UKIAH — Mendocino College volleyball and women’s basketball head coach Katherine Escobedo confirmed Monday that all fall and winter sports at the school won’t take place this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Baseball and softball still have a chance, but we will see,” said Escobedo, a former three-sport star at Upper Lake High School. “No fall or winter sports for Mendocino College.”
Escobedo, hired as Mendocino’s volleyball coach in August of 2018 and additionally named women’s back coach in September of 2019, posted the news on the Mendocino College volleyball Facebook page early Monday morning.
“It is with a heavy heart to announce that we will not be competing in a spring 2021 season. This was not an easy decision made by our institution. To our players, friends, family and fans, we are so thankful for each and every one of you. I know without a doubt that we will come back better and stronger than ever. We are coming for you Fall 2021! Everyone please be safe, stay healthy, and wear a mask. Stay strong Eagle family. We are in this together,” Escobedo said in the Facebook post.
In a follow-up with the Record-Bee Monday, Escobedo added, “I’m disappointed. My heart breaks for all these student-athletes. They have worked so hard and deserved to play, but I am hopeful we will have a spring 2021 class where we can train and build our team’s chemistry and better prepare for fall 2021.”
Mendocino College is among the first California Community College Athletic Association schools to jettison its fall and winter sports because of the coronavirus, which has shut down area youth and high school sports since mid-March.
“We are one of the first institutions in the CCCAA to announce this and it wasn’t easy, but I anticipate that more colleges will follow,” Escobedo said.
Known as Katherine “Kat” Edmonds during her playing days at Upper Lake High School, the 2012 ULHS graduate, the Record-Bee’s female Athlete of the Year for the 2011-12 sports season, went on to star for Mendocino College in basketball. She later transferred to and graduated from Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon. She married Michael Escobedo, an assistant men’s basketball coach at Mendocino College, in 2018.
Mendocino College’s announcement comes a little less than one month before the anticipated start of the 2020-21 high school sports season. The official first day of practice for the fall sports of football, volleyball, soccer and cross country is Dec. 7.
The Coastal Mountain Conference, which Lake County teams belong to, was scheduled to hold a meeting of athletic directors later Monday to discuss the upcoming season, including options if there are more COVID-19 delays, and who makes the final call on when or if high school and middle school sports take place.
Escobedo said she was keeping her fingers crossed that youth and high school teams could still have a season.
“These kids need sports,” Escobedo said.
Glenn “Milo” Meyer, the athletic director at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport, said there are more questions than answers as the Dec. 7 start date draws near.
“Still plan to start on Dec 7,” Meyer told the Record-Bee early Monday afternoon. “Hope to hear from CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) prior to that. All schools agree that there are too many questions on how we can possibly have a season. Different counties are under different guidelines. Some are planning to start hybrid (school models) either after Thanksgiving break or in January. How can you do sports if the schools aren’t allowing all students on campus?” Meyer said.
“Transportation is a big question, not to mention if fans can watch,” Meyer added.
