STEP 1: REGISTER ON FINAL FORMS
St. Francis sponsors 13 interscholastic sports: six in the fall (cross country, flag football, golf, tennis, volleyball, water polo), two in the winter (basketball, soccer) and five in the spring (lacrosse, softball, swimming, diving, and track & field). When parents or guardians complete their student's registration process on FinalForms, they have the opportunity to identify sports of interest. Please identify any and all sports in which your student might be interested. Information on offseason workouts, schedules, tryout dates, information/interest meetings plus all other updates are communicated exclusively via email through FinalForms.
Even if there is only a small chance your student will take interest in a sport, this part of the registration will ensure that both she and you receive all information from coaches and athletics administration. If it turns out your student is no longer interested in a sport, parents or guardians may log back into FinalForms to remove that sport from her profile.
Families of incoming freshman will receive information on how to register for FinalForms on May 1. Once registered, please complete all required forms – especially the Preparticipation Physical Form (see below) – to clear your student to participate in any physical activity at St. Francis.
STEP 2: PREPARTICIPATION PHYSICAL
The state mandates student-athletes to have a comprehensive physical form filled out each year before being allowed to try out, practice, and compete in sports at the high school level. Please note that St. Francis will only give clearance to student-athletes that turn in a completed St. Francis High School Preparticipation Physical Form. NO EXCEPTIONS. Parents can upload a completed physical form to FinalForms or drop off a hard copy to the front office during normal business hours. For more information about sports physicals, contact assistant athletics director Kelly Ketcham. Each physical is valid for one (1) calendar year, so even returning athletes should be mindful of when their physicals expire.
Remember: a student without a current physical on file will not be permitted to try out.
INFORMATION/INTEREST MEETINGS
Most sports, especially those conducted in the winter and spring, will hold information/interest meetings at some point during the school year.These provide an excellent introduction to the coaching staff, what the sport entails, expectations on the students, and important dates. Any questions – ranging from experience to equipment – can be addressed at these meetings, too. These usually take place during community lunch, which means it will be up to the student to attend these meetings and ask questions.
Again, registering your student on FinalForms is the only way to receive information on when/where the meetings will be held. So sign up your Troubie if there is any chance she will be interested in participating – these meetings are perhaps the best way for her to gauge her interest.
CUT OR NON-CUT SPORTS?
"Cut sports" have tryouts from which student-athletes will be selected to fill rosters of specific sizes. At St. Francis, this list comprises soccer, basketball, volleyball, water polo, golf, tennis, softball, lacrosse and flag football. The dates for these tryouts will be communicated via FinalForms. Please note that no experience is necessary to try out, and many frosh and JV teams have novice athletes. In fact, many successful Troubadour athletes enjoyed their introductions to their sports as high school students.
Additionally, St. Francis golf traditionally has cuts for its varsity roster, but student-athletes who do not make the varsity roster may stay with the program's "Development" squad. The Development squad has regular practices but does not compete in duals or tournaments. It can be an excellent way for a player to sharpen her skills and improve her chances to make the varsity squad the following season.
"Non-cut sports" do not have tryouts as any student is interested may participate. Track & field, cross country, swimming and diving are non-cut sports. Athletes might be assigned to levels (e.g. varsity vs. JV events in swimming) but all are welcome to particpate. IMPORTANT: even though a sport might be considered non-cut, it has the same requirements in terms of commitment and attendance as a cut sport. Students who accrue too many unexcused absences or who fail to show up at competitions may still be removed from the roster.
At times, certain sports have cuts for the varsity squad but no cuts for JV. This occurs if the number of interested students does not exceed the available roster slots. In recent years (2022-23, 2023-24), JV water polo, basketball, softball and lacrosse have been non-cut. Bear in mind, a student's class year may govern whether or not she is eligible to make a team – e.g. only ninth graders may play for a frosh team, or seniors may not play for a sub-varsity team.
VARSITY/JUNIOR VARSITY/FROSH/FROSH-SOPH
A varsity roster is available to students of any high school grade. Junior varsity teams are only through grades 9-11. Frosh and frosh-soph teams, as the names imply, are only for students grades 9 or grades 9-10, respectively.
Volleyball, basketball and soccer each has three rosters. Volleyball offers the traditional varsity, JV and frosh mix as defined above. Basketball has varsity, JV Gold and JV Red, with Red generally being an all-frosh roster. Soccer has varsity, JV Gold and JV Red, where Gold is available for 9-11 and Red for 9-10.
Flag football, water polo, softball, and lacrosse each have varsity and JV, as defined above.
Golf, tennis, swimming, diving, cross country and track & field each has a single roster. However, in swimming, diving, cross country and track & field, many meets will have separate frosh-soph, JV and varsity events. Furthermore, seniors may compete in JV races in swimming and cross country.
RED VS. GOLD SWIMMING
St. Francis swimming has a unique setup in that it offers two options for students who wish to participate in swimming. The Gold program is the competitive team that practices four days per week (five during the preseason) with dual and championship meets. The news, schedule and roster for the Gold program is what can be found on GoTroubies.com. The Red program is a recreational team that practices only two days per week, with no competitions. Red swimming may be the more appropriate choice for students who are unable to commit to four and five days per week, or for athletes in other sports who wish to add swimming as a conditioning component.
There is no experience requirement for either Red or Gold. In fact, there often beginning swimmers who join the Gold squad because they desire the opportunity to compete. Meanwhile, the Red squad has many advanced swimmers who are only able to commit to two days per week. On FinalForms, please select Swimming as a sport. You and your student will receive updates on the information/interest meeting, and more details on what the Red and Gold programs require.
PRESEASON/OFFSEASON WORKOUTS
Many sports will have optional conditioning sessions that take place outside the practice and competition seasons, with fall sports – particularly cross country and volleyball – holding events during the summer. This is the importance of registering your student on FinalForms: these dates are not available to parents and guardians anywhere else but through FinalForms emails from the coaching staff.
PRESEASON PARENT MEETINGS
Every sport will have a mandatory parent meeting shortly before the start of a given season. This is an opportunity for families to meet the coaching staff, learn about all expectations (both on students and on families), and go over athletics policies and procedures. The date and time for these meetings will be announced via FinalForms email.
MULTI-SPORT ATHLETES & SEASON CROSSOVER
Any student-athlete transitioning from fall to winter sports, or from winter to spring sports, will have a full opportunity to try out for the latter season's sport. If the preceding season runs long, such as an athlete qualifying for the postseason, that student will be committed to the first sport until she is released for the subsequent one.
Example #1: Alex, a St. Francis varsity soccer player, also intends to play for the lacrosse team. The first tryout date for lacrosse will be February 10. However, the section soccer tournament runs through February, with the NorCal playoffs taking place in the first week of March. Alex will be permitted/required to compete for soccer until her season is concluded, then will get a full opportunity to join lacrosse even though she might miss the entire preseason practice period.
Example #2: Beth, a St. Francis cross country runner, intends to try out for the soccer team. Soccer tryouts run from November 4-15. However, Beth is one of the seven frosh-soph runners at the section championship, held on November 16. Beth will be permitted/required to practice and compete for cross country through the 16th, then will be afforded a full opportunity to showcase her skills for the soccer coaching staff starting on that following Monday.
CIF SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION KEY DATES
The Sac-Joaquin Section publishes documents detailing all important dates regarding every sport offered under its auspices. This provides an overview of the date ranges for tryouts, practices, offseason conditioning, competition seasons, plus times of the year when activites are not allowed. These documents are available on the CIF-SJS website here. The QUICK REFERENCE PLAYOFF GUIDE shows all possible postseason dates. while the SPORT CALENDAR details all other important dates.
Updated April 22, 2024