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CIF Southern Section

{{Short description|Governing body for high school athletics}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Third-party|date=August 2017}}

{{Infobox organization

|name = CIF Southern Section

|image = CIFSS AIA.jpg

|image_border =

|size =

|caption =

|map =

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|abbreviation = CIF-SS

|motto =

|formation = 1913

|extinction =

|type = Non-profit organization

|status = Association

|purpose = Athletic/Educational

|headquarters = 10932 Pine Street {{nowrap|(Los Alamitos, California)}}

|location =

|region_served = Southern California

|leader_title = Commissioner

|leader_name = Mike West

|main_organ = California Interscholastic Federation

|parent_organization =

|affiliations =

|num_staff =

|num_volunteers =

|budget =

|website = {{URL|http://www.cifss.org/}}

}}

The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). Its membership includes most public and private high schools in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and central and southern Santa Barbara counties. Teams from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and surrounding areas have competed in the CIF Los Angeles City Section since 1935. CIF-SS's offices are located in Los Alamitos.

Founded in 1913, the CIF Southern Section includes over 560 member public and private high schools and is by far the largest CIF section. Three of the ten CIF sections are individual current or former public school districts (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland). The Southern Section's membership includes all private schools located within the service area of the LAUSD, which includes almost all of the city of Los Angeles plus some adjacent areas outside the city limits. If the CIF Southern Section were a state association, it would be the 10th largest in the United States.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

For its first year of operation, the organization was called the Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Council (SCIAC). That acronym was taken over by the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1915 after the Southern Section name was established. CIF was officially formed in 1914 and became statewide in 1917.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cifss.org/admin/form_files/13904129871_CIFSSHistorywow.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626092436/http://www.cifss.org/admin/form_files/13904129871_CIFSSHistorywow.pdf |archive-date=2014-06-26 |url-status=dead }} The service area was larger, encompassing what is now the CIF Los Angeles City Section, which broke off in 1935, and the CIF San Diego Section which broke off in 1960. Imperial County was once part of the section as well, but broke off in 2000 to join the San Diego Section.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sportsontheside.net/history/ |title=CIF History — Sports on the Side |access-date=2014-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814194130/http://www.sportsontheside.net/history/ |archive-date=2014-08-14 |url-status=dead }} At various points in time, schools in Arizona, Nevada,{{Cite web |url=http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/history_corner/24phoenixhs.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011220952/http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/history_corner/24phoenixhs.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-11 |url-status=dead }} and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico,{{Cite web |url=http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/history_corner/29tijuanaschl.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011220657/http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/history_corner/29tijuanaschl.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-11 |url-status=dead }} were part of the section.

Commissioners

File:CIFSSLogo.jpg

  • Seth F. Van Patten (1913–1951)
  • William W. Russell (1951–1954)
  • J. Kenneth Fagans (1954–1975)
  • Thomas E. Byrnes (1975–1980)
  • Ray J. Plutko (1980–1986)
  • Stan Thomas (1986–1993)
  • Dean Crowley (1993–1999)
  • James Staunton, Ed.D. (1999–2011)
  • Rob Wigod (2011–2023)
  • Mike West (2023–present){{cite web |last1=Sondheimer |first1=Eric |title=Mike West selected as replacement for Rob Wigod as Southern Section commissioner |url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2023-04-13/mike-west-is-named-replacement-for-rob-wigod-as-commissioner |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=14 June 2024}}

History

{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2014}}

File:CIFSScolage.jpg

The Southern Section was the outgrowth of a track and field meet. The Southern Section was founded on

March 29, 1913, when a group of high school officials joined forces to conduct a track championship meet. Seth F. Van Patten, who served as Track Manager for the Southern Section in 1913 and is recognized as

the founding father of the CIF-SS, served in that post until 1928 when he was officially named Secretary of the organization. He

served as Commissioner until his retirement in 1951.

On March 28, 1914, the Southern Section came under the administrative wing of the newly founded California Interscholastic

Federation, and has since grown into one of the most progressive and respected organizations of its kind in the world.

CIF-SS archives date back over 100 years!

Despite its lengthy history, the Southern Section lists just 10 Commissioners (the term Secretary dropped) with William Russell

holding the post from 1951 to 1954, J. Kenneth Fagans being the administrative head from 1954 until his retirement in early 1975,

Thomas E. Byrnes accepting the Commissioner's post in 1975, while Ray Plutko served from 1980 to 1986. Stan Thomas served as

Commissioner from July, 1986 to October, 1993 when Dean Crowley was appointed Acting Commissioner and was Commissioner of

Athletics from July, 1994 until his retirement in September, 1999. James Staunton Ed.D., served as Commissioner from September

1, 1999, until his retirement on July 31, 2011. Rob Wigod began his service as Commissioner on August 1, 2011, after having served as Assistant Commissioner for 11 years, before retiring on August 1, 2023.

File:CIFSSoffice.jpg

The “home” of the Southern Section has a varied history. At the outset, basements, surplus school rooms and even

the homes of secretaries served as the official office. South Pasadena High School graciously permitted the use of one of its rooms

during the 1930s, with Oneonta School and South Pasadena High School serving as the home office from 1942 until 1949. There was a period of time the office was in the home of Commissioner Seth Van Patten. Still without an official office, the Southern Section moved its supplies to Helms Hall, a bakery in Culver City in 1949 and remained at the Venice

Blvd. site until 1959. It was in February of that year that the Southern Section built its first ever administration office,

located on the corners of Carmona and West Washington in Los Angeles. As membership grew and the Sections’ population center

moved, so did the CIF-SS office. In 1965, the Section office built and moved into its third home and second devoted strictly to the

CIF-SS day-to-day operations. That space was located next to Gahr High School on Artesia Blvd. in the city of Cerritos. That remained the home base of the

section until October 2003 when the ever-expanding membership required a larger facility. Thus, the new and current administrative

home became the Pine Street location in Los Alamitos.

File:CIFSShistory.jpg

The California Interscholastic Federation, Southern Section, is a non-profit corporation organized to direct and control both boys

and girls athletics in the secondary schools within the Section. The Southern Section is administered on a day-to-day basis by the

Commissioner, five Assistant Commissioners, a chief Financial Officer, a Marketing Manager and a staff of eight support personnel. The Southern Section is not

only the oldest, but the largest of 10 such sections in the state—its membership has grown from an original 30 schools to over 560+

schools and from 5 leagues to almost 90 leagues.

Sports

CIF-SS sponsors the following sports:

{{Col-begin}}

{{Col-3}}

=Fall Season=

  • American Football (11-person) (divided into 14 divisions)
  • 8-person football (2 divisions)
  • Competitive Traditional Cheer
  • Cross country (5 divisions)
  • Field Hockey
  • Girls Flag Football
  • Girls Volleyball (9 divisions)
  • Girls Tennis (6 divisions)
  • Boys Water Polo (7 divisions)
  • Girls Golf (4 divisions){{Cite web |url=http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/news_file/1413495536_2014%20Girls%20League%20Participation.Placement%2010.16.14.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027003653/http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/news_file/1413495536_2014%20Girls%20League%20Participation.Placement%2010.16.14.pdf |archive-date=2014-10-27 |url-status=dead }}

{{Col-3}}

=Winter Season=

  • Boys Basketball (10 divisions){{Cite web |url=http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/sports_poll/13925900691_Boys%20Basketball.Poll.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702060804/http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/sports_poll/13925900691_Boys%20Basketball.Poll.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-02 |url-status=dead }}
  • Girls Basketball (10 Divisions)
  • Soccer (Boys and Girls) (7 divisions)
  • Girls Water Polo (7 divisions){{Cite web |url=http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/sports_poll/13925903051_G%20Water%20Polo%20Poll.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704060550/http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/sports_poll/13925903051_G%20Water%20Polo%20Poll.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-04 |url-status=dead }}
  • Boys Wrestling (7 Divisions)
  • Girls Wrestling (7 divisions){{cite web |url=http://www.tmi.0catch.com/Tournaments2014-2015.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010064138/http://www.tmi.0catch.com/Tournaments2014-2015.htm |archive-date=2014-10-10 |title=Untitled 0}}

{{Col-3}}

=Spring Season=

{{Col-end}}

Leagues

{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}

{{div col end}}

Source{{cite web |url=https://www.cifss.org/admin/images/fan_site_file/0October%2024%202013%20REVISED.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-10-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704042611/http://www.cifss.org/admin/images/fan_site_file/0October%2024%202013%20REVISED.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-04 }}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

  • {{Official website|http://www.cifss.org/index.php}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cif Southern Section}}

Category:High school sports in California

Category:Organizations based in California

Category:Sports organizations established in 1913

Category:High school sports associations in the United States

Category:Sports governing bodies in the United States

Category:California Interscholastic Federation sections

Category:1913 establishments in California