Alex Murdy went to the mountain top and took Wolf Nation with him. (Sandi Murdy photo)
It begins again.
Nine months of school sports, stretching from the first day of September to the last Saturday in May, starts Friday when Coupeville High School welcomes Klahowya to town for the season-opening football game.
After that, cross country, volleyball, and a newly co-ed soccer team join the fall fun, with basketball, track and field, baseball, softball, and tennis ahead as the 2023-2024 schedule plays out.
The Wolves are coming off one of the most-successful campaigns in school history, with three academic state titles, a state championship in the long jump for Alex Murdy, and numerous big moments at crunch time.
From Jonathan Valenzuela banking in a buzzer-beating three-ball to utterly destroy La Conner’s basketball fans, to CHS girls’ cross country sending its entire team to state for the first time since the ’80s, last year can stand tall.
As with any new year, the future is wide open. Anything can happen, and often does.
The community beat back two budget-related cuts which would have been hugely negative — convincing district officials to retain Willie Smith as Athletic Director, while funding another year of Jessica Caselden as Athletic Trainer.
Wolf Nation turned bad choices by the number crunchers into positives, rallying behind two leaders who help make sports so successful in Cow Town.
We should be justifiably proud that we stood up, as a community, and insisted athletics be a priority.
Not the only priority — education is why we build schools in the first place — but something which should be appreciated for the positive impact it has on students, coaches, fans, and the community itself.
The power of sports in the lives of Coupeville’s youth is something which can be concretely proven.
Athletics keep kids in school.
And once their butt is in that chair, it gives them a reason to keep working — to stay eligible, to get to play on a Friday night (or Tuesday afternoon).
Years later, at reunions or in chance encounters, it’s rare that two alumni share memories of a chemistry test or a driver’s lesson.
Both prepared them for the world and have undeniable value.
But an overwhelming number of the memories which truly endure are sports related.
From the varsity star to the last kid on the JV bench, it’s the games, the highs and lows, the memories from practices, bus rides, and ferry trips, which remain.
I was a middle of the road tennis player at Tumwater High School, but three decades later I can still smell the gas coming off of the courts in Aberdeen, the fuzzy yellow balls turning gritty and poofy thanks to local morons and their midnight shenanigans.
Or the time I beat a particularly obnoxious foreign exchange student at the home of one of our rich-school rivals, a group of my teammates hanging on the fence, screaming objectionable words while our coach stayed at the other end of the courts, pretending not to notice.
High school tennis players weren’t as polite in the ’80s as they are today…
But anyway, it’s why I hate to see some athletes sit out a season, or drop a sport, because they feel they need to start real life too soon.
You will likely have a job for a very long time. You’re gonna drive that car and be stuck in traffic jams, for a very long time.
But the chance to play sports is briefer than you may realize.
You’re gonna be a freshman, then look back up a moment later to realize you’re holding a rose to give to your mom on Senior Night.
Enjoy the ride while you’re on it. You have 12 high school seasons – use them wisely.
And do not apologize to any whiners who try and tell you athletics are overblown, or that I should write more about chess and quantum physics on a blog called … Coupeville Sports.
Now, with all due respect, the chances any of the current Wolves getting paid to play sports as an adult is beyond remote. I’ve seen it happen once in 30+ years.
This isn’t Texas football, or Indiana basketball, or California anything.
It’s not even Tumwater football, which was, and still is, its own minor religion.
Sports in Cow Town are small-town, small-school, is-that-deer-going-to-run-on-the-field-again events, both largely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things and epically important at the same time.
It is what you make of it. So make it big and make the moment last.
Be proud to wear a Wolf uniform. Be proud to cheer.
Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not important. Because it is, for a lot of people.
Whether you’re a player, a coach, a parent, a fan, a writer or photographer, or just someone who pauses for a moment to watch a few plays over the back fence, remembering your own childhood, you are part of something bigger than just yourself.
Crank up AC/DC doing Back in Black or Thunderstruck or Jump Around when House of Pain lets loose.
You are part of Wolf Nation, and you bow down to no one!
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