Neutral Sites:
CCS
bylaws, which are approved by the Board of CCS, consisting of
school administrative representatives from every league in the CCS
does NOT guarantee, promise, nor expect staff to assign neutral
sites in ANY playoff rounds or games, including the finals. Where the
notion started that schools are guaranteed or even should have a
neutral site for playoffs is puzzling. This is foreign to
our CCS playoff policy and always has been. There has
never been any such policy or guarantee or even a position that this should be included in our policy.
In fact, most of the other 9 sections in
California play at the home site of the higher seeded team through the
semi-finals. CCS has attempted to provide a more
tournament-like atmosphere for the playoffs by insuring quality sites with good facilities for a multiple of schools to compete on
from the quarter finals on in our championships. It would be
much easier for the CCS if we did as the other 9 sections do. As
a result of our extra efforts as a staff, we continue to be criticized
by coaches and parents who obviously do not understand the process nor
policies established by our member schools, nor the meaning of the
"seeding" of a team. Perhaps the following will be of
assistance in providing a better understanding
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The
"seed" a team receives via the seeding process does
NOTHING but determine who their opponents shall be. There
are no other rights nor privileges granted to higher seeded teams,
such as neutral sites or some other perceived right to other
benefits. It has nothing to do with where or when a team
plays, only with WHO they play.
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The CCS playoffs rely on the goodness of our member
schools to host and staff such events. Schools willing to work
extra days of their own personal time and generously provide their
site for the use of many other schools have always been, and will
continue to be, allowed to play on their own field. They
volunteer their site well before the season even begins; they
agree to host whether they advance or not; they are not expected
to send their team somewhere else and then require their own
school support staff to remain at their site, missing their own
school's game to host other schools. This has been the CCS
playoff policy and will continue to be until such time as the
principals of our member schools change it.
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This is a CCS
Championship--the CCS geographically runs from San Francisco down
to King City and schools entering such a section-wide tournament
must be prepared to travel anywhere within those boundaries.
We do not guarantee sites that are georgraphically in every school's
backyard, that would be impossible. If schools do not wish
to travel, they should not enter the CCS tourament and end their
season with their geographically-proximate league season.
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This is clearly
stated at each seeding meeting of every sport to all the coaches
present.
For the Staff, CCS
Commissioner, Nancy Lazenby Blaser |