Earlier this week, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association passed seven amendments, including the sanctioning of girls flag football as an official high school sport and an adjustment …
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Earlier this week, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association passed seven amendments, including the sanctioning of girls flag football as an official high school sport and an adjustment to the existing transfer rules.
Just one vote kept girls flag football from hitting the required 60 percent mark at the previous board meeting, but the vote passed at 62.9 percent (22 out of 35) this time around.
Black Hills and Tumwater are two of the schools that are in the midst of a pilot program, which began after the schools received a grant from the Seattle Seahawks.
The Wolves and T-Birds played just one game last spring, against each other at the end of May, when Black Hills came away with a 13-12 OT victory.
“We had great turnout and great interest,” Black Hills Athletic Director Nicole Nelson said. “I think any opportunity for any student to try something new is positive. We have lots of kids who are excited for it.”
Tumwater Athletic Director Jordan Magrath also relayed his excitement, saying that it’s a great opportunity for kids to get involved.
“The more opportunities we have for kids to participate in sports, the better,” Magrath said.
Even before the amendment passed, both schools had already planned out a bigger season. Black Hills and Tumwater will join River Ridge, North Thurston, Timberline, and Kelso in a “mini-season” that is set to begin on May 28.
On that day, Tumwater will play two games at South Sound Stadium in Lacey in Pool A, and Black Hills will play two games at Kelso Stadium in Pool B.
On May 30, all six teams will play for a spot in the championship game at Tumwater District Stadium, the same site where the 5th/6th game, 3rd/4th game, and championship game will take place on June 3.
“We were already looking forward to our spring season,” Nelson said. “Whether it passed or not, we’ll be ready to have some fun. We hope some more people will come out this spring and get to see what the excitement is about.”
Both Nelson and Magrath added that this mini-season could be a preview of what's to come, as there are preliminary talks of forming an official league to begin play next season.
“We’re still waiting on some more information,” Nelson said. “And we’ll have to decide what’s right for our schools and what’s right for our female athletes.”
Other schools, including W.F. West and Centralia, said that they’ll take feedback from students to gauge interest before exploring the possibility of adding a team.
ADs in ‘wait and see’ mode on transfer rule adjustment
An adjustment to the transfer rule resoundingly passed, earning 82.9 percent (29 out of 35) of the votes.
The new rules “adds an opportunity for students to transfer schools after initially establishing their athletic eligibility at the start of their ninth grade year.”
The WIAA’s release specifies that this additional transfer must take place during a designated transfer window, but it differs from the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s model of a “transfer portal.”
“Under the new rule, a student-athlete who transfers will be ineligible for varsity competition for 40% of the maximum number of allowable contests for sports played the previous year, as defined by each sport’s specific rules, in the school year following the transfer,” the WIAA’s release says.
Athletic directors from around the area, including Adna’s Luke Salme, are curious what will happen once the rule is officially put into place.
“I really don’t know what to think,” Salme said. “I think we all thought and saw this was gonna happen, but what’s it gonna look like?”
Salme said he understands why the WIAA came up with the decision that it did, and he’s gone back-and-forth on how many kids he thinks will be on the move.
He also said that he believes the 40 percent mark is a “good consequence” to make sure that student-athletes take the time to think through their decision.
W.F. West’s Tommy Elder agreed.
“They had to make some changes,” Elder said. “I believe that they’ve done a really nice job of coming up with something that’s different and works.
“Hopefully doesn’t turn into a college portal,” Elder continued. “Hopefully kids still get a chance to learn the culture of the school they're at, buy in, make friends, and have good experiences, cause that’s what I think it’s all about.”
Napavine’s Josh Fay said that it will be an adjustment for everybody, including the school administrators who will have the task of tracking and keeping up with transfers, and he also understands why the WIAA went forward with the move.
“The WIAA was in a tough spot,” Fay said. “This is one potential way to alleviate that, and hopefully that happens, but time will tell.”
Advisory votes on transgender policies fail
Included in the proposed amendments were two regarding transgender athletes, and neither vote hit the required 60 percent mark to pass.
One that would have limited participation in girls’ sports to biological females failed by just one vote, but if it had been passed it “would not have been implemented anyway under current State Law.”
The same stipulation applied to the other vote, which would have athletic programs offer boys, girls, and an open division for sports teams. That amendment received just 24.5 percent of the vote.
Other amendments
Five other amendments passed alongside girls flag football and the transfer rule change:
Nine amendments failed to pass, including an increase on the amount of regular season baseball, softball, and soccer games, and a rule that would have allowed baseball and softball throwing instructions to begin two weeks prior to the first practice date of the season.
