Section modifies calendar; confirms 3 shorter seasons
The southern part of the Northern Section agreed to a return to high school sports plan this week for the 2020-21 year.
“We’re not following the state plan, we’re going to play modified length seasons,” Sutter High Athletic Director Rick Giovannoni said.
For football that means Sutter, East Nicolaus, Wheatland, Gridley and several others will play sevengame seasons with three additional weeks for section playoffs.
Giovannoni said it is scheduled to start Jan. 7 pending updated guidelines from both the county and state on COVID-19.
The Mountain area schools within the section are scheduled to commence football on March 5. Giovannoni said it was delayed due to concerns surrounding inclimate weather like heavy snowfall in January.
The deviation from the California Interscholastic Federation plan means that the NSCIF will not be eligible for Norcal state regional playoffs in most sports. Giovannoni said individual schools can opt in to the state plan, but would have to fill out a 10-week schedule that would run through March 19.
Giovannoni said having football end in mid March would be causing too much overlap between sports. As a small school with only about 750 students, he said it is not fair to make studentathletes choose between sports.
“As a school we want to give our kids as many opportunities as possible,” he said.
Under the plan the Division III section title game is scheduled for March 10, 2021. Giovannoni said padded practices would commence on Dec. 14, 2020.
As for the rest of the fall, he said outdoor sports like cheerleading, swimming, cross country, girls tennis are scheduled to begin outdoor practices shortly, Giovannoni said.
Giovannoni said cross country will practice in groups of less than 14 working with the same coach the entire time.
He said Sutter typically has between 30 and 35 cross country runners with three coaches in the program.
As for volleyball, Giovannoni said it is in a different situation since it is an indoor sport.
“Waiting for the green light from the county,” he said. “Volleyball can begin once we get clearance.”
East Nicolaus
Athletic Director Neil Stinson briefly gave a rundown of East Nicolaus’ three modified seasons this year.
As Stinson noted there’s not much breathing room between seasons following the fall.
“Basketball and soccer would begin contests the third week in February and would conclude with section playoffs in mid April,” Stinson said in a statement. “Spring sports (baseball/softball/track & field) would begin at the end of March and conclude in late June. Wrestling would have a March start date and conclude with the state tourney in June.”
There will also be an inaugural Norcal regional state tournament for baseball and softball in 2021, Giovannoni said.
Right now, he said, it is scheduled to begin in June following the section playoffs.