CALIFORNIA — The California Interscholastic Federation has announced a July 20 deadline to determine if high school competitive sports will resume on their current schedule, according to a June 12 press release.

“The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) believes education-based athletics and all co-curricular activities are essential to the physical, mental, and social well-being of students and realizes the impact and challenges that COVID-19 has caused for our member schools and education-based athletics,” the CIF said in a statement.

The CIF will monitor guidelines from the Governor’s Office, the California Department of Education and state/local health departments to determine when and how to resume sports amid COVID-19 this fall. If by July 20 the CIF has not deemed the current scheduling of sports viable, alternative calendars will be released.

The CIF also released three new resources to aid families in the effort to balance public health and athletic activities.

Guidelines for physical activity and training were released by the CIF that detail precautions and instructions to create a physical activity experience with as much COVID-19 risk mitigation as possible. The document details cleaning, entrance and exit strategies, personal hygiene, sport-specific instructions for each of California’s phased plans of recovery and much more.

CIF also released a physical examination waiver after recognizing scheduling an appointment for a physical may be difficult in times of quarantine. The waiver allows for a student to participate in athletics for a maximum of 30 days before a physical examination is required. The waiver only applied to sports sanctioned by the CIF for Fall 2020.

A waiver for CIF Bylaw 207 will be issued for students transferring schools due to financial hardship. CIF Bylaw 207 determines transfer students’ eligibility for varsity sports. CIF Bylaw 206 states that an athletically motivated change of residence will forbid students from playing on the varsity level. The newly released waiver will allow students that are transferring schools due to verifiable financial hardship to bypass bylaw 207.

The CIF was founded in 1914 and is responsible for governing interscholastic athletics and “promoting equity, quality, character and academic development,” according to their mission statement.

The CIF ended the statement writing, “As we look to the upcoming 2020-2021 school year and sports seasons, our main priority remains everyone’s ongoing health and safety during this challenging time.”

To access any of the resources the CIF has released please click here.