The CIF San Diego Section (CIF-SDS) is the governing body of high school athletics for most of the two southernmost counties of California (San Diego and Imperial Counties), one of ten such sections that comprise the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have ...

(CIF). Its membership includes most public and private high schools in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

counties.

History

Official governance for high school sports in this area began in 1913, when the Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Council (SCIAC) was formed. Previous to that, some individual leagues dated back to the 1890s. The first local high school football game was played at

Escondido High School Escondido High School (EHS) is one of three high schools in the Escondido Union High School District located in Escondido, California. Escondido High received a California Distinguished School award in 2007. History The first building to house ...

against

San Diego High School San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District, one of the oldest public sch ...

in 1898. The High School Athletic Association of Southern California was formed in 1904 to create a championship in the sport of

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 ...

, precipitating the need for administering all sports. In 1914, the name was changed to the Southern Section also releasing the acronym SCIAC which was taken locally by the

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is a college athletic conference that operates in the NCAA's Division III. The conference was founded in 1915 and it consists of twelve small private schools that are located ...

the following year. In 1917, the CIF took over administering sports statewide and the Southern Section became a part of it. The Southern Section was a behemoth, the largest section covering the most populated southern half of the state. In 1935, the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

split from the section, forming their own CIF Los Angeles City Section. In 1960, the San Diego Section was formed by carving out San Diego County, initially taking 32 schools. In 2000, Imperial County split from Southern Section and joined with San Diego. In 2013 the section began organizing playoff divisions based on team strength not school enrollment. An Open division was created for the top 8 teams in most major sports.

Sports

CIFSD sponsors the sports listed below (divisions based on school size).

Fall Season

* 11-man Football (5 divisions plus an open division) *

Cross country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

(5 divisions, girls and boys) *

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 shootin ...

(2 divisions plus an open division) *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 Summ ...

(5 divisions plus an open division) *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 c ...

(3 divisions) *Boys

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 t ...

(3 divisions) *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 ...

Winter Season

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

(Boys and Girls, 5 divisions plus an open division) * Roller Hockey (Co-ed, 1 division sanctioned by the Metro Conference with other non-Metro Conference High Schools as affiliate members) * Soccer (Boys and Girls, divisions plus an open division) *Girls

(3 divisions) *

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 ...

(Boys, 3 divisions and Girls)

Spring Season

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

(3 divisions) *

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 ...

(5 divisions plus an open division) *Boys

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 ...

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 extensi ...

(Boys and Girls, 2 divisions plus an open division) *

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 ...

(5 divisions plus an open division) *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

(Boys and Girls, 2 divisions) *Boys

(2 divisions) *

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 ...

(Boys and Girls, 2 divisions) *Boys

(4 divisions plus an open division)

Leagues

* Avocado East League * Avocado West League * Central League * Citrus League * Coastal League * Desert League * Eastern League * Freelance League * Freelance League * Frontier - North * Frontier - South * Grossmont - Hills * Grossmont - Valley * Imperial Valley League * Manzanita League * Mesa League * Metro League * Pacific League * Palomar League * South Bay League * Sunset League * League League * Western League

Playoff structure

Schools are grouped into divisions, the highest being the Open division.

Commissioners

* 1960–76: Don Clarkson * 1976–96: Kendall Webb * 1996–01: Jan Jessop * 2001–11: Dennis Ackerman * 2011–20: Jerry Schniepp * 2020–present: Joe Heinz

References

External links

CIF San Diego Section Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cif San Diego Section High school sports in California Organizations based in California Sports organizations established in 1960 High school sports associations in the United States Sports governing bodies in the United States California Interscholastic Federation sections 1960 establishments in California Sports in San Diego