CDPHE approves variances for CHSAA Season C

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approved variances for CHSAA's Season C sports this week.

Sports in Season C include field hockey, football, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball.

This will mark the first-ever sanctioned season for unified bowling.

Field hockey, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball begin practice on March 8, and competition on March 15. Football begins practice on March 4 for the 48 teams that did not participate during Season A, and competition on March 18.

For indoor sports like volleyball & bowling, masks will be required for competition, but for outdoor sports like soccer, field hockey & football masks will only be required for coaches, officials, fan and players on the sidelines.

The following is the other rules & regulations for Season C:

Season C

Field Hockey

• Schools will be divided into three groups of five by the Assistant Commissioner overseeing Field Hockey
  • Group A: Arapahoe, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Academy, Liberty, Palmer Ridge
  • Group B: Dakota Ridge, Fossil Ridge, Mountain Vista, Regis Jesuit, St. Mary’s Academy
  • Group C: Cherry Creek, Denver East, Grandview, Kent Denver, Smoky Hill
• 10 game maximum regular season (No game minimum - home and away match vs. each group opponent and one home and away with pre-determined non-group opponent)
  • Non-group matchups:
    • Denver East vs Fossil Ridge
    • Colorado Academy vs Kent Denver
    • Cherry Creek vs Regis Jesuit
    • Mountain Vista vs Palmer Ridge
    • Arapahoe vs St. Mary’s Academy
    • Dakota Ridge vs Liberty
    • Cheyenne Mountain vs Grandview
    • Smoky Hill vs TBD JV Team
• 4 team playoff bracket
• State playoff bracket will not be seeded, and matchups will be determined by the Asst. Commissioner overseeing Field Hockey (1st Rd group matchups are a possibility)
• Each group will receive one Automatic Qualifier into the postseason
• Each group will have sole responsibility for determining the Auto Qualifier for their group
• New Seeding Formula (MaxPreps, Coaches Poll, RPI) will determine the single At-Large qualifier

Football

• Six-game season for each classification.
• Eight-team postseason all classifications.
• All schedules are created and entered into MaxPreps.
• CHSAA Seeding Index (MaxPreps, Coaches Poll, RPI, Packard Rankings) will determine all qualifiers in all classifications.
• Championship weekend at CSU-Pueblo, May 13-15.

Gymnastics

• Seven-meet regular season.
• Regionals: Three 12-team regionals
• State meet: Eight-team rotations each classification. Teams and individuals determined by score.

Boys Soccer

• 10 game maximum regular season (No game minimum)
• Non-league games are highly discouraged especially outside of your geographic region; need written approval from CHSAA Assistant Commissioner overseeing Boys Soccer for non-league games
• 16 team playoff bracket 3A-5A / 8 team playoff bracket 2A
• State playoff bracket will not be seeded, and matchups will be determined by the Assistant Commissioner overseeing Boys Soccer based on geographic location of leagues (1st Rd league matchups are a possibility)
• Leagues will receive their already established Auto Qualifiers based on league size and will have sole responsibility for determining the Auto Qualifiers for their league
• New Seeding Formula (MaxPreps, Coaches Poll, RPI) will determine the At-Large qualifiers for each classification

Unified Bowling

• Max of 45 competitors per event

Girls Volleyball

• 14 game maximum regular season. (14 for lower-level teams.) Minimum number of matches for postseason is 8, unless a waiver for COVID-19 reasons is obtained from the CHSAA Volleyball Committee.
• Modify the season length from 14 weeks (through state) to 7 weeks (through state).
• Roster limit for postseason: 14 players
• Regionals will be reduced to 24 teams. League champions will still be guaranteed entrance and the remaining teams will be taken from the CHSAA Seeding Index.
• Seeding will be done via the CHSAA Seeding Index.
• Only 8 teams to state. No wild card teams.
• State will be a single elimination tournament played over two days.