The temperatures say it’s “summer” but high school football says it’s “fall.”
Practice begins Monday for most Orange County football teams. The season begins Aug. 17, a Thursday, when two games are played in Orange County. Twenty-seven football games are scheduled for Friday, Aug. 18 that week, which is designated as Week 0.
Football teams that begin their season the following week, Week 1, can begin practicing on Aug. 7. Schools can observe a different starting date if the change is authorized by the CIF-SS office.
Teams must have 14 days of practice before they are allowed to play their first game of the season. Ten days of practice must be completed before teams can play a scrimmage against another team. Each player must have participated in a minimum of 10 days of practice before being allowed to play in a game.
Teams are limited to two days per week of full-contact activity, with a maximum of 45 minutes of full-contact activity during those two days.
While the majority of Orange County teams have inter-team scrimmages on Aug. 10 or 11, two county teams begin their season that week with games in Hawaii. Villa Park plays at Honolulu against Damien of Honolulu on Aug. 11 on the island of Oahu. Edison, a frequent traveler to the Hawaiian Islands to start the football season, plays on Maui on Aug. 12 against Baldwin.
Five O.C. football teams won CIF Southern Section championships in 2022: Yorba Linda in Division 3; Laguna Hills, Division 7; Northwood, Division 8; Laguna Beach, Division 9; and Whittier Christian, Division 14.
This is the final season of current football league structures. For the 2024 season football teams would be grouped into leagues that will be created via a system that ranks each team based upon its performance the previous two seasons. The Trinity League is exempt from the change, its membership remaining as it is this season.
Girls flag football makes its debut as a CIF-SS sport this fall. Its season begins Aug. 18.
Other fall sports begin their seasons in August. First contest dates are Aug. 31 for boys and girls cross country, Aug. 21 for girls golf, Aug. 21 for girls tennis, Aug. 12 for girls volleyball and Aug. 21 for boys water polo.
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