CA Community Colleges Plan for Return of Sports


The California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) outlined in a release a "flexible roadmap" for the return of sports, which includes cross country in the fall at up to 75 percent of the normal schedule but without fans until California moves into Stage 4 of the state's overall reopening plan. 

A three-point plan to return athletes at the 114 two-year colleges back to competition during the 2020-21 academic calendar was approved by the CCCAA Board of Directors on Friday. Details were released Tuesday.

Outlined in a release, the CCCAA has three options: A Conventional Plan, A Contact/Non-Contact Plan, and a Contingency Plan all hinging on the status of California's reopening progress as of July 17. Regardless of the plan, state championships have been ruled out for 2020-21.

"The Conventional Plan is most like traditional sports seasons but is also dependent on the state of California being in Phase 4 of its reopening plan by July 17," according to the release. "Phase 4 is the most open of the state's reopening plans."

The CCCAA Board approved implementing this plan immediately.

The Contact/Non-Contact Plan will be enacted if California is in Phase 3 while the Contingency Plan will be used if the state is in Phase 2 (California is currently in early Stage 2 of reopening, although stages vary slightly by county). 

Plan breakdowns:

  • In the Conventional Plan, cross country would compete in the fall beginning Sept. 11 with the season, including any regional championships, concluding by Nov. 25. The sport most impacted is basketball, which moves to a spring season. The Conventional Plan will remain in place until a July 17 evaluation. At that time, according to the release "if it is still unsafe to execute athletics within the Conventional Plan framework, the CCCAA will move to either the Contact/Non-Contact Plan or the Contingency Plan."
  • In the Contact/Non-Contact Plan, cross country, considered a "non-contact or minimal contact" sport, would begin its season in mid-September (a specific date is not mentioned) at 70 percent of the normal schedule, and conclude by Nov. 25. 
  • In the Contingency Plan, cross country and women's golf are the only sports that would remain in the fall and would compete at 70 percent of the normal schedule from Sept. 11 through Nov. 25.

In all three plans, track and field would remain in the spring but start and end dates vary. In the Conventional Plan, track would hold its first contests on March 1 and run through May 22 at 75 percent of the regular schedule. In the other two plans, the TF season would start April 10 and run through June 23 at 70 percent of the regular schedule.  

"The health and safety of everyone involved with community college athletics - particularly our student-athletes - is paramount to this entire process," said Jennifer Cardone, Interim Executive Director. "However, we know the vibrant role intercollegiate athletics play on our campuses, so we wanted to mitigate concerns as much as possible to get our programs back in action."

More from the release:

The Board of Directors adopted plans that were formulated by the COVID-19 Working Group with input and feedback from stakeholders throughout the CCCAA. The Working Group was directed by six Guiding Principles: Health, Safety and Mitigation, Student Opportunity, Budget and Financial Consideration, Equity, Elements of Uncertainty, and Informed Decision-Making.

"There were no easy decisions during this process, but everybody had our 24,000 student-athletes' best interests in mind," Cardone said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't peer into a crystal ball and see what lies down the road. However, the plans give us a flexible roadmap that we believe provides the best opportunity for us to get back to providing opportunities for our student-athletes."