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The Board of Managers of the CIF San Diego Section approved a fifth draft of an out-of-season policy and guidelines.

"I don't know if it's enough, but it's a start," CIF commissioner Dennis Ackerman said of the Board of Managers' January 22 vote.

The Board of Managers, which approved the out-of-season policy without opposition, also approved the portion of the proposed master schedule and Fall sports starting dates which eliminates the granting of early-season football requests and gives each school 11 weeks to play 10 games beginning September 6, 2002. The out-of-season policy draft also included the change to allow each school 11 weeks to play 10 games. A definite starting date for football practice was tabled due to concerns about different school starting dates and will be discussed at the April meeting of the Board of Managers.

The draft of the out-of-season policy includes a two-week dead period of no contact of any kind with athletes of every sport. An exception is made for weight training classes which are part of a regular Summer session school day provided that athletes are not required to attend such a class.

"There really has been very healthy discussion," said Helix High School athletic director Jim Arnaiz, who is chairing the subcommittee which is working on the policy.

Ackerman also noted that the dead period does not prevent a student-athlete from participating in club sport during that time, nor is he or she prevented from attending a summer camp.

Each school will declare a dead period covering all sports. The dead period will be sometime between the last official day of the school year and the first permissible day of Fall practice and shall cover 14 consecutive days.

An addition to a school-wide dead period, another change is the addition of stipulated penalties for violations. For each day that contact occurs during the dead period, the official start of practice for that team will be delayed one day. The head coach of the team in violation will also be prohibited from participating in the team's first official contest. Two violations within five years will also bar the team from playoff participation.

The out-of-season policy also includes limitations on practice schedules. Warm-up is not considered part of a practice session, but practice schedules for all sports shall be limited to three hours on a school day and five hours on a non-school day.

"It's still self-policing, so hopefully our schools will police themselves well," Ackerman said.

The proposal to start football practice on August 19 drew the concern of Larry Maw, the superintendent of the San Marcos Unified School District and the school district's representative to the Board of Managers. San Marcos High School plans to begin its 2002-03 school year August 19, and Maw felt that the August 19 date discriminated against schools with early start dates. Other school districts are also considering early academic starts, and the Sweetwater Union High School District is on a year-round schedule, so a waiver for San Marcos uniquely was not the solution. "I want you to be fair to anybody that has it," Maw said.

"With a July start, how can you get any two-a-days in?" noted Sid Porch, the Sweetwater Union High School District representative on the CIF Board of Managers.

"It appears to me that the fairness is the practice opportunities, whatever that number's going to be," Arnaiz remarked.

"We have to come up with something," said Ackerman. "I'm glad this was on this agenda and not on April's agenda."