All sports will be held for boys and girls at the same time during the already condensed “fall” and “spring” calendars developed at the state level, which creates facility use challenges that had to be addressed.

Schools are moving ahead with the hope and expectation that all sports will be held and local high schools have announced these new varsity head coaching appointments:

Carondelet: Basketball – Kelly Sopak

Concord: Boys Volleyball – Kristine Hockenbery, Girls Lacrosse – Adam Lins

Clayton Valley Charter: Girls Water Polo – Todd Skow, Boys Water Polo – Bryan Ruiz & Gabe Martin, Cross Country – Shaun Guest & Tim Martinez, Boys Basketball – Frank Allocco Jr.

De La Salle: Water Polo – Robby Arroyo

Mt. Diablo: Boys & Girls Soccer – Octavio Guzman, Boys & Girls Volleyball – Giovanni Gracida, Girls Basketball – Ronnie McGee

Northgate: Water Polo – Eric Mein, Boys Basketball – Mike Shaughnessy, Boys Lacrosse – Greg Brandt, Boys Soccer – Edgar Rivera

Ygnacio Valley: Cheer – Perla Reyes, Boys Basketball – Al Attles III

UPDATED Oct. 12, 2020

“FALL” SCHEDULE

1^st day of practice Dec. 7 all fall sports

Football

Non-league Games Jan. 8 – Feb. 13
DAL League Games Feb. 19 – Mar. 19 (Fridays)
EBAL League Games Feb. 20 – Mar. 20 (Saturdays)
NCS Playoffs Mar. 26-Apr. 10
Regional/Open Division State Championships Apr. 16/17

Cross Country (Boys & Girls)

Dual & Invitational Meets January – February
DAL Center Meets Jan 30 and Feb. 20
DAL Championship Meet Mar. 6 (Hidden Valley Park, Martinez)
EBAL Championship Meet Mar. 13 (Newhall Park, Concord)
NCS Championship Meet Mar. 20 (Hayward High School)
CIF State Championship Meet Mar. 27 (Woodward Park, Fresno)

Volleyball (Boys & Girls)

Non-league Games & Tournaments January-February
DAL League Games Jan. 12 – Feb. 25
EBAL League Games Jan. 26 – Feb. 25
NCS Playoffs Mar. 2-13
NorCal Championships Girls & Boys Mar. 20

Water Polo (Boys & Girls)

Non-league Games & Tournaments January-February
DAL League Games Jan. 20 – Feb. 24
EBAL League Games Jan. 26 – Feb. 25
NCS Playoffs Mar. 3-13
NorCal Championships Mar. 16-20

“SPRING” SCHEDULE

Soccer

1^st day of practice Feb. 22

Non-league Games & Tournaments February – May
DAL League Games Mar. 16 – May 13
EBAL League Games Mar. 10 – May 12
NCS Playoffs May 18-29
NorCal Championships June 1-5

Swimming & Diving (Boys & Girls)

1^st day of practice Mar. 8

Non-league Meets & Invitationals March – May
DAL League Dual Meets Mar. 29 – May 10
EBAL League Dual Meets Apr. 19 – May 17
DAL League Championship Meet May 20-22 (Campolindo High, Moraga)
EBAL League Championship Meet TBA
NCS Championship Meet May 27-29 (Concord Community Pool)
State Championship Meet June 3-5 (Clovis Olympic Swim Complex)

Tennis (Boys & Girls)

1^st day of practice Mar. 8

Non-league Matches & Tournaments March – May
DAL League Matches Mar. 25 – May 11
EBAL League Matches Mar. 16 – May 11
DAL Tournament May 13-15
EBAL Tournament May 13-17 (Crow Canyon Country Club, Danville)
NCS Team Championships May 18-29
NorCal Team Championships Girls & Boys June 1-5
NCS Singles/Doubles Championships TBA