STORY BY TOMOKI CHIEN AND GARV VIRGINKAR, PHOTO BY TOMOKI CHIEN

The Santa Clara Valley Athletic League today approved a modified calendar for the 2020–2021 season that tiers sports returns by risk and level of coronavirus transmission.

The schedule slates cross country, girls golf, girls tennis, swimming and diving to start practices on Feb. 1, and competition on Feb. 15 — all of those season one sports are presumably determined to be low-risk, which the California Interscholastic Federation allows competition for in the purple tier of coronavirus transmission.

But the mid-February return date may mean little, given the fact that competition is contingent upon the Bay Area’s stay-at-home order being lifted by that time. In order for that to happen, the region’s four-week projected intensive care unit (ICU) capacity must rise above 15%.

Currently, the state’s coronavirus dashboard has the Bay Area’s ICU capacity at 6.6%, and notes that the four-week projection is below the 15% threshold. 

The league’s schedule allows a delay of up to six weeks if stay-at-home orders are extended, but competition for the first season must end prior to April 5. Voluntary conditioning, however, is permitted regardless of the tier of coronavirus transmission or whether a stay-at-home order is in place.

View the entirety of the approved schedule here.