By Kevin Hanson
Senior Writer
Editor’s note: The Reporter ran a story titled “Local schools seek to resurrect North Puget Sound League” by reporter Chris Chancellor in the Jan. 15 edition.
Following the printing of that article, more changes were made to the new leagues.
The dust began settling last week on the local prep athletic scene, as area athletic directors and principals shaped a new world of leagues and classifications.
Change did not come easily or without a few surprises – and the final verdict hasn’t been registered quite yet. The state’s six classifications will not be absolutely, positively finalized until the WIAA executive board approves its list of 384 schools during a Jan. 24-25 meeting. Some schools were still appealing their fate, a move that had to be completed by Jan. 19.
Tahoma High Athletic Director and Assistant Principle Tony Davis wrote in an email, “We are in the process of taking steps to form (actually reform) the North Puget Sound League. The original NPSL dissolved in 1990 when the reclassification process that year forced the schools to switch to new leagues – Seamount, SPSL (South Puget Sound League).”
According to Chris Gibson, athletic director at White River High School, which is in the SPSL 2A, the major cause of all the upheaval was the decision by so many schools to opt-up and play at a larger classification than their actual enrollment calls for. The WIAA allows schools to move up, but not move down a classification.
At this point in the process, 22 high schools have opted up to 4A, 13 to 3A, one to 2A, eight to 1A and four to 2B, according to information released Jan. 14 by the WIAA. When a school decides to opt up a classification it cannot pick and choose – it must make the leap for all athletics and activities.
“There were so many more opt-ups than we thought there would be,” Gibson said, noting that the local dominos began tumbling with the early announcement that the three Auburn district schools would jump into the 4A fray.
One of the biggest surprises came late in the process, out of Enumclaw High School, which elected to opt-up and compete in a new North Puget Sound League 4A.
Enumclaw High Athletic Director Phil Engebretsen said the decision was made because “we felt the NPSL provided the best league for all of our student-athletes, their families and our community.”
Davis said the reason the schools are considering changing leagues include less travel time, less time out of class, keeping multiple district schools in the same league, maintaining current rivalries and re-establishing lost rivalries, increased spectator interest and attendance and improved access to West Central District tournaments.
“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Davis said. “We will miss the great relationship we had with SPSL (athletic directors) and look forward to forming new relationships with Kennedy and Hazen. Tahoma is also excited about the possibility of renewing an old rivalry with Enumclaw.
We will be meeting as a group to address the following areas and any others that may arise through the process.”
North Puget Sound League 4A
This new league mixes traditional 4A schools with many currently competing at the 3A level. The 16 teams – which will be divided into two divisions – include Enumclaw, Auburn, Auburn Riverside, Auburn Mountainview, Kennedy, Mount Rainier, Tahoma, Hazen, Decatur, Thomas Jefferson, Todd Beamer, Federal Way, Kent-Meridian, Kentlake, Kentridge and Kentwood.
South Puget Sound League 4A
This league took a serious hit. Today, it counts 17 schools playing in three divisions. Beginning in the fall there will be nine members: Sumner, Curtis, Graham-Kapowsin, Olympia, South Kitsap and Tacoma’s Bellarmine Prep, plus the three Puyallup district schools – Puyallup High, Rogers and Emerald Ridge.
