Coupeville vs. La Conner — a rivalry for all time. Bet on the Braves to get back and bet on the Wolves to hammer them once they do. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
A proud program refuses to go down without a fight.
La Conner High School football, which has decades of success, but has hit tough times of recent, was given a new shot at life Monday night.
The district’s school board voted unanimously to commit to the Braves playing an independent 8-man schedule for at least the next two years.
That was one of three options on the table, with the other two being to kill football and focus on boys’ soccer, or to make a deal for La Conner players to join up with Anacortes.
The La Conner board also approved a request from Athletic Director Christine Tripp to form a committee which will focus on setting actionable benchmarks for the gridiron program to achieve.
She stressed the importance of this, stating officials and coaches need to be able to see that football will be ready for play this fall.
From an emphasis on weight room use to the number of students committing to attending a camp and being in place for summer practices, Tripp wants the Braves fully able to move forward in a positive direction.
Safety is a high priority for the AD and her coaches, and they want to have 16+ players on the roster.
La Conner football has advanced to the state tourney as an 11-man team 14 times — 11 times at the 2B level and three times as a 1A school — with the most recent trip in 2016.
The Braves have played in the state semifinals three times, losing to Brewster in 1975, Mossyrock in 1982, and Morton-White Pass in 2012.
But falling school attendance and a reduction in the number of students playing football in the last couple of years have taken a toll on La Conner.
The Braves have struggled to field a viable roster, and suffered a string of defeats, with lopsided losses to league rivals Coupeville and Friday Harbor.
When the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association tallied its numbers for the next round of classifications, which run from 2025-2028, La Conner just barely made the cut to remain at the 2B level.
While Mount Vernon Christian and Orcas Island, which don’t play football, are moving up to 2B, La Conner will be the smallest of the Northwest League’s five 2B schools in terms of student body.
The Braves appealed to the WIAA to be allowed to play 8-man football, joining 1B league mates Darrington and Concrete, but were denied.
That decision was based on several factors, Tripp told board members.
Two of the biggest was that La Conner was running two “large boys programs side by side,” with soccer and football sharing the fall since the early ’90s.
Also, there are no active community or middle school gridiron programs, which the WIAA said “provides no structure or framework in place to grow the high school program.”
Denied a chance to play 8-man football in a league, La Conner will have to scrape together a schedule, which will present somewhat of a hardship.
Tripp cautioned that the Braves will likely have to play many of their games on the road, as they grab contests by slipping into open spaces where other schools have a bye week.
Also, there is no path to the postseason for independent teams.
Still, Tripp, her coaches, and community members wanted football to remain at La Conner.
“It’s not going to fix itself, but we can fix it,” said one person during the public comment section.
“I don’t believe we are at the point where we give up on our kids,” added another alum and former player.
In the end, Tyler Zimmerman, a 1995 grad and proud former Braves player, summed it up best.
“Don’t give up on La Conner football!”
While Monday night’s results don’t keep La Conner playing 11-man football or competing for state titles, it at least lays the groundwork for a return to that level.
I may be hugely pro-Coupeville, but the Wolves need the Braves.
Some wins mean more than others, and CHS beating LHS when both teams are at full strength is a benchmark for Cow Town.
We all want to see a day when the best pre-game moment in local sports signals the start of a true rivalry game again.
And yes, Wolf fans, that moment is when La Conner football players thrust their helmets skyward and bellow in unison “Home of the Braves!” at the end of the National Anthem at a home football game.
You can’t deny the power and pageantry of that ritual, no matter what school you rep.
So, go, get better, get stronger, La Conner.
The Wolves still want to whup your collective fannies. But they want to do it straight-up, old-school style.
See you in a few years and have your chin strap on tight for the reunion.
Coupeville Sports 