Coupeville Sports

   Cedar Park Christian, one of Coupeville’s rivals in the new North Sound Conference, has a great logo, and a little football-related angina. (Logo property of CPC)

Shenanigans! Sorta.

Cedar Park Christian, which will soon be one of Coupeville’s rivals in the new 1A North Sound Conference, is in the news, and school officials probably aren’t too thrilled.

The Eagles football program is being (very lightly) rapped on the knuckles, and faces a “one-year probation” after schools in its former league, the 1A/2A Cascade Conference, raised a mini-ruckus over how the CPC junior football program was marketed.

Why the quote marks around that probation? Because, as Cameron Van Til reported Tuesday in the Everett Herald, there will be “no impact on practices, games or postseason.”

Which leaves unclear what exactly the punishment might be.

Perhaps an assistant coach has to go sit in the corner for a few hours? Someone is getting a “Wet Willie?”

Color me confused.

Anyways, the violation in question was raised by Cascade Conference Athletic Directors at a meeting in late May, and CPC self-reported itself the next day.

From the outside, it seems like a fairly minor matter, though anything involving CPC football is quick to draw attention since the Eagles hired former Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff before the 2017 season.

He won 11 class 3A state football titles at his former school, but was bounced from his position in 2016 after Bellevue was hit with charges of multiple violations of state rules.

Goncharoff went 4-6 in his first season at CPC.

So, what set off rival AD’s?

Marketing materials for the CPC junior football program, which is open to athletes from inside and outside the school, pushed the idea of it being a “K-12 program” in brochures, fliers and videos.

The brochures also included a photo of Goncharoff, while a video featured a middle school or high school-aged player.

The junior football program and the high school football program both fall under the guidance of the Cedar Park Church, but the two programs are supposed to operate separately.

Since CPC is a private school, it, like fellow league mate King’s, can accept athletes from outside its boundaries, something public schools Coupeville, Granite Falls, South Whidbey and Sultan can not.

The ability to recruit, or “offer scholarships,” or however private schools want to sugar-coat it, is a particular sticking point in the ongoing back-and-forth that keeps Washington state high school coaches, athletes and fans arguing.

And it could all be solved by splitting things up, with separate state championships for public and private schools, since they operate under separate guidelines.

Boom, you’re welcome.

Anyways…

There’s a very valid worry among many that private schools use youth programs to bring in athletes, then recruit them to stay with the school once they reach high school.

While CPC officials blame the marketing snafu on “new leadership in the junior football program” who were “gung-ho to build the program,” other AD’s preach caution.

“You’ve got to make sure that there’s a clear line (between the high school and junior programs),” Sultan AD/North Sound Conference President Scott Sifferman was quoted saying in the Herald.

“And the way that it was marketed, it really emphasized (it being) one program,” he added. “When you’re a private school and your boundaries extend beyond normal school districts, you can understand that there’s going to be concerns if something like that comes to light.”

CPC officials told the Herald the junior program has altered its marketing, and all future promotional material will be run past the high school’s athletic department before it hits the streets.

While the other four schools in the North Sound Conference are old-school rivals for Coupeville, the Wolves have never faced CPC.

The Eagles replaced Coupeville in the Cascade Conference in 2014, when CHS bounced to the Olympic League.

The two schools face off on the gridiron for the first time Oct. 19 at Juanita High School.