CONCORD, CA – NOVEMBER 22: De La Salle’s Shane Powers (58) prepares to snap the ball while playing against Monte Vista in the fourth quarter of their North Coast Section Division I semifinal football game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
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. Here’s a link to the first one.
The East Bay Athletic League is facing some unique challenges as its member schools prepare for the scheduled start of the 2020-2021 high school sports season.
The EBAL’s 12 schools span across two counties, Alameda and Contra Costa, that have separate health departments and, up until this week, were in different tiers in the state’s color-coded economic reopening plan. Contra Costa on Tuesday joined Alameda in the second-to-least-restrictive orange tier.
There are also seven different boards of trustees within the league, including single entities such as Clayton Valley Charter, De La Salle, Carondelet and Dublin.
That said, EBAL Commissioner Leo Lopoz feels the league is in a good spot with some sports allowed to begin formal practices in just over six weeks. Regular communication with the league’s athletic directors, Lopoz says, has kept everyone on the same page since the California Interscholastic Federation in July announced its sports calendar for the 2020-2021 season.
“As of today, I think schools have the information they need from the league,” said Lopoz, who is also De La Salle’s athletic director. “Coaches have gotten the information and they’re going about their business in hopes that the season will start as scheduled. That’s where we’re at right now.”
Lopoz spoke with Bay Area Preps HQ on Wednesday to address possible protocols, testing and what the return of sports might look like for the league’s schools — Amador Valley, California, Carondelet, Clayton Valley Charter, De La Salle, Dougherty Valley, Dublin, Foothill, Granada, Livermore, Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley.
Here is some of what Lopoz said. (Some answers have been edited for brevity and clarity)
What is the league allowing teams to do now?
“Ultimately, schools, districts and counties determine that. We, like many other leagues, have schools in two different counties — Alameda and Contra Costa. One of the bigger hurdles has been the different county guidelines. Each school, depending on their location, has had to adjust to what has been allowable. Ultimately, every school district functions on their own and then single (high) school districts like Dublin, De La Salle and Carondelet are making determinations. Some coaches and schools are doing things that some are not.
“So probably it’ll be on an individual sport-by-sport and school-by-school basis. And then, I don’t think there’s any way around it, but the counties determine our guidelines and (influence) every decision.”
What needs to happen before practices can begin, and how might practices look?
“Every school is going to have to take into consideration PPE products, protocols and policies for COVID. Ultimately, what people are looking for are guidelines from the CIF or North Coast Section, which are going to be in conjunction with the state and county. So, really, there’s a lot of wait-and-see moments still from those people because how to practice and what’s allowable is still up for debate.
“It was nice to see San Jose State playing football in California. (With) Cal and some of the different colleges playing football in the next couple of weeks, I think that will be telling to see when the governor and his team allows or doesn’t allow high school sports to happen. I know the CIF is working hard to get us guidance as schools. But the COVID timing of everything is that we’re just kind of in a holding pattern, hoping to get some directives that we can implement by school and obviously by the league. I think once you get the basic foundations of the schedule and bylaws and some of the tweaks that you need to make within the league, most of us are going to have to evaluate what is put forth and then make those decisions for each school.” 
San Ramon Valley’s Sara Kent (13) gets a shot past Foothill’s Grayce Olson (7) for a point during their volleyball match in Danville on Oct. 17, 2019. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
What are you hearing from parents?
“I think parents are understanding of the situation and know that a lot of this is out of our hands as a community, and I think they’re really respectful of the process. Some fairly constant communication has probably avoided a lot of questioning from parents to most athletic directors in our league. At the same time, they’re making decisions based on what they see is possible and realistic for the student-athletes. There’s a wide variety of what parents are thinking in their minds and it’s going to vary within each sport and within each team.”
As practice begins in a few weeks, will students have to be tested, how often might they have to be tested, or is that still up in the air as far as what the requirements will be for participation?
“It’s the million-dollar question right now. Again, I think it’s going to go back to school districts to figure out what they believe to be true and then obviously accessibility, economics. There’s going to be some major administrative decisions to be made. People are not solely making decisions specifically on athletics. There’s a lot of variables in regards to testing in what people may or may not do. If you look at (pro and college sports), it’s safe to say that (testing) is the key ingredient to making a lot of activity happen.
“But if you go to other states that are currently playing high school (sports), they’re not testing. You can probably look at those states and see some flare-ups and numbers. Intuitively, I think testing is the key component, but I don’t know how realistic it is for some to make that happen. That might be a major factor down the line in terms of the decision-making process.”
What about allowing spectators into games?
“People are going to be implementing whatever policies and procedures they believe works for their community. People are going to have to adhere to whatever the host school’s policies are. That’s the way that I see that. They’re going to be clearly communicated. Again, when you’re dealing with a league with two counties, you don’t really know what’s going to happen, and it has not been consistently the same, Alameda and Contra Costa. It’s just a little bit early right now and I really believe in two-to-three weeks, time will tell and they’ll be a better grasp of what reality is versus what we hope.” 
Fans, parents and students watch Dublin’s CIF Northern California Open Division boys basketball quarterfinal against Bellarmine College Prep in Dublin, on March 4, 2020. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
Did the league need to be flexible when scheduling games? (For volleyball and water polo, the EBAL is split into Contra Costa and Alameda divisions. Football still has Valley and Mountain Divisions, and will have freshmen, JV and varsity teams all playing on the same day).
“We wanted to keep it simple, and try to get student-athletes in our league something. That basically entails splitting up our league into two counties, Alameda and Contra Costa, knowing that at least those schools are aligned by county guidelines. It’s sort of a smaller (schedule), with less number of contacts. However, that doesn’t prohibit any of our schools from continuing to schedule up to the maximum, whatever they find is acceptable for them. There are a lot of variables on your campus. What facilities are available? What are your policies for transportation? A lot of schools, including De La Salle, we have to figure out what is comfortable. What’s best for your student-athletes? What’s the safest thing? A lot of it is still on the table, but from a league schedule (standpoint), it’s there. We hope it comes to fruition, but I think everyone cautiously awaits the future and to see what will be and what will not be.
“I don’t think any one person in our league thinks that what we’ve proposed and approved will actually be (perfect) all the way across. MLB had a guy checking out in the middle of a game, in the sixth game of the World Series. So if that’s happening. it’d be hard to believe that something wouldn’t happen in high school.”
Maybe you just answered this, but do you have a feeling one way or another if they’re going to be games (early next year)?
“That’s a tough question. If you talk to (CIF Executive Director) Ron Nocetti, to (NCS Commissioner) Pat Cruickshank, to myself as commissioner, I think we’re all going to have the same sort of reaction. We’re going to do the best we can given the guidelines for (everyone’s) safety and well-being. Hope is a good word, but I think ultimately we’re planning and preparing, and if we need to adjust, we’ve adjusted before, so I guess we’ll adjust again.”
