Games in flux as tragedy sweeps Sonoma County
The tragic fires that continue to ravage parts of Sonoma and Napa counties have turned high school athletic schedules upside down this week, as school administrators, athletic directors and coaches scramble to form a workable plan moving forward.
All high school athletic events and practices have been on hold since the fires broke out on Oct. 8, but practices and games will resume for many teams this week. All schedules will be subject to change depending on several factors, most importantly safety for participating athletes.
North Bay League
On Saturday, officials from the North Bay League and participating schools met to find a solution that would best accommodate all impacted sports. The following plan has been implemented.
Girls golf: The NBL regular season is now over. All matches that were cancelled last week will be treated as “no contest” and league leader Maria Carrillo has been named the NBL champion, gaining an automatic North Coast Section Tournament berth. The league tournament scheduled for Oct. 16 has also been cancelled and schools may now complete the required paperwork to apply for NCS at large berths for qualifying individuals and teams.
Girls tennis: All matches cancelled last week will not be made up. Matches scheduled for both this week and next have been pushed back a week. For example, matches originally scheduled for Oct. 17 and Oct. 19 have been rescheduled for Oct. 24 and Oct. 26. The NBL Singles Tournament will take place on Nov. 2-3, while the Doubles tourney will take place on Nov. 7-8.
Volleyball: All matches that were cancelled last week will not be rescheduled. Matches scheduled for Oct. 19 will be played on Oct. 24, with the matches originally scheduled for Oct. 24 and Oct. 26 pushed back two days to Oct. 26 and Oct. 28. The NBL Tournament has been cancelled and the NCS tourney will take place from Oct. 31-Nov. 11.
Football: All games scheduled for Friday, Oct. 13 were cancelled and will not be played. With air quality concerns still in place, there are no games scheduled for Friday, Oct. 20. Windsor will resume play at home on Monday, Oct. 23 against Cardinal Newman (5/7:30 p.m.). The Jaguar’s next game at Casa Grande will be rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28. Windsor will finish its regular season at Ukiah on Nov. 3 or 4.
Cardinal Newman, which has lost the use of its field due to the fire, will practice (and perhaps play its games) at El Molino until further notice.
Cross country: All meets scheduled for Oct. 11 will not be contested. Meets scheduled for Oct. 18 (Windsor at Montgomery) have been pushed back a week to Oct. 25. Meets originally scheduled for Oct. 25 (Windsor at Casa Grande) have been moved to Nov. 1. The NBL Championships have been moved to Nov. 10 at Spring Lake, but could change depending on the condition of the park. It was decided that rescheduled meets will not be for points and the league title will be decided at the finals on Nov. 10.
Sonoma County League
Officials representing SCL schools gathered on Monday to work out a plan that is yet not altogether clear. Although Elsie Allen and Piner remain closed this week, the revised schedule will include some make-up dates for individual teams, including tennis and volleyball. Cross country meets may be among the most affected, and will be highly dependent on air quality and other factors.
All football games that were scheduled for last Friday will not be replayed, reducing the number of games for each team to nine. Healdsburg will resume league action this Friday, Oct. 20 when it entertains Analy. The Healdsburg-Sonoma Valley game originally scheduled for Oct. 27 has been moved to Saturday, Oct. 28. El Molino will host Petaluma on Oct. 20. Kickoff times for the JV and varsity are 5 and 7:30 p.m.
Girls golf: The SCL matches scheduled for last week will not be played. At press time the league tournament was taking place in Petaluma on Monday, Oct. 16, The top teams and individuals will move on to the North Coast Section Qualifier tourney next week.
Girls tennis: Depending on school, some teams have secured make-up dates for cancelled matches, but most will not be rescheduled. Healdsburg has rescheduled its Oct. 12 home match with Analy for next Tuesday, Oct. 24 (4 p.m.). El Molino will resume play against visiting Sonoma Valley on Oct. 24.
Volleyball: Again, depending on the school, some cancelled volleyball matches will be rescheduled. Healdsburg’s cancelled Oct. 12 match against Piner has been moved to Oct. 24 and the Greyhounds were scheduled to resume action at Petaluma on Oct. 17 (5/6:30 p.m.). Analy resumed SCL play at home on Oct. 17 again Petaluma. El Molino cancelled a match with Sonoma Valley on Oct. 17 and will close out the SCL season with home and away dates versus Elsie Allen (Oct. 24) and Petaluma (Oct. 26). The SCL volleyball tournament scheduled to start on Oct 24 has been cancelled.
Cross country: All cross country meets scheduled for Oct. 11 were cancelled and some are expected to be made up. Healdsburg’s home meet with El Molino and Sonoma will be rescheduled for Oct. 30. Meets scheduled for Oct. 18 will also be pushed back to a later date. Coaches were to decide on a revised plan going forward this week.
NCL 1
Cloverdale sports schedules were put on hold last week and are now being revised for football, cross country, soccer and volleyball. All games and matches were cancelled again this week, but are expected to resume on Oct. 23 or 24, pending no further setbacks in fire conditions.
“Practices for our teams this week will be a day by day decision,” Cloverdale High School Athletic Director Scott Persons reported. “I would expect that games and matches will resume next week and teams will have a busy schedule, with a lot of make-up dates for volleyball and soccer.”
The Cloverdale-Willits JV and varsity football games on Oct. 13 were cancelled and will be played at a later date. The Eagles are on a bye this week and will resume NCL 1 action at home on Oct. 27 versus Clear Lake.
Cancelled matches for volleyball and boys and girls soccer are expected to be rescheduled in the next couple of weeks. Cross country meets will be resumed when it is deemed safe for competing athletes.
