Editor’s note: This is one in a series of Q&A’s
that Bay Area Preps HQ is doing with high school league
commissioners throughout the region in advance of the scheduled
start of practice for sports such as football, volleyball and water
polo in December. Look for links to the
published Q&A’s here.
Bay Valley Athletic League commissioner Steve Ahonen is keeping
an eye on the calendar, just like his counterparts across the North
Coast Section.
After all, Dec. 7, the NCS’s start date for practicing in
sports like football, volleyball and water polo, is coming up
awfully fast.
“We, probably like every other conference in the North Coast
Section, we’re hopeful,” Ahonen said. “I think that’s what
we have to be, is hopeful at this point in time about starting up
Dec. 7.”
The BVAL is one of the area’s smaller leagues in terms of
member schools with just six, all located in eastern Contra Costa
County. But there are pockets of that region that continue to be
hit hard by the pandemic.
According to figures available on the county’s coronavirus
dashboard Tuesday morning, Pittsburg had roughly 137 cases per
100,000 residents in the previous 14 days, fourth-most in Contra
Costa. Oakley (94.2), Antioch (92.4), Brentwood (73.7) are faring
better, but their numbers per 100,000 residents are still higher
than other cities in the county such as Walnut Creek or San
Ramon.
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Still, there is hope that the fall sports that begin in several
weeks’ time can at least get underway.
“We have to plan to play until somebody tells us we
can’t,” Ahonen said, “and I think those people are probably
the state health department and the (California Interscholastic
Federation).”
Ahonen spoke with Bay Area Preps HQ late last week to address
possible protocols, testing and what the return of sports might
look like for the league’s schools — Antioch, Deer Valley,
Freedom, Heritage, Liberty and Pittsburg.
Here is some of what Ahonen said: (Some answers have been edited
for brevity and clarity).
Where do things stand right now?
“I talk to (NCS commissioner) Pat Cruickshank on a pretty
regular basis, communicate with our (athletic directors). I talked
to (Cruickshank) this past week and he said the CIF and the state
health department are communicating regularly, and he said he
thinks they’re just kind of waiting to see how everything plays
out.
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“Am I hopeful? Fingers crossed. I look around at all the other
states that are playing and how it’s working out for them. If
nobody else was playing right now, I’d be less hopeful. But I
don’t have a great sense of what the state health department is
going to say. We have three different districts in our league
alone, and we’re a small six high school conference. All three
have different decision-makers. So what might be the same with one
might be different than the other. But I think the state will
probably come up with some pretty firm guidelines if we open in
December, how that’s going to go.”
What are some teams around the league allowed to do now?
Are they allowed to use gyms and go in if they want
to?
“There’s nothing indoors going on right now. Everything is
conditioning in pods, outdoors with the same pod right now. I
don’t know of anybody that’s doing anything different than
that. It’s primarily right now just getting in shape and
conditioning.”
So when these athletes are working out in pods, what are
the protocols for that? Are there certain things the league has
established or is that a school-by-school thing?
“It’s not the league. It is each district. That’s one
thing that we have to be cognizant of, is each district has
different protocols. For example, (students in) Antioch Unified
(are) able to work out starting (Nov. 2). They haven’t up until
this time, they have had no contact with their athletes. They’re
just kind of in a wait-and-see. They have been allowed to work out.
Liberty Union has been working out for a while. Pittsburg has
recently started back with their cohort groupings. So they’re all
in different places in terms of how long they’ve been working
out. But they’re responsible to following county guidelines, and
that is 10 per group with one coach. And that’s it. That’s my
understanding of what they’re all doing. The county (allows) in
some instances 14 (athletes) and two coaches, but we’re doing 10
and one.”
Heritage
High’s Jordan Cattolico (10) gets a shot past Liberty High’s
Kylie Suckow (20) for a point during their volleyball game in
Brentwood, Calif., on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay
Area News Group)�
Are there certain things that have to happen between now
and then to get practice going by Dec. 7?
“Each district is going to be different. Liberty Union has a
plan to return to in-person instruction in January. They have a
plan in place. Antioch has done the same thing. They’re going to
finish their first semester online, they bumped their school start
date back into September, so they’re not going to finish their
first semester finals until the last Friday in January. So
they’re going to start up in-person instruction Feb. 1. Pittsburg
hasn’t established that yet, if and when they go back to
in-person instruction. There’s nobody that’s going to go back
to in-person before the first of the year. So it’s up to each
school board to determine (what) they’re going to allow.
“Even though we can use small cohort groupings for
conditioning, that’s a far cry difference than actually going out
and tackling and blocking and throwing the ball around, or playing
(volleyball) in a gym, or getting everybody into the pool for water
polo. It’s a big difference between that and working out. I think
that’s going to be up to each district.â€
Ahonen said he has good relationships with area superintendents
Dr. Janet Schulze (Pittsburg Unified), Eric Volta (Liberty Union)
and Stephanie Anello (Antioch Unified).
“And they’re not even sure exactly what their school boards
or their districts are going to say. I think they’re all waiting
on the state and county health departments.â€
Is testing being talked about at the league
level?
“The only thing that that I can tell you about testing, is
that there’s not a school district probably in the state of
California that would be able to afford the kind of testing
they’re talking about with professional athletes. The resources
just aren’t there.
“Let’s say, in theory, we go back, and on Dec. 15, one of
the water polo players at x high school, develops a headache, a
cough and fever. What’s going to be the protocol? I think those
are kind of the things that we’re working on between now and the
start of December. Our AD Board of Managers meeting in November is
going to address those kinds of things in the event that we’re
actually back in person. We’re sort of hoping to hear from the
state (health) department as to what they’re going to allow and
not allow, the health departments and the CIF.â€
Once BVAL games begin, what procedures or protocols will
be in place? Does that still have to be decided?
“We’re in the process of figuring that out. I know the
question that every single person has right now is, what about fans
in the stands? That’s the million-dollar question, and again,
that’s going to depend on what’s allowed by the county. For
whatever reason, I think we’re going to probably hear an answer
from the state and the CIF, as well as counties, because they’re
got to be communicating. If I had to make a guess, we’ll get that
answer in the first week of November. Nobody has told me that. I
just have a feeling because everybody’s got to be asking them the
same question.
“One of the things we’re talking about is live streaming
games, so that parents and families have a chance to watch the kids
play. There may be limited seating. We just haven’t discussed
that yet, because we just don’t know what’s going to be allowed
or not allowed. We’d be trying to develop a policy based on
something we don’t know the answer to.â€
Liberty
High’s Genevieve Almgren (7) takes a shot at the goal during
their water polo match against Carondelet in Walnut Creek, Calif.,
on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
Does the league have to be flexible with its schedules,
simply because there may be teams that will not be able to
participate in some instances? BVAL play in volleyball and
water polo is scheduled to start in late January, followed by cross
country in early February and football in mid-February. Non-league
games will start earlier.
“I think that we’re going to have to be. What happens if a
team isn’t able to play? Can it be rescheduled? I know the North
Coast Section, one of the things they’re talking about doing …
is what about an additional week between the end of everybody’s
season and the start of the playoffs? It would give teams some
flexibility to complete their season. But that’s just something
that people are talking about. I know there’s no decision (on)
something like that, but it kind of makes sense.â€
I was surprised the CIF came out with a full season, a
10-week season.
“I was completely surprised by that as well and then going
through to regional playoffs. And I get it. I know kids want to
play. Nobody’s played high school sports since March. There’s
going to be a lot of pressure to actually play because of what
these kids are giving up and missing. I wish I had better answers
than, ‘I don’t know.’â€
I imagine it’s tough when the decision is largely out
of your hands.
“Ultimately, as commissioners, our responsibilities are to
support the leagues that we serve as well as the districts that
we’re within. We’re the coordinators, we’re not the
decision-makers. We just have to try and make sure everybody has
the information. Everybody has the support, and everything that
they need. You look at some of the smaller schools in the north
(end of) North Coast, and they might have five different school
districts in their one league, and they all might be different.
Because they’re so spread out up there, they might be working
with four different counties. That would be a nightmare. We’re
pretty fortunate we all are in Contra Costa County in proximity to
one another. So I think it’ll be easier for us to figure it
out.
“I miss high school athletics more than you could imagine. I
love it, and not having it is tough. If it’s tough on me, think
about the families.â€
Do you hear from a lot of parents?
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“I hear from a few, and at this point, I’m giving them the
same answer I’m giving you. There’s no finality, there’s no
decision that’s been passed down that says, ‘Yes, on this date,
we are 100% going to start on this date or we’re not going to
start.’ That’s the question they all have. What do you think?
Give me a percentage. I say, ‘I have to be optimistic. I have to
be, until they tell me I can’t be.’â€
