
Coupeville High School athletes such as Logan Martin (right) can return to action February 22 — a year-plus after COVID-19 shut down prep sports. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Sports are returning to Coupeville High School.
Thursday afternoon, on the one-year anniversary of the last time a CHS team played a game, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee announced five regions will move to Phase 2 next week in his reopening plan.
That includes the North region, which mashes Island County together with Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan.
With that move, which goes into effect Monday, Feb. 15, all seven schools in the Northwest 2B/1B League will be eligible to play athletic contests.
The NWL plans to start with spring sports — track and field, baseball, softball, and girls tennis — Feb. 22.
A six-week season will run through April 3, with fall (March 29 to May 8) and winter (May 3 to June 12) sports scheduled to follow.
Fall sports for CHS are football, volleyball, girls and boys soccer, cross country, and boys tennis, while basketball traditionally plays in the winter.
NWL Athletic Directors are working on scheduling and transportation, and expect to release schedules for spring sports next week.
At the same time, they will also address whether fans will be allowed at games.
Under current State Department of Health guidelines, athletes in all four spring sports will be required to wear masks while playing.
Cross country and gymnastics are the only sports where athletes are currently allowed to go mask-less while competing, with harriers allowed to drop masks after leaving the starting line.
Inslee’s decision to advance five regions forward means seven of the state’s eight regions will be in Phase 2 as of Feb. 15.
The only region which will remain in Phase 1 is the South Central one, which encompasses Yakima, Kittitas, Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, and Columbia counties.
To advance, a region needed to meet metrics showing a decreasing trend in COVID-19 case rates, coronavirus hospital admission rates, ICU occupancy, and positive tests for the virus.
As a state, Washington averaged 2,894 new cases per day as of Jan. 8.
That dropped to 1,327 new cases per day as of Jan. 30, according to figures from the State Department of Health.