City Section athletic directors, administrators learn of new rules for 2024-25 from CIF

It was taking-notes time on Wednesday at Venice High, where City Section athletic directors and assistant principals in charge of athletics received information on new rules and responsibilities during a presentation about changes for the 2024-25 high school sports season from CIF officials.

One disconcerting development occurred when school representatives were asked to raise their hands if their school had not purchased a required Wet Bulb Globe Temperature device that provides information on heat issues. More than 20 hands went up. The City Section has been sending out emails since February advising schools of the new state law requiring schools to invest in heat monitoring tools.

“We’re going to reach out,” City Section commissioner Vicky Lagos said of seeing the large number of hands.

CIF associate executive director Brian Seymour said seven CIF committees will begin work the week of Sept. 9 trying to come up with ideas and recommendations throughout the state on how to proceed with strategic priorities dealing with sportsmanship, officials, mental health, athletic trainers, competitive equity, transfers and equity.

Birmingham athletic director Rick Prizant expressed disappointment that the Southern Section fails to look into transfers as closely as the City Section, which sends out the commissioner when multiple transfers for a single sport show up at a particular school. The Southern Section has more than 560 schools compared to the City Section’s 157.

Seymour said that should be one of the discussion items for the transfer committee how sections handle multiple transfers. Statewide transfers reached a record 17,068 last school year.

Seymour said the CIF plans to prioritize support to increase athletic trainers. With 1,629 member schools, the CIF continues to lobby for California to license and register athletic trainers. It’s the only state that does not.

Among newsworthy items:

• CIF commissioners are moving forward to put in a new rule that could suspend parents from attending three to six games when ejected from games instead of just one game. It needs final approval from schools.
  
• The Coliseum League will take a vote to decide whether to allow King/Drew to play in the Marine League for football only in 2025. The Marine League has invited King/Drew to join.
  
• Crenshaw’s football team has only has 12 to 15 players practicing. School begins on Monday, so the Cougars hope to add players, but it continues a trend of dwindling enrollment threatening a proud program that competed in the 2009 CIF state Open Division championship game against De La Salle.
  
• Soccer could be the next sport to have a state championship if approved by member schools. It would begin in 2025-26.
  
• Football teams can use JV players to play on varsity as long as it’s not the same day and only two games in an eight-day period.
  
• A shortage of officials will require leagues to hold games on Thursdays or Saturdays twice during the season.
  
• Narbonne is moving home football games in league to 4:30 p.m. though there’s a request to change to 6 p.m.