The gradual return of Santa Barbara high school sports has served as a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, and the athletes who participate in many of the winter and spring contests took another step towards normalcy when the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced the return of section playoffs this week.
Athletes in baseball, softball, boys’/girls’ basketball, boys’/girls’ lacrosse, boys’/girls’ tennis, boys’ volleyball, and boys’/girls’ dual-meet wrestling will have the chance to compete for Southern Section championships, an opportunity that was ripped away from spring sports last year at the onset of the pandemic.
Unfortunately, fall sports such as boys’/girls’ cross country, boys’/girls’ water polo, and football have completed their abbreviated spring season and will not have the opportunity to compete in the playoffs.