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Get on board with Extra Inning Softball’s regular feature, The Last Inning.
We are scouring the Internet and Social Media and keeping our ears to the street for the latest going on in the softball community.
To contribute information, insights, thoughts or content ideas, email us at [email protected]. You can also send items/story ideas to Carlos Arias via email at [email protected] or via Twitter @Los_Stuff.
Here’s our TLI for Thursday, Mar. 12 2020…
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CRAZY TIMES
What a 48 hours it’s been. From games being played without spectators to the cancellation of March Madness in hoops and, closer to home, the Women’s College World Series, it’s been a gut-punch of a a week.
Our hearts go out to the athletes who, without forewarning, saw their seasons end–particularly those seniors who saw their careers unceremoniously get cut short.
With everything from Disneyland shutting down to the pro leagues suspending play, it’s certainly uncharted waters.
The college softball season looks to be shut down, too; we’ll now see what happens to other levels including high school, club, even the Olympics…
What do YOU think? We’d love to get your thoughts if you’d like to express them? We may use them in an article. E-mail: [email protected] — Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
TRAVEL BALL CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
PGF, Triple Crown and USSSA had not announced the cancellation of any events due to coronavirus (COVID-19) as of Thursday evening.
PGF had a 12U National Qualifier scheduled for Friday-Sunday, March 13-15, in Huntington Beach, CA, but it has been cancelled due to rain.
USSSA announced it is implementing an immediate no contact/handshaking rule at all of its events.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: We are currently operating as scheduled and we are responsive to state and local governments. We are implementing an immediate no contact rule/handshaking rule.
Please see the following link for further information: https://t.co/LaRG2XS4BS
— USSSA (@USSSA) March 12, 2020
CALIFORNIA TRYING TO DEAL WITH CORONAVIRUS
The California Interscolastic Federation (CIF) announced on Thursday morning it has canceled all remaining CIF State basketball championship games due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. That includes regional finals scheduled for Thursday, March 12, and state finals for Friday-Saturday, March 13-14.
Here’s the statement from the CIF:
Effective Immediately – The California Interscholastic Federation (“CIF”) has canceled all remaining CIF State Basketball Championship games. This includes regional finals scheduled for March 12, 2020, and the CIF State finals scheduled for March 13-14, 2020 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
This decision was made after careful deliberation and in the primary interest of protecting the health and safety of our member schools, fans, and most importantly, our student-athletes. While we understand this decision is disappointing, we strongly believe that the opportunity to compete in this event does not outweigh our obligation to place the health and safety of our member schools and school communities above all else.
We want to recognize the hard work and commitment our student-athletes have made to reach the State Basketball Championships. The impact of COVID-19 created many unexpected challenges during this year’s tournament season, and we want to thank everyone involved for their flexibility, patience, and commitment in providing our student-athletes a great experience despite this unique situation.
For those that have already purchased tickets for the March 13-14, 2020 games at Golden 1 Center, refunds will be made available at the original point of purchase. If tickets were purchased online via ticketmaster.com, refunds will be processed automatically.
Ron Nocetti
CIF Executive Director
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The CIF-Southern Section, the largest section in the state of California, released a statement a few hours later concerning the situation.
“The CIF Southern Section is too large, both by number of schools and by geographic area, to have a ‘one size fits all’ response to this virus,” said CIF-SS Commissioner of Athletics Rob Wigod in the statement.
“We believe that the important decisions regarding school closures, cancelling/postponing athletic events, etc., should be made by local schools and school districts, in concert with their local and state health officials and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. That is the most efficient plan of action going forward and we have full confidence in our local leaders to make the correct decisions in keeping their students and families safe. We will respect and support those decisions and stand by to help them in any way we possibly can.”
Here’s the entire statement from CIF-SS:
In response to the latest developments related to the Covid-19 virus, I wanted to reach out to our member schools, school districts, school communities and the general public, through our website and our social media platforms, to help clarify the situation from our perspective. We have created the questions and answers you see below, in an effort to identify and address the immediate issues that we are all faced with. As in all things of this nature, and with the fluidity of this situation, the CIF Southern Section will continue to work with local, state and federal health organizations in monitoring this rapidly changing health crisis.
1. Does the CIF Southern Section have a plan in place in case of outbreak within section schools? The CIF Southern Section is too large, both by number of schools and by geographic area, to have a “one size fits all” response to this virus. We believe that the important decisions regarding school closures, cancelling/postponing athletic events, etc., should be made by local schools and school districts, in concert with their local and state health officials and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, That is the most efficient plan of action going forward and we have full confidence in our local leaders to make the correct decisions in keeping their students and families safe. We will respect and support those decisions and stand by to help them in any way we possibly can.
2. Is there any plan to cancel or reschedule upcoming events? As of this moment, there is no plan by the CIF Southern Section to cancel or reschedule upcoming events. Again, individual school site administrators and their leadership will guide us in this regard. If this situation continues into spring championships, when those events come directly under the control of the CIF Southern Section Office, we will address those concerns in advance of that time.
3. Are you in contact with the CIF State Office and/or neighboring sections and what is their plan? We have been, and continue to be, in contact with the CIF State Office and the other sections in the state. In order to assist our member schools and school districts in responding to questions regarding the status of CIF spring sports, and to serve as a resource to our member schools, the 10 CIF Section Commissioners will be meeting in Sacramento on Tuesday, March 17, to discuss the possible impact of COVID-19 on our upcoming spring season. Also, the CIF State Office has put out this advisory: https://cifstate.org/sports-medicine/coronavirus on their website, which is www.cifstate.org, for member schools to refer to.
I hope this information is useful to you in moving forward. The health and safety of our students and our school communities is our highest priority and we will always keep that in the forefront of any decisions that are made in the time ahead.
If you have any questions, or I can assist you in any way at all, do not hesitate to contact our office.
Thank you very much for your continued help and support, it is truly appreciated.
Rob Wigod
CIF-SS Commissioner of Athletics
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We will continue to update this ever-changing story…
— Carlos Arias & Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball (Follow Carlos on Twitter @Los_Stuff; follow Brentt on Twitter @ExtraInningSB)
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