The fall sports, which include football, girls’ volleyball, cross-country, cheer and water polo, might be in jeopardy of not being played based on the latest news from the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). 

The CIF issued a statement on Wednesday that no athletic competition is permitted to continue in California until January 25 at the earliest. 

“In regards to competitions being allowed after Jan. 25, I think that’s fine and reasonable,” Hoover volleyball Coach Daniel Seranian said. “It gives us more time to see how everything will play out.¨

The reason that the seasons might be in jeopardy is because of the current state of COVID-19. Los Angeles County is in the purple tier of COVID-19, which means the virus is widespread throughout the county. The tier below, red, means that there are a significant number of cases in the virus, while the orange tier means that there is a moderate spread. The yellow tier means that there is a slight spread of the virus in the county. 

LA County can move out of the purple tier if the county has remained in the red tier for 14 days. It has been reported that LA County has less than 100 ICU beds available in the entire county. 

Football, volleyball and water polo won’t be allowed to play games until LA County is in the orange tier, which the county might not get to for a while considering the surging COVID-19 cases. Cheer won’t be allowed to compete until LA County gets to the yellow tier. Only cross-country is allowed to compete in the purple tier.

¨ We were definitely really looking forward to playing all 10 games this season, gaining needed experience, and being competitive in all of them,” Hoover football Coach Azad Herabidian said. “Now it seems the best we can hope for is a shortened 5-6 game season. It hurts to lose the opportunity to give our players the experience. But everyone is going through the same thing.”

Hoover water polo Coach Kevin Witt said his program is ready to represent Hoover whenever it is allowed to.

“CIF is doing what they have continually done throughout this process, which is wade very carefully and react later than they should,” Witt said. “If you want to compete, allow those that wish to compete. By eliminating postseason play and championships you’re now returning to the essence of the sports, which is to have fun.”

The CIF released dates that are important to keep in mind. January 4 is when The California Department of  Public Health will reassess the January 25 return to competition date and evaluate the situation. The other date is January 19, which is when CIF will provide an update on the plan for CIF Fall Sports Championships.

“We have already been given guidelines for our sports,” Seranian said. “If we do have a season, we are all well prepared for what we must do to ensure a safe and healthy environment  for our athletes.”