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Celebrate Lanie’s lovely life

July 25, 2022 by David Svien

Lanie and Steve Kiel, forever rockin’ the gym. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

A celebration of life has been set for Lanie Kiel.

The much-loved Wolf Mom, who treated her daughter’s teammates as additional children of her own, bestowing hugs and non-stop encouragement, passed away in March after a ferocious battle with cancer.

Lanie’s soaring spirit and gentle kindness will be honored in an event set for the Coupeville Rec Hall.

The celebration will run from 4:00-8:00 PM Friday, Aug. 19.

“In true Lanie style we will honor her with a simple gathering with light refreshments, good music, and great people,” said daughter Kacie.

Attendees are asked to wear pink or Hawaiian prints.

If you have any photos, videos, or song requests for the slideshow, they can be sent to katiekiel13@gmail.com.

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Summer is for softball sluggin’

July 25, 2022 by David Svien

Teagan Calkins and her fellow Wolf diamond queens picked up a ton of experience this summer playing for a travel softball squad. (Photo courtesy Shawn Calkins)

The uniform may change, but the game remains the same.

Coming off another successful high school softball season, six Coupeville sluggers stayed on the diamond this summer, playing for the Whidbey Thunder travel team.

Allie Lucero, Taylor Brotemarkle, Madison McMillan, Teagan Calkins, Maya Lucero, and Mia Farris formed the core of the squad, which played almost every weekend in June and July.

“They had a very good and productive summer, getting in tons of extra reps with the bat and also in the field,” said CHS coach Kevin McGranahan, who played the role of fan this time around.

“The experience they gained will pay huge dividends for us next season,” he added. “And hopefully lead us to another league/district championship.”

McGranahan was in the stands in Federal Way this past weekend for the finale and came away pleased with what he witnessed.

“I got to see the work they are putting in firsthand, and it was impressive to see them leading their combined team of travel players and the overall growth they showed.”

The Wolves taking advantage of the extra work range from rising seniors (the Lucero twins) to sophomores-to-be (Brotemarkle, McMillan, Farris) and an incoming freshman (Calkins) who saw varsity playing time as an 8th grader.

Not only did the players benefit from their summer work, but they also helped inspire their high school coach.

“I took the summer off to regroup and rest a little,” McGranahan said. “But watching them play their hearts out has relit my passion for the game.”

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Young booter kicks up success

July 24, 2022 by David Svien

Chayse Van Velkinburgh rules the pitch. (Photos courtesy Dustin Van Velkinburgh)

Chayse remains on the chase.

Incoming Coupeville Middle School 6th grader Chayse Van Velkinburgh is spending a good chunk of his summer pursuing his soccer dreams.

The speedy pitch king spent this weekend playing with the 2010 Rangers FC Gold, a squad which is mainly comprised of players older than Van Velkinburgh.

The team claimed 2nd place in their division at the Crossfire Select Cup in Redmond, narrowly edged out 4-3 in the championship tilt.

Van Velkinburgh, who has been playing 9 vs 9 on a shortened field, stepped up and accepted the challenge of playing 11 vs 11 on a full soccer pitch.

He crashed home a goal, while handing out three assists from his position at left wing back.

Celebrating a strong finish at the Crossfire Challenge Cup.

Van Velkinburgh plans to go full-tilt the rest of the summer, as well.

He has a two-day camp coming up on his schedule, followed by high-level tournaments the next two weekends.

Once the calendar hits August, Van Velkinburgh will try out for the Elite Player Development Program, which is run by Washington Youth Soccer.

That program is set up to “identify and select players of the highest caliber and potential on a continuing and consistent basis, which leads to increased success at the regional and national level.”

EPD fields two teams — one from the Western half of the state, and one from the Eastern.

Tryouts are Aug. 8-10, with callbacks later in the month.

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It’s a numbers game, man

July 24, 2022 by David Svien

In 24 days, Tim Ursu and Coupeville football kick off fall practice. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Sports are all about numbers.

So, with that in mind, even though we’re still comfortably mired in the middle of the summer, we can take a few moments to crunch some digits.

I mean, what else are we going to do with our time? There are no high school, middle school, or even little league games to write about right now.

And don’t get me started on why little league has to end play so early…

Yes, yes, it’s so the teams still alive can (seemingly) devote a month or more to postseason play and allows for summer vacations to not bump up against games.

But it also means your little league season competes with spring high school sports for eyeballs, instead of staking a claim to being the only game in town.

Like I said, don’t get me started…

Back in our world of lazy, hazy number-crunching, the countdown to the return of school sports has begun — even if few people are thinking about such things.

As of today — Sunday, July 24 — here’s where we sit:

It’s 24 days until Aug. 17, which is the first day of fall practice for Washington state high school football programs.

Then we hit Aug. 22 (which is 29 days out) and all other sports — volleyball, soccer, tennis, and cross country — kick into gear with the start of practice.

Getting biblical, for a moment, the first game of the 2022-2023 school year is exactly 40 days away, with Coupeville High School football slated to travel to Silverdale Sept. 2 to face Klahowya.

Finally, Sept. 6 — a mere 44 days ahead on the calendar — brings the first home games for the Wolves, with boys and girls soccer, plus volleyball, all hosting Auburn Adventist Academy.

So now you know, and can promptly return to your lazy, hazy summer Sunday content in the knowledge that at least one of us is spending way too much time focusing on random facts and figures.

Me. I’m talking about me.

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Support Coupeville’s Class of 2023

July 21, 2022 by David Svien

Just a fraction of the high achievers in the Coupeville Class of 2023.

It could be legendary.

Coupeville High School’s Class of 2023 is currently projecting 93 graduates for next spring, which would be double the average size of recent years.

Before they get to the moment when they walk across the stage at Micky Clark Field to accept their diplomas, Wolf seniors will be at the forefront of athletics and academics at the school this coming year.

In preparation for grad week festivities, Coupeville parents are hard at work raising money to celebrate their students’ accomplishments.

Race the Reserve goes down in August, concession sales will be open at volleyball, football, basketball, and track events during the 2022-2023 school year, and the class has launched a GoFundMe.

Money raised goes to fund a drug and alcohol-free graduation night celebration for the Class of 2023.

 

To donate to the cause (and get a warm, fuzzy glow in your chest), pop over to:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/hv6pg-support-coupevilles-class-of-2023?qid=77884e59d8ad37cd254e2c4acb95c64d

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