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 

• 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.

• 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. 

• 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. 

• This is clearly stated at each seeding meeting of every sport to all the coaches present.  

For the Staff, CCS Commissioner, Nancy Lazenby Blaser