Modesto JC football coach ‘disappointed’ by state move to postpone season to spring
Modesto Junior College football coach Rusty Stivers said on Friday he was “disappointed” with the way the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Board of Directors announced its athletics plans for the upcoming season.
“It was supposed to be on the 17th and we were telling our students for a month that next Friday, there would be a public forum to discuss what’s going on,” Stivers said. “We found out what was going to happen through social media.”
The Board of Directors were originally going to announce next Friday plans for the season but announced late Thursday that all fall sports, including football, will move to the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“What I am most concerned about the spring season is keeping our students engaged,” Stivers said. “We hope to get to the phase to start working in small groups (MJC hasn’t been cleared to hold workouts) and have some face-to-face contact to build relationships.”
The Board of Directors approved the Contingency Plan, which was one of three scenarios that had been accepted for the upcoming season.
In the press release, a return to athletics in January will resume if its safe, a decision that “will be guided primarily by state and local health guidelines.”
“We were very hopeful that we could go forth with the Conventional Plan,” said Jennifer Cardone, CCCAA’s Interim Executive Director in the press release.. “It’s the closest to what everyone is used to and provides for the least disruption to our student-athletes and colleges. Unfortunately, California’s reopening progress has slowed, and it’s become apparent that we would not be in position to put it into action on July 17.”
Under the plan, sports will be separated between “Early Spring” sports season and “Late Spring”.
Early Spring sports may begin practicing on Jan. 18 with all competition starting on Feb. 5 for all except football, which will start on Feb. 13.
“After our Big 8 conference athletic directors meeting last week, the conversation and consensus from the group was that it was likely the “Contingency Plan” (moving fall sports to spring) that would be adopted by CCCAA,” MJC Athletic Director Nick Stavrianoudakis said on Thursday. “Then with the news yesterday from the Ivy League and some major colleges suspending practices and sports, it was not a surprise that the decision was made today. We have already begun planning for this likely scenario. All sports will be engaged in training and conditioning in the fall and we will have basically two seasons in the spring - an early spring season (with the fall sports) and a late spring season (with the typically spring sports). “
Here are what sports are in the new Early Spring season:
Early Spring: Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Soccer, Water Polo, Women’s Golf, Women’s Volleyball, Wrestling
The Late Spring sports season includes the usual spring sports (baseball, softball, track and field, etc) and practice will start on March 27 with competition beginning on April 10.
One other change in the upcoming season is competition will be reduced to 70% of a usual season (seven games instead of 10 for football) and there won’t be any state championships.
“We are probably going to get a new schedule,” said Stivers, whose Pirates were recently ranked No. 5 in the nation in the 2020 College Football America Juco Preseason Top 30. “They might put us all together as geographically possible and make it a one-year change for league and preseason. Everything is on the table.”
