The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the governing body for most of the state’s high school sports, announced its condensed 2020-2021 schedule on July 20th. The CIF North Coast Section (NCS) then released an update for their season schedule later that day.
The CIF announced on Monday that they would combine three seasons into two seasons (fall and spring), dispersing winter sports into either season. This change was implemented due to the coronavirus pandemic, thus pushing each season’s start no earlier than December.
The NCS, one of 10 CIF sections, includes many surrounding San Francisco coastal area schools, which is comprised of 180 schools, 18 leagues, and 6 conferences.
2020-2021 NCS CONFERENCE AQUATIC SPORTS SEASONS
(Boys & Girls) Water Polo
FALL
- First Date of Practice – December 14, 2020
- SOP Date – January 20, 2021 (38 days)
- Final Date of Competition other than NCS/CIF – February 27, 2021 (76 days)
- NCS Championship Finals – March 13, 2021
- CIF NOR-CAL Regional Championship Finals – March 20, 2021
(Boys & Girls) Swimming & Diving
SPRING
- First Date of Practice – March 8, 2021
- SOP Date – April 14, 2021 (38 days)
- Final Date of Competition other than NCS/CIF – May 22, 2021 (76 days)
- NCS Championship Finals – May 29, 2021
- CIF State Championships – June 4-5, 2021
Note: SOP is Sit-Out-Period, which relates to transfers between schools.
Unlike the CIF Southern Section (SS), the NCS will match their boys and girls water polo season schedules, whereas the SS offset the seasons by a week. The first date of NCS water polo practice is December 14th, which is 1 week before the Southern Section boys will start and 2 weeks before the Southern Section girls will start.
NCS non-championship play ends on February 27th, which is the same day as the last allowable SS girls competition play. The NCS championship finals are set for March 13th, one week before the CIF NOR-CAL Regional championships.
The start of NCS swimming practices is March 8th, which is 5 days before the SS’s competition start date. The final date of NCS competition is the same day as the last allowable SS competition (May 22nd).
The CIF State Swimming & Diving Championships are June 4-5, which is 8 days before the start of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials (June 13). Because of the short turnaround between the state championships and the U.S. Olympic Trials, many swimmers may choose to opt out of the high school season.