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Fall sports pushed back, not cancelled yet

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on July 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

If Ben Smith and other Wolves get to play this fall, their season will start later than normal. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Fall prep sports, if they happen in 2020, will begin later than in most previous years.

As the world deals with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Executive Board met Tuesday and made that decision.

The board opted to push the start of the high school football season until Saturday, September 5, and the start of practices for all other fall sports until Monday, Sept. 7.

The original start dates were August 19 and 24, respectively.

Coupeville’s first football game, from a schedule put together before the pandemic seized the stage, was originally to be a home game Sept. 4 against Port Townsend.

Now, in a best-case scenario, practices would begin the next day instead, with games not starting until mid to late September.

Football players need to put in 12 practices to be eligible for games, while all other athletes need 10 prior to their first contest.

But this is where a big “BUT…” comes in.

Under current WIAA guidelines, the only sports which can compete in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan are “low risk” activities such as tennis and cross country.

To play “moderate risk” sports such as basketball, soccer, and volleyball, a school will have to be in a county in Phase 4 of the four-phase plan, while the WIAA has yet to set a time frame for “high risk” sports (football and wrestling) to start competition.

Island County is currently in Phase 3, but positive cases of COVID-19 have increased in recent weeks.

Also, Washington state officials have frozen the ability for any county to move up a phase, and no county can currently apply for Phase 4.

So, while Tuesday’s announcement is a glimmer of hope, it is only that – a glimmer.

In a press release Tuesday night, the WIAA said the following:

The Board will continue to work with staff, member schools and state agencies to monitor the impact of COVID-19.

The Board plans to make its next statement concerning the start of fall sports on July 22nd following its next scheduled meeting.

In the interim, a committee of Board members, staff, and select WIAA stakeholders will work to create a fall schedule with the adjusted start dates.

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Former Falcon among state’s best senior football players

Posted in Football, tagged , , , on June 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »

South Whidbey’s Bodie Hezel runs to daylight during his senior season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Whidbey Island would have been represented in Yakima.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shut down prep sports this spring, and one of the bigger casualties was the loss of the Earl Barden Classic.

The annual all-star football game, played in Yakima, pits the top seniors in the state from the 2A, 1A, 2B, and 1B classifications.

Coupeville gridiron stars who have played in the event in previous years range from Josh Bayne to Ryan Labrador.

While the game, and surrounding festivities, were cancelled for 2020, Earl Barden officials went on Twitter Friday night to reveal what the rosters would have been for this year’s game.

While not all players had yet accepted their invitation to play before the game was shut down, the rosters in their original form give a pretty good indication of what might have been.

While Coupeville’s Sean Toomey-Stout was snubbed, Whidbey Island did get some respect with South Whidbey senior Bodie Hezel selected for the West team.

Hezel, listed as a 6-foot, 180-pound running back/receiver/defensive back, drew the attention of coaches for a senior season in which he was named the North Sound Conference Most Valuable Offensive Player.

The South end standout was also tabbed as a First-Team pick as a defensive back, helping lead the Falcons to a 6-4 record in his final go-around on the gridiron.

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Let us play, they say

Posted in Cheer, Football, Wrestling, tagged , , , , on June 23, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Under current guidelines, high school football is in danger of not returning this fall. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“I honestly don’t know about football, as we know it, happening in the fall, and I don’t think anyone else does either.”

That quote comes from someone right in the thick of things right now, a man with decades of experience in high school sports, as an athlete, coach, and administrator.

It’s a feeling shared by many, after the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association released its most detailed guidelines yet on how prep sports MIGHT start back up this fall amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While a possible path was laid out for some sports to return, things don’t look good overall, and definitely not for football, the sport which typically brings in more money to a school’s athletic budget than every other sport combined.

As stated by the WIAA:

Counties in Phase 3 of Governor Jay Inslee’s reopening plan, such as Island County, can compete in “lower risk” sports.

For Coupeville High School, we’re essentially talking about cross country.

With “moderate risk” sports such as volleyball, soccer, and basketball, a county must be in Phase 4 for games to be played.

At the moment, as coronavirus cases rise in Washington and a statewide facemask requirement goes into effect Friday, the chances of any county jumping to Phase 4 — essentially a full return to normalcy — seems like a far-off mirage.

But, even if a county does get to Phase 4, the current guidelines leave three “higher risk” sports high and dry, with no timetable for a return.

Those sports — football, wrestling, and competitive cheer — “involve close, sustained contact between participants, lack of significant protective barriers, and high probability that respiratory particles will be transmitted between participants.”

You know, just like basketball…

Anyway.

Understandably, people are frustrated, and a petition on Change.org calling on the state to include “higher risk” sports in Phase 4 of the reopening plan is picking up steam.

The petition, called Let US Play – Washingtonian’s for Athletes-End Sports Lockdown, is making a run at 800 signatures as of Tuesday night.

 

To see the petition, pop over to:

https://www.change.org/p/jay-inslee-let-us-play-washingtonian-s-for-athletes-end-sports-lockdown

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Former Wolf coach earns admin job

Posted in Everything changes, tagged , , , , , , on June 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Jon Atkins, seen during his days as Coupeville High School football coach. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Onward and upward.

After more than a decade teaching at Oak Harbor High School, and a two-year run coaching football in Coupeville, Jon Atkins has landed an administration job beginning next school year.

He’ll join Mariner High School in Everett as an Assistant Principal.

Atkins coached CHS football through the 2016 and 2017 seasons, becoming the first Wolf coach to beat South Whidbey in The Bucket game in back-to-back seasons.

During that time be bounced between schools, as he also coached girls basketball at OHHS.

An employee of the Oak Harbor School District since 2008, Atkins started as a coach, then went back to school to obtain his teaching certificate.

He’s taught in the Choices program at OHHS since the 2013-2014 school year.

Before accepting the Assistant Principal position at Mariner, Atkins earned an Educational Leadership administration certificate through Western Washington University.

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Shaws left major impact on Wolf football

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on May 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »

During his two seasons as a CHS football player, Gabe Shaw, Jr. developed into a top player on both sides of the ball. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

His dad, Wolf football coach Gabe, Sr., nabs a post-game pic with Sean and Maya Toomey-Stout. (Beth Stout photo)

Coupeville High School assistant football coach Gabe Shaw, Sr. is leaving Whidbey, as he and his family head to Florida.

Before Shaw, wife Rosmond, and sons Gabe, Jr., and Ben depart Cow Town, CHS junior Ben Smith had a few things he wanted to say.

Gabe. I gotta be real, when I first saw him in 7th grade playing, he looked like an endangered hippopotamus.

The amount of growth and maturity that this kid obtained over the years since he started playing this sport is amazing.

People really don’t see the good sides of football and they may see it as a dangerous sport.

But people like Gabe are a great example of what becoming a guy of character, integrity, and an upmost respectful kid you can be, made of doing these things with the bonding of the team and learning the game like he and everyone else did.

Gabe was always a hard worker, on and off the field.

One of the smartest kids I know.

The amount of effort he puts into anything when you speak about anyone else on the team is hard to match it up evenly with a lot of us.

Everyone works hard, but he has a different work ethic like everyone else and he strived to become better every single chance he got.

I saw him once as a boulder with no dirt on his shoulder to becoming one of the most powerful and furious lineman Coupeville has had.

I’m serious; he literally grabbed ahold of me inside of a crowd of 22 kids and tossed me eight yards forward.

Seen him literally pull a car.

Gabe was a real good friend and one of the greatest teammates I’ve had the pleasure of playing with; its gonna be a real loss to the team losing him and I’m gonna miss him dearly and I know he’s gonna do great things in Florida.

 

Coach Shaw.

He’s one of the most intelligent human beings I know.

A lot of coaches can be there as a guy who teaches you football and tries to win you championships; he did more than that.

I learned a lot about myself and got a better view on life listening to him; and everything he ever spoke to me, whether it was about football or life, I really understood it.

Was always willing to kick my ass to make me a better player and always was accepting of anyone.

There was definitely times I wish he didn’t have the pleasure of attempting to run me into the ground.

Go to the gym and go lift with him and you’ll be begging to smack any kind of taste that old man has left on his tongue. WORST decision I ever made.

In all seriousness, he loved making people great and as much as he loved coaching, it made him happier to see people succeed from when they’re at their absolute lowest or struggling.

Always believed in me and anyone else and I’m gonna miss his great attitude and everything he did for us.

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