Come home, to the gym of your youth

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Come home, to the gym of your youth

December 1, 2023 by David Svien

Lindsey Roberts (left) and Hailey Hammer fight for a rebound during an alumni game. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The invitation is there.

Every person who has played, coached, kept stats for, or cheered for Coupeville High School girls’ basketball is invited back for the 50th anniversary of the program.

The event is set for Saturday, Dec. 16 in the CHS gym, with South Whidbey the opponent.

The Wolf varsity boys tip off at 5:15, with the girls at 7:00. The festivities happen at halftime of the girls’ game.

We’ll be honoring the 1999-2000 Coupeville squad, the first to win a game at state — in any sport — as well as the top 15 scorers all time.

But it’s more than that.

The reason we want as many people as possible to cram the gym that night is because the entire program, and the very concept of girls getting a chance to play God’s Chosen Sport, is at the heart of the event.

The Wolf girls started 57(!) years after the CHS boys first dropped a basketball through the net in 1917, and yet have put up more banners and league titles.

Even once female athletes were finally given the same opportunity afforded their male counterparts, they spent several years being forced to trek to Camp Casey for practice.

But those early athletes endured, and they are a shining light to the generations which have come after them.

Wolves (l to r) Julia “Elbows” Myers, Monica Vidoni, Madeline Strasburg, and Amanda Fabrizi prepare to inflict pain on a hapless rival.

When Madison McMillan drops a jumper in the paint, she carries on the tradition started by Marie Grasser.

When Katie Marti slices ‘n dices the defense, she is the heir to Novi Barron and Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby.

When the little girls in the crowd, the ones pulling on a jersey for the first time in youth league play, look out onto the court, they will see the current stars in action, but they will see more.

They will see young women, now adults, who fought against stupidity, who asked for nothing more than a chance, and then went out and made magic.

They will see legendary former Wolf coach Phyllis Textor, back in the gym where she once prowled the sideline, and they will (hopefully) see Ann Pettit, Ashley Manker, Emily Vracin, Skyler Lawrence, and many, many more.

Every single one of you is part of something bigger than yourself.

Be proud. Come home to your gym and celebrate everything you have accomplished.