The fate of prep fall sports gained some clarity on Monday when the California Interscholastic Federation announced that it was pushing the start of the fall sports season into December or January because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Football, girls volleyball, water polo, cross country, girls golf, girls tennis and field hockey have all been pushed back while boys volleyball has been moved up from spring to fall.

The CIF assigned dates for section championships for water polo and volleyball (March 13), cross country (March 20) and football (April 10). The North Coast Section later released guidance with Dec. 14 earmarked as the first day of fall sports practice.

Football teams are permitted to play their first games on Jan. 6 provided the team has had at least 14 days of practice and individuals have had at least 10 days of practice.

Winter sports like basketball, soccer and wrestling have been pushed into the spring with dates for first practices in February and March and section title dates set from late May to early June. Two fall sports with winter weather concerns — girls tennis and girls golf — have also been moved into spring.

The North Coast Section playoffs are set to remain unchanged but postseasons at the regional and state level have been reduced to one week.

The news did not come as a surprise to coaches around the Marin County Athletic League. The CIF announced five weeks ago that it would offer an alternative calendar if it didn’t appear that fall sports could be restarted safely in August.

Although several high school programs around the county were given the green light to start offseason conditioning programs in early June, coronavirus case numbers have spiked across California since then.

“At this point, I’m not surprised by too much,” Marin Catholic girls volleyball coach Jake Spain said. “We’ve just got to plan what’s best for the kids. This is all about building new systems and finding safe ways to give these kids athletic outlets.”

The CIF’s statement comes on the heels of several other COVID-related announcements that had been trending in the same direction.

Several college football conferences adjusted their calendars for COVID-19 earlier this month, canceling all non-conference games or outright postponing the season. California junior colleges postponed the fall and winter seasons entirely on July 9.

Last Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued guidance stating that schools could not reopen for in-person learning until the county had been off the state’s watch list for two consecutive weeks.

Marin has been on the watch list since July 3.

“I think New Mexico actually came out and (postponed fall sports) a couple weeks ago,” Terra Linda football coach Dallas Hartwell said. “The way things were trending, it was pretty obvious it was going to get pushed back to December or January.”

With a postponement almost a certainty, San Marin High football co-coach Dom DiMare was pleased that his team could still have a chance to play a full season.

“It’s really great that we have some direction now,” DiMare said. “We’re not telling everybody that we don’t know. It’s exciting and we look forward to it.”

The NCS calendar allows for all sports to play their usual number of contests, albeit in a smaller window.

Although an alternative calendar solves a few immediate problems, it may create a few more down the road.

Athletes who played both basketball and baseball or soccer and lacrosse will now have to pick one over the other.

Athletes who play both high school and club sports will also have to decide whether to try play for both teams at once as the CIF has suspended the bylaws that prohibit high school athletes from outside competition during the season.

Soccer and girls volleyball, for starters, will see their high school seasons conflicting with their club seasons. Many of the top players could opt to play club because of the number of college recruiting opportunities that are available. The majority of soccer and volleyball coaches around the county also coach at both levels, creating another potential issue.

Soccer and lacrosse will go back to competing for the same fields and practice times as they did before soccer was moved to winter in 2016. Marin’s lack of lights at high school facilities remains an issue for schools trying to maximize practice times with limited field space and social-distancing protocols in effect.

Another potential stumbling block will be the availability of officials with so many sports going on at the same time.

“The official shortage is going to be the biggest concern,” Hartwell said. “A lot of them are older as well. … I think that’s going to be the biggest roadblock when it comes to playing games.”