Come on, South Whidbey. Give Coupeville a chance to thrash you on a far more regular basis. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
It’s time, South Whidbey, it’s time.
You may not want to hear this, but you need to think long and hard about leaving the 1A/2A Cascade Conference and joining Coupeville in the 1A Olympic League.
I know you didn’t ask for my opinion, but that has hardly ever stopped me from spouting off.
And I’m offering this advice as a friend, as someone who wants to see Falcon Nation have a fighting chance.
I want you to have plenty of opportunities to serenade fallen foes with “Drive home safely!!”
Now, of course, I don’t want to hear that tune when Coupeville is the opponent. I’m not saying that.
But I want to see South Whidbey have a fighting chance at all other moments.
A chance which would increase immeasurably if the Falcons left behind a broken league, much as the Wolves did in 2014.
This is not just about football, or your recent forfeit to Archbishop Thomas Murphy, though that certainly got me to thinking.
Playing a team whose offensive line could hold its own with a lot of college teams, at a time when you can field less than 20 players, makes no sense.
As much as the Falcon players probably hated the decision — players want to play, always — I think SWHS administrators made the right choice.
Same thing with Sultan, who at 4-0, are also forfeiting to an ATM squad which has outscored foes 170-0 (not a misprint).
I would be shocked if Granite Falls also doesn’t step aside, and you know things are way too one-sided when King’s coach even publicly admitted his team took a vote on forfeiting.
The Cascade Conference, with its crazy-quilt mix of private schools (who can offer scholarships and operate under different rules) and bigger 2A schools (Cedarcrest and, before they fled the league this year, Lakewood) is a staggering Frankenstein monster.
It’s falling apart before our eyes, and my advice to South Whidbey (again, unasked for) is to get out while the getting is good.
I know it can’t happen this school year, but the Falcons should aim to jump leagues in time to start the 2017-2018 school year in a new environment.
Follow Coupeville’s example and petition to leave District 1 and trek over to District 3.
Come make your case to the Olympic League AD’s, who would likely say yes to bumping the league to five schools.
Coupeville, Klahowya, Port Townsend and Chimacum have little to lose in welcoming refugee Falcons, and much to gain, as adding schools helps the Olympic League in increasing playoff allocations.
But, what does South Whidbey have to get out of such a move. Lots.
First, you reinstate your greatest rivalry in a meaningful manner.
Coupeville vs. South Whidbey. Cow Town vs. Hippie Land. Wolves vs. Falcons.
Nothing is sweeter for either side than beating the burg which sits 25 miles down the Island.
Always has been that way, always will be, and having the games be league affairs just ramps that back up to 100.
Financially, it’s a win-win, as the revenue sports (football, basketball, volleyball) will undoubtedly bring in bigger gates for those clashes.
What do you want? A handful of paying customers traveling here from the wilds of Sultan for a Wednesday game or a steady stream of cars surging up (or down) the Island?
Heck, you’ll get more fans from Port Townsend and Chimacum (both schools whose fans travel well and are far closer) than you will from Granite Falls or Cedar Park Christian.
So, we have rivalry and money, and to that we add a leveled playing field and increased chance at winning titles.
Join the Olympic League and you’ll be the second-biggest school (after Klahowya) in terms of student body size. That’s a huge boon.
And, by removing ATM and King’s, you instantly put yourself back in the title picture in every sport.
Winning titles is huge.
Having a realistic shot, where every day every one of your programs feels genuinely competitive, is even bigger.
In the Cascade Conference, Coupeville found itself facing schools with 400 more students and college programs masquerading as private high schools.
In the Olympic League, facing public schools much closer in size, the Wolves have won six titles in two years, stretched across four sports. And they have been competitive in EVERY sport they play.
And another note — the Cascade Conference, for all its size, doesn’t do much with tennis, which forces South Whidbey to play in a random league comprised of private school powers for one sport.
Join the Olympic League, and the Falcons go back to having their sports under the same umbrella, with Coupeville, Klahowya, Chimacum and all the 2A Olympic League schools ready to cross rackets with the well-respected Falcon netters.
But, you say, there has to be some reason to stay in the league you’re currently in. Right?
You got me there.
I’ve heard a mild complaint about the Port Townsend ferry and how that might affect travel, especially with 7 PM kickoff times for football games.
To which I say, big whoopee.
The Olympic League already deals with that by being flexible on some of its start times.
Nowhere is it written in stone that football games have to kickoff at 7.
Which is why, when Coupeville goes down, catches the Clinton ferry and travels to Silverdale to play Klahowya (comparable to South Whidbey hopping over to PT or Chimacum), the kickoff time is 5 or 5:30.
With some other sports, certain match-ups of schools have varsity play first, so that, if a team has to ankle for the ferry, you leave in the middle of the JV game.
Small ways to work around the fact we all LIVE ON AN ISLAND in the first place.
Which leaves one thing — it’s easy to stay.
Except, the league is crumbling.
Lakewood left. ATM is being shoved towards the door, as sentiment for private schools to play in their own leagues builds.
There is no better time to get out, Falcons.
Renew your greatest rivalry. Give your struggling programs a fighting chance, an opportunity to rebuild, and give your elite programs room to soar again.
Make the right choice, South Whidbey. Leave a bad relationship which no longer works and come back home.
Coupeville is here waiting for you, ready to try and kick your fanny certainly, but in the way a brother or sister would.
We should be together, Wolves and Falcons, making life miserable for Klahowya. It’s our destiny.
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