Sports season start a "moving target"

ODESSA – Odessa High School Athletic Director Bruce Todd told The Record last week that high school volleyball and football teams were scheduled to begin a six-week season on February 1. Practice for both sports was underway, and schedules were being worked out by the athletic directors of the area schools. Junior-high football was set to begin February 8 and junior-high volleyball on February 16. Wilson Creek was to combine with Odessa for the football season, and Harrington will join Odessa for other selected sports. Spring sports (baseball, track and field) were set to begin March 15, while basketball for both boys and girls was to start May 10 and run through June 19.

At the same time, however, Todd cautioned that this start date for competitive sports is, was and has been a “moving target” since school began in September. And sure enough, no sooner had the Feb. 1 date been announced, getting young athletes all over the state pumped up to begin competing, than Inslee announced that the Puget Sound area would be the first and only region to move to Phase 2 of the governor’s re-opening plan. Legislators, citizens, school administrators and student athletes were dumbfounded with shock. The silence didn’t last long, as those affected by the announcement, including Inslee’s own supporters in some cases, began voicing their objections in the strongest terms.

So the start of competitive sports remains a moving target even as the administration struggles to find coaches for the junior-high-level teams that are hoping to be able to play. As of the most recent school board meeting, no applications had been received for junior-high girls basketball head coach, junior-high girls basketball asst. coach and junior-high boys basketball head coach.

The board has approved Alexandra Stanford as head junior-high volleyball coach; Zoe Clark as junior-high volleyball asst. coach; Sam Harder as junior-high football head coach; Larry Moffet as temporary high-school boys basketball head coach and temporary high-school girls basketball asst. coach; Travis Schuh as temporary high-school boys basketball asst. coach. Also approved was a leave of absence for Dalles Deife as boys basketball head coach and Heath Voise as junior-high boys basketball head coach.

Todd reported that a camera system for streaming the Tiger athletic contests would be delivered and installed in the high school gym next week.