The wheels are finally turning in the Central 2B League as league officials released schedules and rules for the upcoming Season 1 sports, Onalaska Athletic Director Dennis Bower said in an email.
The C2BL released schedules for four of its Season 1 sports, which include football, girls soccer, cross country and volleyball. Volleyball and cross country will be competing entirely within the C2BL, while football and girls soccer will also play crossover games with the Pacific 2B League.
The playoffs systems get a little trickier. The league is limited with its season timeframe (seven weeks), and can only compete against teams in Southwest Washington, so only regional championships will take place, if allowed by the WIAA at that time.
As mentioned above, teams from all four C2BL sports will start practice on Monday, Feb. 1, even if the league’s WIAA West Region has not reached Phase 2, but will strictly adhere to the state’s and WIAA’s guidelines, such as practicing in pods of six, Bower said.
Another of those guidelines is a total of 200 people in attendance at games, which includes players, coaches, officials, support personnel and so forth. In response, the C2BL will not allow fans from visiting teams to attend games. Everyone will be required to wear a mask at practices and during games, including players, coaches, officials, fans, etc.
“Depending on the size of the teams, we may only be able to have 80-100 spectators,” Bower said in a press release. “If we have our cheerleaders and band participate, those numbers could be a little lower. Then we have to decide how many of these spots go to students who want to attend and how many spots go to parents/guardians/family members. It will be a huge challenge.”
The C2BL is in the West Region, along with Pacific, Grays Harbor and Thurston counties. Currently, the only C2BL sport that can have competition while the West Region is in Phase 1 is cross country. All other sports in their designated season may practice but cannot compete until the West Region reaches Phase 2.
There are currently three WIAA seasons planned for the 2020-21 school year. Season 1 sports and schedule were announced on Jan. 6., beginning with practices on Feb. 1 and ending on March 20. Those sports include football, volleyball, cross country, girls and Class 1B/2B boys soccer, girls swim and dive and slowpitch softball.
Season 2 and 3 sports and their respective schedules were announced Jan. 19. Season 2 sports include baseball, softball, track and field, boys soccer, golf and tennis. That season will begin with practices on March 15 and will end on May 1.
Season 3 sports include the high-risk indoor sports of basketball and wrestling, along with bowling, boys swim and dive, cheerleading, gymnastics and dance/drill. That season starts with practices April 26 and will end on June 12.
Each sport will also retain its previously-assigned risk level. High-risk sports determined by the state Department of Health include basketball, cheerleading with contact, dance with contact, football and wrestling. Moderate-risk sports include baseball, bowling, gymnastics, soccer, softball and volleyball. Low-risk sports are cross country, golf, sideline/no-contact cheerleading and dance, swimming and diving, tennis and track and field.
The 2020-21 Central 2B League girls soccer schedule is below. Schedules for football and volleyball are included in photos with the story.
Tentative postseason schedule
Regional/District Round 1: Saturday, March 13; Regional/District Round 2: Tuesday, March 16; Regional/District Semifinals: Thursday, March 18; Regional/District Finals: Saturday, March 20.