The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

s in the U.S. state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a single, statewide championships for all sports; instead, for some sports, the CIF's 10 Sections each have their own championships. Six schools near the state border are members of adjacent state's associations. San Pasqual Valley High School is part of the Arizona Interscholastic Association. Coleville High School,

Needles High School Needles High School (NHS) is a public high school in Needles, California. It is part of the Needles Unified School District. The school mascot is the Mustang, and the school colors are royal blue and white. The current alma mater, "All Hail to T ...

, North Tahoe High School,

South Tahoe High School South Tahoe High School (STHS) is a public high school in South Lake Tahoe, California, United States. It was established in 1952 and is the only high school that belongs to the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD). The school mascot is the ...

and Truckee High School are part of the

Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for high schools in the state of Nevada. In addition, five schools in the state of California (Coleville, Needles, North Tahoe, South Tahoe, and Tru ...

History

As early as 1891, schools around the San Francisco Bay Area began competing against each other in football organized by the Amateur Academic Athletic Association. Other boys sports were added starting 1894, organized by the Academic Athletic League. While teams represented the schools by name, there was no affiliation with the school administration. The CIF was founded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in 1914 by a group of area

school principal A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

s. It was founded in order to standardize rules and team structures between schools; it was also intended to prevent abuses such as "school shopping" by athletes and teams fielding players over high school age. Other school principals voluntarily entered into the program, and by 1917, the organization was established statewide. In 2005, CIF began requiring that all student athletes sign a pledge not to take any

steroids A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...

or face suspension or expulsion. This action was the first of its kind from a statewide high school athletics association in the United States.

Championships

CIF holds state and regional championships in: *

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

* boys' and girls'

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

; California high school basketball championship * boys' and girls'

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

* boys' and girls' cross country *

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

;

List of California state high school football champions Below is a list of California state and regional high school football champions sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. stat ...

* boys' and girls'

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

* boys' and girls' swimming and diving * boys' and girls'

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

* boys' and girls'

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

; the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a dir ...

* boys' and girls'

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

* boys' and girls'

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

* boys' and girls'

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

CIF also hosts a State

Cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

Championship in conjunction with the football championship. Individual CIF sections also conduct championships in other sports, including: *

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

* boys' and girls'

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

* roller hockey In sports where a school has separate boys' and girls' teams, girls are not allowed on boys' teams, and boys are not allowed on girls' teams. (In sports such as

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

that do not have girls' teams, girls are allowed to play; on the other hand, in sports such as

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

that do not have boys' teams, in most cases boys are not allowed to play.)

Participants

In the 2016-17 season, the California Interscholastic Federation featured 800,364 participants, with 58% boys and 42% girls. The sports with most boys are: * American football: 97,079 * Track and field: 56,032 * Soccer: 52,795 * Basketball: 46,114 * Baseball: 43,913 * Cross country athletics: 31,830 * Wrestling: 22,383 * Swimming: 21,467 The sports with most girls are: * Soccer: 47,139 * Track and field: 46,276 * Volleyball: 44,526 * Basketball: 34,222 * Softball: 33,265 * Swimming: 29,722 * Cross country athletics: 25,600

Awards

CIF offers various awards to its participants: *Academic State Champions, given to the teams with high academic achievement *Model Coach Award, for coaches who are positive role models *Scholar-Athlete of the Year, based on academic and athletic excellence, and character *Spirit of Sport, based on sportsmanship, community service, and leadership

Administration

Sections

The state is broken up into ten administrative sections. These sections are: Each section except for San Francisco and Oakland is further subdivided into leagues. The Northern Section is divided into three conferences which in turn are divided into leagues. The Southern Section is the largest by both membership and geography, covering just under one-third of the state's total area and almost half of the population base. The Southern section includes private schools in the LAUSD service area, whether inside or outside the city of Los Angeles, and the Central Coast and North Coast sections also include private schools in the cities of San Francisco and Oakland respectively. The three "City Sections" are operated by and were historically limited to the corresponding public school systems. With the advent of charter schools in California, all three City Sections include both traditional public schools and charter schools operating within the historic boundaries of the respective public school systems. The San Francisco Section now includes one private school as well. The sections also serve as the qualifying entities for regional and state competitions, and may organize championships in sports not contested statewide, such as

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

, and

Federated Council

The organization's supreme governing body is the Federated Council. This council consists of one representative from each section, a representative from the

California Department of Education The California Department of Education is an agency within the Government of California that oversees public education. The department oversees funding and testing, and holds local educational agencies accountable for student achievement. Its sta ...

, representatives from all bodies recognized as Allied Organizations by the CIF, the Council President, the President-Elect, and the immediate past President. Each representative is elected to a term of two years. The Council meets three times per year.

Allied organizations

The following groups are considered Allied Organization by CIF: *

California School Boards Association California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

(CSBA) *

National Federation of State High School Associations The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. NFHS's headquarters are located in White River State Park in Ind ...

(NFHS) * Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) * California State Athletic Directors Association (CSADA) * California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) * California Coaches Association * Josephson Institute "Character Counts!" * Positive Coaching Alliance * Center for Sports Parenting

References

External links

CIF State Official websiteSan Gabriel Valley Football Officials Association
{{Authority control Organizations based in California Sports organizations established in 1914 1914 establishments in California

History

Championships

Participants

Awards

Administration

Sections

Federated Council

Allied organizations

See also

References

External links