Putting together a schedule this year has been more challenging than San Ramon Valley (Calif.) boys’ lacrosse coach Patrick Watson ever would have imagined.

He recently spoke with a coach of another team from the CIF North Coast Section and was surprised to find out that that school’s county would not allow the teams to cross over for competition. That is the case for a lot of areas in California, where the COVID-19 pandemic delayed fall and winter sports and is just now seeing enough improvement to begin competition.

The lacrosse season recently got the green light in most parts of the state to play — almost a year after the pandemic halted the 2020 season — but each section and even individual areas have restrictions that will limit competition to neighboring counties.

“Scheduling is challenging because each county is different, each school district is different,” Watson said. “We had a tentative schedule, and it all got thrown away because some schools aren’t allowed to cross into our county and vice versa. We didn’t even know if we would be playing until a few days ago.”

Teams around the West region will be impacted by COVID-19 protocols and scheduling limitations. but in California, the spread of coronavirus cases varies so much, the state is handling everything on a micro level.

The CIF set tier levels to determine which sports would be allowed under different circumstances, based on the color coding for each county at any given time. Under the purple “widespread” conditions, only certain non-contact sports are permitted; under the red “substantial” status, certain outdoor team sports — including girls’ lacrosse — can be played; boys’ lacrosse and some of the indoor non-contact sports are allowed under the orange “moderate” tier, and indoor contact sports are allowed when the status is yellow to indicate “minimal” COVID spread.

Last week, the state further eased the restrictions, allowing outdoor sports the green light in the moderate and substantial tiers if the respective county COVID-19 adjusted case rate is equal to or less than 14 per 100,000.

But while some areas met the guidelines for safe play sooner than others, start dates for each section will vary.

In the North Coast Section, where San Ramon Valley plays, girls’ lacrosse was cleared to play, while boys’ lacrosse is set to begin April 5 and finish May 29 — with no playoffs. Boys’ teams are currently able to do stick work and open-field, non-contact drills. Games begin sooner in other parts of the state and championships are still in the plans in other sections.

“I feel terrible for the kids,” Watson said. “I’m glad they are able to get out there now, but it’s been a long road for those guys. It stinks. It looks like we are getting out of [the pandemic], but it’s crazy. We had a senior-heavy team last year, and after five games, it was done. It was a shame.

“The kids that have come out and trained, they are just happy to be there. We do a lot of open-field stuff, just getting out to let the kids play and that energy was just, ‘I’m so glad I’m not cooped up anymore,’ that they are participating in something and excited.”

The North Coast Section girls’ teams were able to begin practicing last week and first games take place next week, according to Amador Valley coach Chelsea Randel. The Dons will play eight games, and the season will end April 23 so there is less overlap with other sports trying to get in their seasons.

CIF San Diego Section teams such as the La Costa Canyon boys are scheduled to begin games March 27. Playoffs will take place from May 25-June 5.

Teams in the San Francisco area, like the St. Ignatius Prep boys, can begin competition at the end of March. The Wildcats have been doing voluntary workouts under the guidance of the seniors since last fall but are just now able to officially meet and begin team practices.

“Like many other schools in our region, our lacrosse schedule is subject to change at any moment, but we have about 65 percent of our 20-game schedule finalized,” St. Ignatius Prep assistant Ryan Carter said. “At this point in time, we are only allowed to play schools in adjacent counties (Alameda, Marin, San Mateo), but we are hopeful that by April, we will be able to travel beyond those county lines.”

Other states in the West are still delayed from their normal start date. All Colorado teams begin practices April 26 with the first contest allowed to take place May 3. According to Cherry Creek girls’ coach Bailey Zerr, teams will be allowed to play 10 regular-season games, and the girls’ postseason begins June 15. The boys’ final is set for June 22, according to Regis Jesuit (Colo.) boys coach Jim Soran.

In Oregon, the season is set to begin April 5 and run through May 23. The Jesuit girls’ team in Portland is currently having one preseason practice a week, but the official start date is one week before games begin.

Washington is still waiting to get started, but the plan right now is to begin April 19, after the delayed fall sports have had some time to play without overlap.

“Some of us have been running safe programming within our programs since the fall,” said Mercer Island girls’ coach Lyndsey Gillis, who sits on the WSLA board. “Fall sports are set to start (this week), so we’re hopeful that by April 19th, things will happen.”

The overlap in sports is another issue adding to the chaos for teams in California.

Because of the fall and winter sports getting delayed, all three seasons are overlapping at once with 17 different sports getting underway. That means athletes are having to make decisions about which sport to compete in or trying to make it work with multiple sports.

Watson said his numbers are down this year, and he’s heard the same from other coaches as well.

“Our numbers have been impacted for multiple reasons, all based on COVID,” Watson said. “Some families are still concerned and don’t want their son out playing sports. They are doing more staying at home and avoiding situations with multiple people. There are some people with multiple sports impacting their ability to come out for lacrosse. And some are just scrapping it because it’s so in flux. There’s still a chance we go out there and then have to cancel again. Hopefully that’s not the case, but these are all things we’re dealing with in these uncertain times.”