Monday marked the official start of a new year for high school sports, with teams from the local schools beginning practices for the fall season.
Santa Barbara, San Marcos, Dos Pueblos, Bishop Diego, Cate and Carpinteria High’s tackle football, girls flag football, girls volleyball, boys water polo, girls tennis, girls golf and cross country teams will continue their preseason practices until official contests begin as soon as mid-August.
Santa Barbara High football is ramping up its football practices under new coach Nate Mendoza and will kick off its campaign at Thousand Oaks on Aug. 18.
Girls volleyball gets a jump on football as coach Kristin Hempy’s squad opens on Aug. 15 at home against Saugus.
The Dons girls volleyball team is in Division 3 for the CIF-SS playoffs, but the majority of fall sports for the Green and Gold will be in Division 2. Santa Barbara girls tennis, cross country, girls golf and boys water polo will all compete in Division 2.
Across town at San Marcos, football began conditioning in helmets last week and will suit up with pads on Tuesday. Meanwhile, girls volleyball (Div. 3) and girls flag football begin practicing on Wednesday, and cross country (Div. 2) and boys water polo (Div. 2) beginning at the end of the week.
The Royals girls tennis team (Div. 2) will begin practices next week under first-year head coach Emily Carver, who guided the boys tennis team last spring. Finally, Division 3 girls golf will start in mid-August.
For Dos Pueblos, tackle football, girls flag football and girls volleyball are now practicing. Every Charger squad will have the same head coach from last year, with former football coach Doug Caines taking the reins of the girls flag football team.
Most of Dos Pueblos’ fall sports teams will be competing in Division 2, including girls tennis, girls cross country, boys water polo and boys cross country. Girls volleyball will play in Division 4 for the postseason and girls golf will be in Division 3.
Bishop Diego, led by first-year Cardinal athletic director John Muller, will play its second football season in the rugged Marmonte League. The team finished third in the league and advanced to the CIF-SS Division 3 semifinals in 2022.
Bishop will be fielding a girls flag football team.
Bishop’s Division 3-level girls cross country and girls golf teams begin practices this week. Meanwhile, boys water polo and boys cross country will compete in Division 5 for the upcoming fall season. Girls volleyball joins Dos Pueblos in Division 4 while girls tennis is in Division 6.
Cate High’s football and girls volleyball teams have also begun their preseason practices heading into the fall. Other teams joining in soon will be girls tennis (Div. 3), cross country (Div. 5) and boys water polo (Div. 5).
Carpinteria High has begun its preparation to compete in the Citrus Coast League for football. The Warriors open in Week 1 on Aug. 25 against Cabrillo.
The Warriors’ move up in playoff divisions for boys water polo. They’ll play in Division 2, joining the three local Channel League schools.
Meanwhile, Carpinteria’s cross country and girls tennis teams are in Division 4 and Warriors girls volleyball is playing in Division 6.
According to the CIF official calendar, the first sport allowed to play an official contest is girls volleyball on Aug. 12, with football and girls flag football following on Aug. 18.
Boys water polo, girls tennis and girls golf will play their first contests on Aug. 21. Finally, cross country rounds out the opening month of competition with the first meets on Aug. 31.
