Northwest League | Coupeville Sports

Posts Tagged ‘Northwest League’

Wolf booters kick off new campaign

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged Aidan Wilson, boys soccer, CHS Wolves, Mount Vernon Christian, Northwest League on September 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Freshman Mason Butler shared time in goal in Coupeville’s season opener. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They’re not yet at full force.

The Coupeville High School boys soccer squad opened a new season Tuesday with a limited roster, yet still put up a good fight.

While the Wolves fell 4-0 at Mount Vernon Christian, second-year CHS head coach Robert Wood came away pleased with some of what he saw.

“Pretty good play considering the novice team, only two subs, and another five on the bench waiting for eligibility,” he said.

Thanks to a quirk in the schedule, Coupeville has plenty of time to get everyone on the roster ready before its next game.

The original home opener set for this Friday was cancelled when Cedar Park Christian begged off due to a lack of players.

That means the Wolves don’t play again until Sept. 17, when they host defending Northwest 2B/1B League champ Orcas Island.

After that, the games start coming much-quicker, with CHS currently sitting with a 15-game schedule.

Or, 16 if CPC reschedules.

Tuesday, Coupeville split time in net between junior Aidan Wilson, who patrolled the goal in the first half, and freshman Mason Butler, who got the call after halftime.

Both Wolf goalies surrendered a pair of scores.

Wood praised the work put in by his active players, with hard-charging senior Xavier Murdy “running himself into the ground” while covering every inch of the field.

The Wolf coach also offered “special consideration to Cameron Epp and Nick Guay” for stepping up and claiming the center back spots formerly held by now-graduated stars Owen Barenburg and Sam Wynn.

With plenty of time between games one and two, Wood is ready to get back to the practice field with his young, relatively-inexperienced team.

“(We’ve got) 999 things to work on,” he said. “Orcas is next week … time to practice and get more players.”

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La Conner retains Braves mascot

Posted in Everything changes, tagged Braves, La Conner, mascot, Northwest League, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community on July 28, 2021| 1 Comment »

Coupeville rival La Conner will remain the Braves after approval from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They will edit, but not erase.

The La Conner School District has received permission from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to retain use of its Braves mascot.

However, there will be some changes to the actual look of that mascot, which depicts a Plains Indian wearing a feather headdress.

La Conner High School will remove a logo of the mascot from the floor of its gym, and some posters and team uniforms will be replaced.

The move follows the passing of a state law — House Bill 1356 — banning the use of Native American names, symbols, or images in public schools.

School districts which include what is termed “Indian Country” can be exempt, if local tribes issue a resolution in support of retaining mascots already in place.

The Swinomish tribe and the La Conner school district have a long history together, dating to the early 1900’s, when tribal children began attending La Conner schools.

Current numbers from the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction list 34% of La Conner’s students as Native American.

Two of five school board members are Swinomish tribal members, while new Superintendent Will Nelson is also Native American.

While using the Braves name and logo for its sports teams, La Conner also incorporates the moniker in other ways, with the district motto being “Be brave.”

District schools have worked to keep Swinomish tribal heritage as a vital part of their curriculum, with drumming, carving, and Lushootseed language classes offered to both tribal and non-tribal students.

House Bill 1356 provides funding for school districts to make changes such as removing the current logo from the gym floor.

Going forward, the district and the tribe will work together to craft a new image which is “more appropriate to the Coast Salish people.”

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La Conner debates use of Braves name, logo

Posted in Everything changes, tagged Braves, La Conner, Native American, Northwest League, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community on June 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville’s Dominic Coffman sacks La Conner’s QB in a game this year. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

In the very near future, Coupeville may not play sports contests anymore against the La Conner Braves.

Neither school plans to leave the Northwest 2B/1B League, however.

But, the passage of House Bill 1356, signed into law by Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, “prohibits the inappropriate use of Native American names, symbols, or images as public school mascots, logos, or team names.”

The law goes into affect January 1, 2022.

Currently, 35 of 420 high schools which are members of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, including La Conner, have Native American mascots, logos, or team names.

These range from Braves and Warriors to Red Raiders, Redskins, and Red Devils.

Port Townsend High School previously changed its mascot from Redskins to RedHawks when it and Coupeville were together in the 1A Olympic League.

House Bill 1356 offers an exception to school districts like La Conner, if their enrollment boundaries include what is termed “Indian country.”

To retain mascots and branding, a district must get approval from its local tribe.

For La Conner, that’s the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and the two sides have agreed to discuss the matter and come to a mutually-beneficial understanding.

The school district and the tribe have a long history together, dating back to the early 1900’s, when Swinomish children began attending La Conner schools.

Current numbers from the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction list 34% of La Conner’s students as Native American.

Two of five school board members are Swinomish tribal members, a record number, while incoming Superintendent Will Nelson, who starts July 1, is also Native American.

While using the Braves name and logo for its sports teams, La Conner also incorporates the moniker in other ways, with the district motto being “Be brave.”

The district’s schools have worked to keep Swinomish tribal heritage as a vital part of its curriculum, with drumming, carving, and Lushootseed language classes offered to both tribal and non-tribal students.

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We’re back, and in charge

Posted in stats, tagged CHS Wolves, varsity wins, first year, Northwest League, we're #1 on June 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Thanks to athletes like Alex Murdy, Coupeville had the most varsity wins of any Northwest 2B/1B League school in 2020-2021. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

We’re #1, and it wasn’t all that close.

Pandemic or not, Coupeville High School returned to the Northwest 2B/1B League with a vengeance during the 2020-2021 school year.

The Wolves won league titles in softball and girls tennis, and lapped the field when it came time to tally up all the varsity wins across three seasons.

For this exercise, we looked only at sports Coupeville competes in, with an emphasis on ones which record team wins and losses.

So, wrestling and golf may exist at other schools, but we don’t really care, since this blog is Coupeville Sports, not the Concrete Clarion or the Darrington Tattler.

In our world, we’re looking at volleyball, football, soccer, basketball, softball, baseball, and tennis.

Track and cross country don’t have conventional team wins and losses, so they go by the sideline.

And this school year, thanks to Friday Harbor skipping fall sports, Coupeville didn’t play boys tennis.

Not that it mattered much in the varsity wins race, as even without the male netters, the Wolves finished the school year with a substantial lead.

The final results:

Varsity team wins (2020-2021):

Coupeville — 50
La Conner — 36
Mount Vernon Christian — 35
Orcas Island — 30
Friday Harbor — 21
Darrington — 12
Concrete — 7

Baseball:

Friday Harbor (9)
Coupeville (7)
Orcas (4)
Darrington (3)
MVC (1)

Boys Basketball:

Coupeville (8)
MVC (8)
Friday Harbor (7)
La Conner (6)
Orcas (5)
Darrington (2)

Boys Soccer:

Orcas (10)
MVC (4)
La Conner (3)
Coupeville (1)

Football:

La Conner (4)
Coupeville (3)
Darrington (2)

Girls Basketball:

La Conner (13)
MVC (11)
Concrete (5)
Coupeville (5)
Orcas (5)
Friday Harbor (3)

Girls Soccer:

MVC (6)
Coupeville (2)

Girls Tennis:

Coupeville (6)

Softball:

Coupeville (12)
Darrington (5)
Orcas (3)
Friday Harbor (2)

Volleyball:

La Conner (10)
Coupeville (6)
MVC (5)
Orcas (3)
Concrete (2)

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Rack the balls, freeze the standings

Posted in Basketball, standings, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, La Conner, league standings, Northwest League on June 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Daniel Olson fires off a jumper. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

We’re done.

The basketball season, and the school athletic year, came to a close Tuesday, with the La Conner girls and Mount Vernon Christian boys clinching Northwest 2B/1B League hoops titles.

Coupeville finished 4th on the girls side and 3rd in boys action, though the latter was by a razor-thin margin.

The Wolf boys (8-4) tied with MVC (8-3) for the most wins — and beat the Hurricanes twice — but finished a half-game back after MVC declined to host Orcas Island after that school requested no fans at its road games during the pandemic.

Friday Harbor, at 7-3, with a pair of one-point wins over Coupeville, edges the Wolves for second-place by having a slightly better winning percentage.

Final league standings for the pandemic-altered 2021 hoops campaign:

Northwest League boys basketball: