Fire and smoke

[ClayK]

First, the tragic cost of the Camp Fire, and the others, cannot be underestimated. Worrying about practice times, games, etc., pales in comparison ...

At the same time, though, our little corner of the world marches on, and I'm curious how schools are affected. At Miramonte, we've practiced twice since the fire started, and unless something changes dramatically, we won't practice today. And since the fire is 40% contained and the weather pattern isn't expected to change until next Tuesday, we might not get on the court until the day before Thanksgiving.

From what we've heard, though, schools elsewhere aren't as badly hit, and I'm just wondering how many, if any, practices other teams have missed.

(It's a long season, of course, so presumably schools that have missed practice time will be able to catch up, to some degree, but in the near term, those schools that haven't missed a day will have an edge over those that haven't been in the gym much.)

 

[OnBall8]

some schools in the south bay have been limiting practices too, including indoor activities. However the mitty/ heritage scrimmage happened last night so what do I know...

 

[colhenrylives]

There are lots of scrimmages and sportsmanship games occurring this week in a number of CCS locations. These are indoor activities.

 

[Norcal_Fan]

If the AQI is above 170, indoor games/practices should not be happening. At a lot of private schools, they're not aware of this. In any case, it's unfortunate on EVERY level.

 

[OnBall8]

why would a private school specifically not be aware of this?? I think its pretty common knowledge, hence why both indoor and outdoor activities have been cancelled in the last week around the south bay... not just at public schools...

 

[Norcal_Fan]

why would a private school specifically not be aware of this?? I think its pretty common knowledge, hence why both indoor and outdoor activities have been cancelled in the last week around the south bay... not just at public schools...

Because private schools are not privy to the laws of the state ed code. Right now EVERY public school district in the Bay Area is in new charted territory with regards to air quality. Palo Alto school board had an emergency meeting to determine what would be a point (AQI) in which to close school? San Francisco is in the same thing as are schools in the tri-valley area.

The other reason why I say private schools are not privy to this is because I know a lot of private/catholic schools that are practicing full on, while it's public counterparts are following state standards. Now maybe they know but I"m pretty sure they don't. Yes it's common knowledge, but it's not common knowledge what the minimum AQI should be in regards to cancelling outdoor and when it worsens, indoor activities.

 

[OnBall8]

Just got off the phone with a private school coach who in fact told me that the school is well aware that an AQI of >170 is dangerous and they monitor that as well as their athletes very closely willing to stop all activity when instructed or upon discretion . So while this is just one example, I think the part of your post that said this is uncharted territory is absolutely correct. However, I don't think there is as big of a gap between private and public schools in regards to air quality concerns as you alluded to.

 

[northbaybbguru]

EVERY school in the Northbay...public or private is well aware of the AQ safe/unsafe zone.

We do have some experience in this area.

 

[colhenrylives]

There are lots of scrimmages and sportsmanship games occurring this week in a number of CCS locations. These are indoor activities.

As of lunchtime today, many of those CCS basketball events have been called off.

 

[Modawar]

C-Let hasn’t been on the court since the fires hit off. Slow start getting slower.

 

[Norcal_Fan]

Just got off the phone with a private school coach who in fact told me that the school is well aware that an AQI of >170 is dangerous and they monitor that as well as their athletes very closely willing to stop all activity when instructed or upon discretion . So while this is just one example, I think the part of your post that said this is uncharted territory is absolutely correct. However, I don't think there is as big of a gap between private and public schools in regards to air quality concerns as you alluded to.

All I know is that while most of the public schools have had practice/games closed all week, MANY private/catholic schools have had practices. If they had a clue, then those kids wouldn't have had scrimmages or games-or it could be that they're....nah, not going to go there.

 

[stepslide]

There are plenty in the south bay both public and private that have cancelled practices and games. Mitty, St Francis, Valley Christian, and Presentation all had foundation games cancelled tonite as did many public schools. A few of those private schools are also closed tomorrow with no practices allowed either.

 

[mkbgdns]

just curious about the 170 "danger" figure. the EPA's shifts come at 150 (to "unhealthy") and 200 (to "very unhealthy"). as of 5pm today, Concord and Oakland are both 200+. could be worse, Sac stands at 343 ("hazardous").

the descriptions differentiate between vulnerable individuals and others.
although most girls on high school teams are well conditioned athletes, asthma is not uncommon in this age group.

I find the government differentiation between indoor and outdoor activities to be inapplicable to our sport. a gym is fairly porous to outside air, and basketball is a particularly strenuous activity. a timeout, at least through the weekend, seems like the safest course.

 

[Streak One]

I know a lot of schools in the Sacramento area were closed today and closed tomorrow too.

Very small in the bigger picture, but going to be some extra ragged play early

 

[ClayK]

Again, a tiny aspect in the face of this tragedy ...

The majority of schools in California have been able to practice since mid-August, and the majority of schools have not been affected by fire and smoke. So the usual early season disadvantage of schools in NCS, CCS and SJS is going to be amplified this year -- and since the MaxPreps' rankings, which determine a lot of postseason seeding, don't differentiate between a loss to a team that's been practicing for three months and a loss to a team that's been practicing for 10 days (or a win against either), the quality of some teams by the end of the season may not be reflected in the rankings used by CIF.