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Archive for the ‘history’ Category

One more push!!

Posted in Fundraisers, history, tagged , , , , , on July 7, 2016| Leave a Comment »

A small smidgen of those whose athletic accomplishments will be honored when our title board project is a success.

   A small smidgen of those Wolves whose athletic accomplishments will be honored when our title board project is a success.

We can see the goal line approaching.

A project which has taken months of effort and the combined talents of many is about to come to fruition, but it just needs one more little push.

No, I’m not talking about the new track oval being installed for Coupeville High School, but nice thought.

What I am talking about is my great white whale, the idea to slap 116 years of athletic success up on the CHS gym wall in time for the start of a new school year.

As you may know, there are currently just a handful of title banners hanging in a corner of our gym, and the oldest one is from 1990.

Which means every time a Wolf alumni who played on the ’69 Northwest League champion baseball squad (coached by future football legend Sid Otton) or ran with the ’81 girls cross country squad that finished fourth at state enters the gym, there is no acknowledgement of what they accomplished.

But that’s changing.

Having obtained rare access to the Whidbey News-Times archives, thanks to Keven R. Graves and Jim Waller, I combed through history and came up with a list of 109 titles which should be hanging on the wall.

This includes all team league and district titles, top 10 team finishes at state and individual state titles (there’s 17 of those).

School officials have signed off on the project, Whidbey Signs has been selected to produce and install the signs and the Coupeville Booster Club ponied up the first $2,500.

The club also agreed to set aside funds for adding new title boards in the coming years.

Which won’t be too much of an issue, as once we get past that first 116-year step, it’ll be fairly inexpensive and the boards, while looking all glossy and historical on the wall, require little to no upkeep.

But, that first step is a big one, and I need to come up with $3,000 to add to the Booster Club’s outlay to make this a reality.

To get there I launched a GoFundMe Sunday night and we’ve already cleared 70%, sitting at $2,125 this morning.

All we need to is one final push to get over the top.

Whether you skip a day at Starbucks and give that $5 to honor your Pop-Pop’s legacy instead or come in big-time, every dollar truly counts.

The link to our fundraiser:

https://www.gofundme.com/2bzt6x76

PS — There are some who can’t or won’t use GoFundMe, but still want to contribute.

If so, I can be reached at 165 N. Sherman, Coupeville, WA 98239 or at davidsvien@hotmail.com.

I am a beach bum these days and have no phone of any kind, but don’t let that stop you.

Onward to the top, Wolf Nation!

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Rise Up, Wolf Nation!!

Posted in history, tagged , , , , on July 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

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   Help Coupeville High School restore 116 years of athletic history by installing title boards like the ones Oak Harbor has in its gym.

Help us restore Coupeville High School’s rich athletic history!

The Wolves have stood tall on the prairie for 116 years, but you might not know it from looking at the championship banners hanging in the CHS gym.

Currently there are just a handful on display, stuck off in the corner, and they don’t go back beyond 1990.

Even those are far from complete, basically omitting virtually everything the highly-successful Wolf tennis programs have accomplished in the last two decades.

But we’re not here to assign blame.

The past is the past, and we’re looking to the future … while, um, embracing the past.

Working in conjunction with Jim Waller and Keven R. Graves at the Whidbey News-Times, I have spent several months tracking down a far more comprehensive history of what Wolf athletes and teams have accomplished from 1900-2016.

The plan I have spearheaded, and which school administration, the Booster Club and others have joined in on, is to replace the handful of dusty banners.

In their place will rise a gorgeous new display of 109 title boards which will showcase four things — all league and district team titles, top 10 team finishes at state and the school’s 17 individual state titles.

The style of title boards we will use is similar to what our neighbors at Oak Harbor High School currently do, which is depicted in the photo up top.

Using Coupeville colors, league titles will be on white boards, district titles on black and state accomplishments on red.

Once put in place, the title boards will need little upkeep, can be easily (and inexpensively) added to in years to come and will restore a true sense of history to our gym.

Since they will hang on the wall opposite the benches — a much more visible location than the current banner set-up — they will be the first thing seen by Wolf athletes (and their fans), as well as rival teams.

They will offer current athletes something to aspire for, honor the accomplishments of those who came before (in many cases, direct relatives of those now playing) and serve as a warning to those who dare to enter the CHS gym carrying another school’s colors.

The school’s booster club has agreed to pay $2,500 towards the initial expense of having the boards created and installed. They have also set aside funding for adding title boards in years to come.

But, going from zero to 116 years of history is a big jump to make, and we’ll need to raise the remaining money needed. That will fall in the $2,500-$3,000 range.

We want to have these installed before school starts in September, kicking off the 2016-2017 school year with a real bang.

I firmly believe there are enough current and former Wolves out there — athletes, coaches, parents, grandparents, fans — who can, and will, come together to make this a reality.

Please consider joining us on this mission, either with a donation or by sharing this story or the GoFundMe link.

Let’s put the growl back in Wolf Nation in time for opening night.

To join the movement, pop over to:

https://www.gofundme.com/2bzt6x76

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We’re gonna need a bigger gym!!

Posted in history, tagged , , , , , on February 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »

In 116 years, no Coupeville High School student has won as many state titles as this guy -- five-time champ Kyle King.

The most decorated male athlete in CHS history — five-time state champ Kyle King.

(Jim Waller photo)

If CHS were to adopt the style used by Oak Harbor High School, with its own color scheme, white could be for league titles, black for district titles and red for state accomplishments. (Jim Waller photo)

Natasha Bamberger, holder of four of the 17 state titles won by CHS athletes all-time.

Natasha Bamberger, the only Wolf to win five state titles completely on her own.

116 years. 113 titles.

That’s what I’ve come up with. So far.

Never having been satisfied with the small amount of banners that hang in the Coupeville High School gym, I decided recently, with the help of Jim Waller, Keven R. Graves and the Whidbey News-Times archives, to see if I could get a better read on the history of Wolf sports.

What I have come away with is about 100 (give or take one or two) more titles than what currently hang in the gym.

Now, this is not meant to be a slam on anyone in the school administration.

It doesn’t matter who let the history slip away, or when it happened.

But we are the generation that can save it.

It’s that simple.

If we move forward and restore the lost accomplishments, we can honor the past and inspire the future.

As we move forward, I’ll continue to talk to those who actually make these kind of decisions (administrators, school board, Booster Club), figure out what it would cost, how we could make it happen and all that jazz.

But, for the moment, let your eyes wander down the list.

61 league titles.

14 district titles.

21 teams that placed at state (top 10), topped by three (2002 softball, 1987 baseball, 2005 girls’ tennis) who finished as high as 3rd — and yet two of those teams (baseball and tennis) do NOT have banners currently hanging.

17 state titles. 15 in track (14 individual and one relay team) and two in cross country — won by six guys and two gals.

Fact-check me. Did I miss something while going cross-eyed? It’s possible.

Or just bask in the history of our little school on the prairie.

Coupeville High School title winners 1900-2016:

BASEBALL

1960 — “B” Northwest League
1965 — “B” Northwest League
1969 — “B” Northwest League
1973 — “B” Northwest League
1973 — “B” District
1974 — “B” Northwest League
1975 — “B” Northwest League
1976 — “B” Northwest League
1976 — “B” District
1977 — “B” Northwest League
1977 — “B” District
1978 — “A” District
1980 — “A” Cascade League
1987 — “B” District
1987 — “B” 3rd at state
1991 — “B” Northwest League
2008 — “A” District

BOYS BASKETBALL

1970 — “B” Northwest League
1970 — “B” District
1971 — “B” Northwest League
1972 — “A” Cascade League
1975 — “B” Northwest League
1979 — “A” Cascade League
1998 — “A/B” Northwest League
2002 — “A” Northwest League

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

1975 — “A” 9th at state
1976 — “A” 5th at state
1977 — “A” Cascade League
1977 — “A” District
1977 — “A” 5th at state
2010 — “A” Tyler King — state champion

BOYS TENNIS

1961 — “B” Northwest League
1967 — “B” Northwest League
1968 — “B” Northwest League
2002 — “A” Northwest League
2009 — “A” Northwest League
2009 — “A” District
2010 — “A” Northwest League
2011 — “A” Northwest League
2015 — “A” Olympic League

BOYS TRACK

1979 — “A/B” Jeff Fielding — state champion (3200)
1979 — “A/B” 8th at state
1984 — “B” Northwest League
1985 — “B” District
1986 — “B” 6th at state
1987 — “B” Northwest League
1987 —  “B” District
2005 — “A” Bi-District
2005 — “A” 8th at state
2006 — “A” Bi-District
2006 — “A” Jon Chittim — state champion (200, 400)
2006 — “A” Kyle King — state champion (3200)
2006 — “A” Chris Hutchinson, Jon Chittim, Kyle King, Steven McDonald — state champion (4 x 400)
2006 — “A” 4th at state
2007 — “A” Kyle King — state champion (1600, 3200)
2008 — “A” Kyle King — state champion (3200)
2008 — “A” 4th at state
2010 — “A” Tyler King — state champion (1600, 3200)
2010 — “A” 6th at state
2011 — “A” 7th at state

FOOTBALL

1974 — “B” Northwest League
1990 — “B” Northwest League

GIRLS BASKETBALL

1998 — “A” Northwest League
2002 — “A” Northwest League
2002 — “A” 6th at state
2003 — “A” 8th at state
2005 — “A” Northwest League
2005 — “A” 8th at state
2006 — “A” Northwest League
2015 — “A” Olympic League
2016 — “A” Olympic League

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

1981 — “A/B” 8th at state
1982 — “A” Cascade League
1982 — “A/B” 4th at state
1985 — “A/B” Natasha Bamberger — state champion

GIRLS SOCCER

1994 — “AAA” Wesco (Coupeville/Oak Harbor)
1994 — “AAA” 4th in state (Coupeville/Oak Harbor)

GIRLS TENNIS

1981 — “A” Cascade League
1982 — “A” Cascade League
1983 — “A” Cascade League
1998 — “A” Northwest League
1999 — “A” Northwest League
2000 — “A” Northwest League
2001 — “A” Northwest League
2002 — “A” Northwest League
2003 — “A” Northwest League
2004 — “A” Northwest League
2005 — “A” Northwest League
2005 — “A” 3rd at state
2008 — “A” Northwest League
2009 — “A” Northwest League
2010 — “A” Northwest League
2011 — “A” Northwest League
2012 — “A” Northwest League
2015 — “A” Olympic League

GIRLS TRACK

1984 — “B” Natasha Bamberger — state champion (1600, 3200)
1984 — “B” 5th at state
1985 — “B” Natasha Bamberger — state champion (3200)
1986 — “B” Natasha Bamberger — state champion (3200)
1986 — “B” 8th at state
1989 — “B” Northwest League
1989 — “B” District
2003 — “A” Amy Mouw — state champion (800)

SOFTBALL

2002 — “A” Northwest League
2002 — “A” 3rd at state

VOLLEYBALL

1997 — “A/B” Northwest League
2001 — “A” Northwest League
2002 — “A” Tri-District
2004 — “A” District

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