MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — Come to a daily afternoon practice and Mission Viejo High School football coach Chad Johnson appears to be in peak regular season form.
Hat on, whistle in hand, and feet planted firmly on the field — all signs of a normal, everyday football practice.
And yet, if you take a look at what his athletes are doing and what he's telling them, it's a staunch reminder that this year is very different from any other.
“Never in a million years could I have imagined this," Johnson said. "We’re preparing for a game that we don’t know if we’re going to have.”
As he sits in his office going over play calls with his players via Zoom, his assistant coach's eyes are on a recent press conference from California Governor Gavin Newsom. Both have been looking for some guidance as to what lies ahead.
“Coaching is a tight knit community and there’s a lot of rumors out there," he said. "Every time you hear a rumor, it either makes your day or ruins your day."
"But as far as an actual announcement," Johnson continued, "They haven’t updated anything about youth sports since summertime.”
Now, with just eight weeks to go until football games are scheduled for kickoff in the Southern Section, an update is what Coach Johnson is waiting for.
And he's not alone. Rob Wigod, Southern Section Commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation, is also hoping for clarity.
“About a month ago we submitted a plan to the California Department of Public Health on how high school athletics would relate to the state's reopening tiers," he explained. "What would it mean to be in red, orange, yellow, etc.?”
The CIF released an updated sports calendar in July, one Wigod says will not change. Instead, as counties progress through the reopening tiers, the office will adjust the calendar and games accordingly with a 'student-athlete first' mentality.
“We’re going to keep our schedule intact and hope things can improve a little bit better," he said. "The last possible moment would be when there are only five weeks left. That would probably be the last moment."
"We are not going to give up," Wigod continued. "The window stays open, I believe, until at least January."
But it will be a difficult course to navigate. The Section encompasses seven different counties, many of which are currently in different stages and subject to different protocol.
The differences have brought up concerns of competitive equity.
“I think what we hope for is every single high school that we’re playing has the same rules," Johnson said. "That’s the biggest problem is the rules are not the same, they’re not consistent.”
This new plan, though, made together with the state's health department, could help him and the CIF's other member schools to move forward and begin looking at when they can expand practices.
It's something Coach Johnson has done his best to communicate to his players.
“We’re trying to get them to not dwell on what's happening now, not think about that," he said. "[We want them to] stay positive, keep working hard, and hopefully we’ll be able to get a season.”
Johnson's players are making the best of it and trying to persevere through this challenging offseason — looking forward to hopefully being able to carve out some sort of season, even if it's not exactly how they imagined it.