Growing soccer forfeits could lead to change in CIF Bylaw 600
Forfeits by high school boys’ soccer teams in the City Section and Southern Section playoffs continued Friday as both sections try to deal with violations of CIF Bylaw 600, which prohibits players from participating in outside leagues during their sports season.
Calabasas pulled out of the Southern Section Division 3 championship because of an ineligible player. Chavez became the sixth City Section school eliminated from the playoffs for using an ineligible player and was replaced by Chatsworth for the City Division I final.
There’s also an allegation about another Southern Section team that could result in another forfeit in the final.
Some high schools thought they had found a solution by not allowing players to play until after their club seasons ended in early December. Cathedral had several players miss its first three games because of several big club tournaments in November and early December.
“You communicate to students and parents,” Cathedral coach Arturo Lopez said. “Unfortunately, there’s more and more academies now.”
Ron Nocetti, the executive director of the CIF, said, “I think we have to have conversations with our sections.”
CIF membership repeatedly has rejected the proposal of getting rid of Bylaw 600. Schools don’t want to have their coaches battling it out weekly with club coaches, which also would place additional pressure on athletes dealing with school work and then having to do double workouts.
The balancing act for students already is tough enough, with the amount of club teams growing in a lot of sports because it’s a lucrative business. The CIF briefly suspended the rule during the pandemic in 2020 but quickly reinstated it.
The problem is club soccer programs are holding competitions in the middle of the high school season, and players, knowing the rule that you can’t play high school and club at the same time, apparently have decided to try to do both with the hope of not getting caught.
This year, they are getting caught. Emails alleging violations started arriving to City Section commissioner Vicky Lagos before the semifinals. If a player is found to have played club, the high school team has to forfeit, and if it happens during the playoffs, the team is eliminated.
Usually the pressure is on schools to make sure rules are not violated, but for Bylaw 600, schools can do everything right and still be punished for a player violating the rule on their own.
Several leagues are expected to present proposals to get rid of Bylaw 600. Nocetti said membership might be open to adopting changes.
“Maybe this is a tipping point for schools saying maybe it’s time to make a big change with the rule,” he said.