The CIF San Diego Section (CIF-SDS) is the governing body of high school athletics for most of the two southernmost counties of California (San Diego and Imperial Counties), one of ten such sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). Its membership includes most public and private high schools in San Diego and Imperial counties.

CIF San Diego Section
AbbreviationCIF-SDS
Formation1960
TypeNPO
Legal statusAssociation
PurposeAthletic
Headquarters3470 College Avenue, San Diego, California 92115
Region served
San Diego County
Imperial County
Official language
English
Commissioner
Joe Heinz
AffiliationsNational Federation of State High School Associations, California Interscholastic Federation
Websitewww.cifsds.org

History

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Official governance for high school sports in this area began in 1913, when the Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Council (SCIAC) was formed. Previous to that, some individual leagues dated back to the 1890s. The first local high school football game was played at Escondido High School against San Diego High School in 1898. The High School Athletic Association of Southern California was formed in 1904 to create a championship in the sport of track and field, precipitating the need for administering all sports. In 1914, the name was changed to the Southern Section also releasing the acronym SCIAC which was taken locally by the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference the following year. In 1917, the CIF took over administering sports statewide and the Southern Section became a part of it. The Southern Section was a behemoth, the largest section covering the most populated southern half of the state. In 1935, Los Angeles Unified School District split from the section, forming their own CIF Los Angeles City Section. In 1960, the San Diego Section was formed by carving out San Diego County, initially taking 32 schools. In 2000, Imperial County split from Southern Section and joined with San Diego. In 2013 the section began organizing playoff divisions based on team strength not school enrollment. An Open division was created for the top 8 teams in most major sports.[1]

Sports

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CIFSD sponsors the sports listed below (divisions based on school size).

Fall Season

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Winter Season

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  • Basketball (Boys and Girls, 5 divisions plus an open division)
  • Roller Hockey (Co-ed, 1 division sanctioned by the Metro Conference with other non-Metro Conference High Schools as affiliate members)
  • Soccer (Boys and Girls, divisions plus an open division)
  • Girls Water Polo (3 divisions)
  • Wrestling (Boys, 3 divisions and Girls)

Spring Season

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Leagues

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  • Avocado East League
  • Avocado West League
  • Central League
  • Citrus League
  • Coastal League
  • Desert League
  • Eastern League
  • Freelance League
  • Freelance League
  • Frontier - North
  • Frontier - South
  • Grossmont - Hills
  • Grossmont - Valley
  • Imperial Valley League
  • Manzanita League
  • Mesa League
  • Metro League
  • Pacific League
  • Palomar League
  • South Bay League
  • Sunset League
  • League League
  • Western League

Playoff structure

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Schools are grouped into divisions, the highest being the Open division.

Commissioners

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  • 1960–76: Don Clarkson
  • 1976–96: Kendall Webb
  • 1996–01: Jan Jessop
  • 2001–11: Dennis Ackerman
  • 2011–20: Jerry Schniepp
  • 2020–present: Joe Heinz[2]

References

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  1. ^ "CIF History — Sports on the Side". Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  2. ^ Maffei, John (July 6, 2020). "New CIF San Diego Section boss Joe Heinz faces 'unprecedented times'". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
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