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Receive Reports
We collect factual information about potential high school athletic compliance concerns.
Fairness • Eligibility • Accountability
CIF Compliance Rules Violations and Reporting.
CIF Compliance receives concerns involving high school athletic eligibility, participation rules, team administration, and other compliance issues. We help organize reports, review available information, and direct concerns toward the appropriate school, district, league, or governing body.
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Independent compliance review
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Fact-focused
CIF Rules & Oversight
Common Compliance Concerns
CIF rules and policies address a broad range of issues affecting interscholastic athletics. Depending on the issue, responsibility may rest with the State CIF, a CIF Section, a league, a member school, or a combination of those bodies.
Transfers & Recruiting
Transfer eligibility, undue influence, recruiting, enrollment
changes, and athletically motivated transfers.
Academic & Age Eligibility
Scholastic standing, semester eligibility, age limits, and
other requirements for participation.
Competition & Participation
Approved sports, levels of competition, contests, participation
limits, and sport-specific playing rules.
Performance Enhancement
Steroid prohibition, performance-enhancing substances, and
related school policies and education.
Student-Athlete Safety
Concussion management, sudden cardiac arrest, heat illness,
extreme heat, and air-quality protections.
Coaching Requirements
Coaching education and certification requirements, including
required health and safety training.
Sportsmanship & Conduct
Sportsmanship expectations, ethics, conduct, and responsibilities
of schools, coaches, athletes, and spectators.
Section & League Compliance
Section bylaws and league rules can add requirements beyond
statewide CIF rules and may vary by region.
About CIF Compliance
Athletic Compliance Concerns.
Families, students, community members, coaches, and others may encounter situations where the rules appear unclear or inconsistently applied. CIF Compliance provides a structured way to submit those concerns for review without turning every issue into a confrontation.
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Organize the Issue
We distinguish eligibility, league-rule, district-policy, participation, and other compliance questions.
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Promote Review
Where appropriate, concerns can be directed to the school, district, league, CIF section, or another responsible entity.
Important:
CIF Compliance is an independent organization. We are not the California
Interscholastic Federation, a CIF Section, a school district, or a
governmental agency, and we do not make official eligibility determinations.
Official determinations remain with the appropriate governing bodies.
California CIF Sections
California is divided into 10 CIF Sections.
Each CIF Section administers interscholastic athletics within its geographic area and may maintain Section-specific bylaws in addition to statewide CIF rules.
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Northern Section
CIF Northern Section
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North Coast Section
CIF North Coast Section
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Sac-Joaquin Section
CIF Sac-Joaquin Section
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San Francisco Section
CIF San Francisco Section
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Oakland Section
CIF Oakland Section
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Central Coast Section
CIF Central Coast Section
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Central Section
CIF Central Section
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Los Angeles City Section
CIF Los Angeles City Section
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Southern Section
CIF Southern Section
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San Diego Section
CIF San Diego Section
The map is a visual guide to the geographic Section boundaries. For an official determination of a school's CIF Section or the rules applicable to a particular school, consult the applicable CIF Section and the school's league.
What We Review
Compliance questions should be specific, factual, and verifiable.
The strongest inquiries identify what happened, when it happened, what rule or requirement may be involved, and where additional evidence can be independently verified.
Student Eligibility
Academic, enrollment, transfer, age, and other eligibility questions affecting athletic participation.
Competition Level
Questions involving Frosh/Soph, JV, Varsity, same-day participation, roster movement, and level restrictions.
Program Administration
Concerns involving equipment access, team requirements, required contributions, and participation conditions.
Review Process
Designed to focus on compliance.
Step 1
Submit
Provide the school, sport, date, people involved, and a clear description of the concern.
Step 2
Review
The concern is evaluated for clarity, relevance, and whether it identifies information that can be checked.
Step 3
Verify
Available rules, public information, documents, or other legitimate evidence may be reviewed.
Step 4
Refer
Where appropriate, the matter may be directed to the responsible school, district, league, or governing authority.
Submit an Inquiry
Tell us what happened.
Provide enough detail for the concern to be understood and independently reviewed. Do not submit another student's confidential educational or medical records.
Confidentiality:
You may request that your identity be treated as confidential.
Confidentiality cannot be guaranteed where disclosure is legally required
or necessary for a particular investigation.
FAQ
Common questions
What types of athletic violations can I report?
Reports may involve eligibility, recruiting or undue influence, transfers, age or level-of-competition requirements, participation by ineligible athletes, improper benefits, coaching conduct, athletic fees, safety requirements, sportsmanship, or possible violations of CIF, Section, league, district, or school athletic rules.
Can I report suspected recruiting or an improper athletic transfer?
Yes. Concerns may be submitted when there is specific information suggesting that a coach, school representative, booster, or other person associated with an athletic program may have encouraged, induced, or facilitated a student's transfer for athletic purposes. Include as much factual information as possible, such as the schools involved, approximate dates, individuals involved, and the circumstances surrounding the transfer.
What if I am concerned that an ineligible athlete is participating?
You may submit the concern without obtaining or providing a student's confidential educational records. Tell us what led to the concern, the team and level involved, relevant contests or dates, and any other information that could allow the matter to be independently reviewed.
Can a parent or student report a concern confidentially?
You may request confidentiality when submitting an inquiry. This can be especially important when a current student-athlete is concerned about retaliation or adverse treatment. CIF Compliance will consider confidentiality concerns when reviewing and referring information, although confidentiality cannot be guaranteed in every circumstance.
What evidence should I include with my inquiry?
Helpful information may include dates, locations, team and school names, names of relevant coaches or officials, photographs, video, screenshots, messages, emails, schedules, publicly available records, or a detailed description of what occurred. You do not need to have every piece of evidence before submitting a concern.
What if I only heard about the violation from someone else?
You may still submit the information, but please distinguish between what you personally observed and what was reported to you by another person. Specific, independently verifiable information is generally more useful than rumors or generalized allegations.
What happens if your review indicates that a rule may have been violated?
Depending on the circumstances, information may be referred to the appropriate school administration, school district, league, CIF Section, State CIF, or another authority capable of reviewing the issue. The appropriate organization—not CIF Compliance—determines whether a violation occurred and what corrective action or sanction, if any, is required.
Can I submit a concern before an upcoming game?
Yes. If the concern involves an issue that could affect an upcoming contest, identify the scheduled date, opponent, sport, and level of competition in your inquiry. Providing this information helps establish whether the matter may require prompt review.
Do you only review Varsity athletics?
No. Concerns may involve any applicable level of interscholastic competition, including Freshman, Frosh/Soph, Junior Varsity, and Varsity programs, depending on the sport and the rules applicable to the school, league, and CIF Section.