Message from the CIF-SS Commissioner: First Quarter Progress Report

As September ends, and as our member schools are preparing to do for our students, it is time for a CIF Southern Section First Quarter Progress Report for the 2022-2023 school year.

Fall Sports – We have had a great start to our Fall Sports season. When you think back to last year, each week we had schools having to cancel/postpone contests due to COVID-19 issues, our Girls Volleyball players were wearing masks during competitions and we were continuing to experience uncertainty in being able to maintain our programs in the way that we are normally accustomed to.

This year, so far, so good!

Financial Matters – Since we waived 2022-2023 Sport Fees for our schools last month, we have continued to apply grant monies that we received from the California Department of Education in service to our member schools.

1. We have waived the fees for all attendees at our upcoming Athletic Administrators Summit, and in doing so, we have had over 700 people registered this year, which is a record number for us. That will result in a savings of approximately $70,000 for our member schools.
2. We have made $10,000 contributions to the three active Athletic Director Associations in our section to help them with their programs in service to student-athletes.
3. The next use of these funds will be to waive all greens fees for our Girls Golf Championships in the Fall and our Boys Golf Championships in the Spring. That will result in a savings of approximately $80,000 t our member schools and their golf programs.

All told, in 2022-2023, we have applied over $1,000,000 of these grant monies in support of our membership and our mission. Stay tuned as there will be more to come in the time ahead.

Transfer Numbers – We saw an uptick in Transfer Numbers for the month of August, approximately 20%, compared to last year. August is typically our busiest month of the year for processing transfers, and September is next busiest, so we will see what those numbers are on October 1 to get a more accurate picture of what 2022-2023 Transfer Numbers will look like.

What’s Next – The regular seasons for Fall Sports will continue to progress as we head towards our Fall Sports Championships, which begin next month, and the CIF Southern Section Council will vote on a proposal to add Girls Flag Football to the list of CIF-approved sports later this week. If the proposal passes at the CIF Southern Section Council level, it will be sent to the CIF Federated Council for a first reading at their initial meeting of the 2022-2023 school year on October 7.

As I mentioned in my first Message from the Commissioner in August, our goal was to continue to build on the successes and momentum we were able to generate in 2021-2022 and carry it forward to this year. I believe we have been able to do that during the First Quarter of 2022-2023 and let us all resolve to stay firmly committed toward fulfilling that goal.

I hope this information is useful to you and if you have any questions, or I can help 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.