At the start of each high school softball season, inevitably questions arise about whether CIF allows high school athletes to compete on outside teams. An enormous amount of misinformation exists on this topic, and so we are reprinting the actual relevant bylaws here.

Please note that nothing precludes a high school coach from simply saying, “No, I don’t want you to play or practice with your club team.” Most would not consider this a reasonable position, particularly given the fact that players at the 16A and higher levels desire, for the most part, to play in college, and that club ball – not high school ball – is the facilitator of that. However, it IS within the coach’s rights to implement whichever team rules [s]he considers important.

That said, CIF has issued some specific rules on the topic, and it is important to understand those rules. By doing so, you will be well prepared for a conversation should it be necessary. The following bylaws are reprinted from the CIF Constitution, taken from the CIF web site. http://www.cifstate.org/

1) First, it is often stated that high school athletes can not practice with their club teams during the high school season or that they can only practice with the club team on Sundays. Neither of these statements is true. There is absolutely NO RESTRICTION for outside (club) practice under CIF rules. As a practical matter, club teams inevitably choose to practice on Sundays because CIF teams CANNOT practice on Sundays (see CIF State bylaw #310 below), and so there are no conflicts. But nothing precludes participation in club team practices. The point is, practice restrictions ONLY apply to the high school team. There are NO restrictions applying to the club team.

310. SUNDAY RESTRICTIONS

A. In order to provide at least one day of respite from involvement in interscholastic athletics each week, no interscholastic games or practices of any kind are to be held on Sunday.
(Approved May 2000 Federated Council)
Exception: Those schools founded upon religious tenets that observe the Sabbath from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown may practice or play on Sundays. Said schools must register each year by August 1 for the following year with their Section office and indicate either Friday or Saturday as their alternate day of respite.
NOTE: Declaration of Alternate Day of Respite form is available through your local CIF Section Office.
(Approved May 2003 Federated Council)

B. Violation of Bylaw 310 will result in the following sanctions:

(1) Practice: for every practice conducted on a declared day of respite the violating school will be prohibited from conducting twice as many regularly scheduled practices (2 for 1);
(2) Game: a game played on a declared day of respite will result in forfeiture of the game.

C. In addition to the above sanctions, the section depending on the violation may impose the following additional sanctions:

(1) The final season record will be reduced by at least one win at the conclusion of the season;
(2) The school will be placed on probation;
(3) The team/individual will be ineligible to advance to or in section, regional or state championships;
(4) Reduction of maximum number of contests allowed for the following year in that sport;
(5) Repeated violation may result in suspension of membership in the CIF.
(Approved May 2004 Federated Council)

2) It is ABSOLUTELY true that high school athletes may not participate in a contest with an outside (club) team during the High School Season of Sport. (See CIF bylaw #600 below). This is why the Crushers play no tournaments, friendlies, or scrimmages between March and Memorial Day.

600. COMPETITION ON AN OUTSIDE TEAM
A student on a high school team becomes ineligible if the student competes in a contest on an “outside” team, in the same sport, during the student’s high school season of sport (See Bylaw 511). The following exceptions apply:

A. If the outside team has half or more of the team members as stated in the National Federation rules book for that sport, it shall be considered the same sport. Examples: three on three basketball — outside team competition prohibited; two on two volleyball — outside team competition permitted.

B. FLAG FOOTBALL
For purposes of this rule, touch football and flag football are considered to be a different sport than tackle football.

C. SOCCER
In the sport of soccer, Bylaw 600 shall be in effect only during the winter high school soccer season. High school soccer programs that compete during the fall or spring season are not subject to Bylaw 600.

D. SWIMMING & DIVING
Swimmers may compete for an amateur team during the season of sport in the USA Swimming Senior National Championship Meet, the USA Swimming Sectional Championship meets and the YMCA National Meet. Divers may compete for an amateur team during the season of sport in the USA National Diving Championships and the USA National Junior Diving Championships.

E. Bylaw 600 shall not be in effect for those sports conducted outside the State adopted season of sport.

F. SPONTANEOUS RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY
It is permissible for a high school team member to participate in a spontaneous recreational activity or game in which sides or teams are chosen without regard to players representing any group or organization. Such participation would not cause loss of eligibility. (Definition of spontaneous: no prior planning or notice; an unplanned part of another activity which has a primary focus other than the sport.)

G. UNATTACHED COMPETITION IN INDIVIDUAL SPORTS

(1) An unattached athlete shall not represent any team. Points won by the athlete shall not be credited to any team. An unattached athlete shall not use a uniform which identifies a school or “outside” team. Any violation shall be considered an infraction of Bylaw 600.
(2) Unattached competition is permissible for a student in other than school contests during the season of sport provided the student enters in the individual sports of badminton (singles and doubles), cross country, golf, gymnastics, skiing, swimming and diving (including unattached entry on relays), tennis (singles and doubles), track and field (including unattached entry on relays) and wrestling.
(Revised May 2003 Federated Council)
(3) CERTIFICATION OF UNATTACHED ATHLETES
No official recognition or certification on the part of the CIF member school or personnel of the CIF member school may be given in order that unattached athletes may participate in contests.
(4) REPRESENTATION IN CIF COMPETITION
Unattached competition is not permitted in any CIF competition (See Bylaw 302). Individuals or teams entered in CIF competition must represent a CIF member school. No other form of representation shall be permitted in CIF competition.

601. PAN-AMERICAN OR OLYMPIC COMPETITION
During the high school season of sport, a high school student who has been selected or qualified for participation on the United States team, which will engage in Pan American or Olympic competition, may participate on that team.

602. OLYMPIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
During their high school season of sport, a high school student who has been selected or qualified for an Olympic development program by the respective National Governing Body for that sport, shall be permitted to participate in such a program without loss of interscholastic eligibility, if the following conditions are met:

A. The Olympic Development Program is:

(1) Verified as such by the State CIF; AND
(2) a. Conducted or sponsored by the United States Olympic Committee; OR
b. Directly funded and conducted by the U.S. national governing body for the sport on a national level; OR
c. Authorized by a national governing body for athletes having potential for future national team participation; AND

B. The student informs the high school principal at least 30 days prior to participating in the program; AND

C. The principal verifies the authenticity of the program; AND

D. The student makes prior arrangement to complete missed academic lessons, assignments and tests before the last day of classes of the semester in which the student's absence occurs.

E. This bylaw was written with the intent that only individual student-athletes that have been identified by the respective National Governing body for that sport, as having Olympic potential, would be eligible for this exemption of Bylaw 600. Individual student-athletes who are members of a club team(s) consisting in whole or part of high school age athletes, participating in any competitions (e.g. Super Y League events, championships, etc.), even if the competition itself is labeled as an ODP event, that occur during the high school student's season of sport are not eligible for this exemption.
(Revised Federated Council May 2007)

603. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Each CIF Section may grant approval, upon individual petition, for an athlete to travel to a foreign country to participate in international competition sanctioned by the governing body for that sport in the United States and the international governing body.
(Revised May 2003 Federated Council)

604. PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF BYLAW 600

A. Individual

(1) First Offense in High School Career in Any Sport
The student becomes immediately ineligible for participation with his/her high school team for a number of contests equal to twice the number of contests of outside competition in which the student participated.
(2) Any Subsequent Offense in High School Career in Any Sport
The student becomes immediately ineligible for one year (365 days) from the second infraction in all sports.
(3) Appeals
Upon written appeal to the Section commissioner, the student may petition his/her Section for reinstatement of his/her eligibility status.

B. Team

(1) Games Forfeited
Games in which a student participated on his/her high school team after violation of CIF Bylaw 600 shall be forfeited.
(2) Appeals
Sections may establish rules and procedures to consider requests for waivers of game forfeitures.
(Revised May 2004 Federated Council)

3) The definition of “Season of Sport” is obviously key to interpretation of the above passage, and that is defined in CIF bylaw #511 below). As you can see, the Season of Sport is NOT defined by the first day of practice (February 4^th in 2008). It is defined by the first “Interscholastic Contest.” This probably means “game,” but has generally been interpreted more strictly to mean inter-school SCRIMMAGE. In other words, any situation where you are playing another school with umpires on the field. And THAT will not happen for ANY school until well into February. Meaning that participation in a tournament before the first high school scrimmage is perfectly legitimate under CIF rules as are the practices/clinics we will hold during the season, etc.

511. SEASON OF SPORT DEFINITION
The season of sport for a school is that period of time which elapses between the first interscholastic contest and the final contest for that particular sport. The season of a sport for any individual student is that period of time which elapses between the student’s first participation in an interscholastic contest and the student’s final contest for that particular sport.

A. The “season of sport” shall be established for each sport by the highest CIF component level in which championship competition is conducted (i.e., State, Section or league) in that sport. To participate in state-level competition for any particular sport, a Section must comply with the CIF adopted “season of sport.”

B. The basic sports seasons are:

Fall - August through November
Winter - November through February
Spring - February through June

Exact dates may vary from year-to-year and between Sections within the above specified basic seasons. Championship competition may extend beyond these limits.

C. Sections have the responsibility to work toward equity relative to length of season, number of contests, and number of opportunities for participation by students. The “seasons of sport” for State championships are:

Fall - Volleyball (girls)
Fall - Cross Country (boys and girls)
Fall - Football (boys)
Fall - Golf (girls)
Fall - Tennis (girls - NorCal Regionals only)
Winter - Basketball (boys and girls)
Winter - Wrestling (boys and girls)
Spring - Track (boys and girls)
Spring - Golf (boys)
Spring - Tennis (boys - NorCal Regionals only)

Again, nothing precludes a high school coach from forbidding a player’s participation in something (in ANYTHING). And that is why many players just don’t mention their club team involvement. But how this is handled is up to the individual player. If your individual situation becomes untenable, or if the player is overwhelmed because of school sport involvements, or heavy scholastic burden, obviously, the Crushers will accommodate that. The player should call the head coach and discuss the situation.

We want you to be armed with the facts so that no one can tell you that involvement with the Crushers violates CIF rules. We would NEVER put an athlete in a position of having to make that decision. Not to mention the fact that some head coaches are themselves high school coaches. And beyond researching the rules, Shawn has actually had a conversation on this topic with Pat Lovell, the SCCAL League Commissioner. We are on solid ground, and you will be too if the conversation arises.