By Ray Hamill — Humboldt-Del Norte League commissioner Jack Lakin reached out to Humboldt Sports on Friday morning to clarify the up-to-date situation in regard to the upcoming school year sports calendar.
Lakin met with the league athletic directors on Wednesday as they continue to look for the best solution possible for local student athletes.
“The HDNL is exploring possible alternative sports calendars within the framework of the NCS calendar starting Dec 14,” Lakin said. “The intent is an attempt to provide the best and safest opportunity for our student athletes to successfully participate in their sport(s) of choice during the 2020-2021 school year.”
Last month the NCS released its calendar for the upcoming year, scheduling two seasons in the new year instead of the traditional three over nine months, which would result in a lot of sports being played simultaneously between March and June.
The H-DNL, however, has been busy looking into potential options that would not force local athletes to sacrifice one sport (or two) for another.
And as Lakin pointed out, there are a lot of variables and issues to be considered.
“The league is reviewing travel, length of season, number of seasons, placement of sports in each season and other factors during their discussion/exploration process,” he said.
One potential option is a three-season format running from January through June, which would feature shortened seasons for every sport, similar to what the states of Oregon and Washington have scheduled.
According to Lakin, however, no final decision has been made yet and the league is still exploring options while trying to remain within the framework of the NCS calendar.
Categories: Arcata, Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, Hoopa Valley, McKinleyville, Northcoast Prep, South Fork, Southern Trinity, Sports, St. Bernard's
Thank You, Commissioner and members of the H-DNL governing board !! Please plan to give all schools, large or small, and all student athletes to play at least two sports next winter/spring !
For crying out loud. In life you don’t get everything you want. You have to make choices. C.I.F. has already put forth a schedule of play. This plan takes into account current covid data and adequate caution. Across the country we are seeing the consequences of rushing forward. Let’s stick with the C.I.F. model and do some solid planning of games, refs and transportation. This is a life lesson that sports can once again teach. Again, I love the game I coach but health and safety are more important.
Agree in principle, Patrick, about getting what you want, but too many programs will die in the small schools with these choices. So hard to resurrect them once they are gone. Three short seasons will work best for all sizes of school.
Leave The CIF plan alone !! Our schools will lose a lot of student athletes to transfers out of Del Norte and humboldt! At least the kids get a choice with CIFs model! Moving Basketball to December will most definitely be a cancelled season. Kids don’t even get a choice then! Equality right… unless you play basketball!!