What does a move to Phase 3 mean for sports like basketball and wrestling in Washington?
Sumner High School basketball coach Jake Jackson remembers being in the Tacoma Dome the first week of March last year.
The four annual basketball tournaments taking place — Class 4A and 3A boys, and 4A and 3A girls — produced the usual excitement. Programs battled to advance, some winning in thrilling fashion.
Four champions were crowned by late in the evening on March 7 — the Mount Si boys and Central Valley girls won the 4A titles, and Garfield swept 3A — completing what was the final culminating sporting event of the school year.
The tournament played out as it usually does, but by the time the Garfield girls closed out Lake Washington just after 10 p.m. that Saturday night, being inside the Tacoma Dome felt a bit different.
The week before the state tournament, the WIAA had moved regional games away from Jackson High School, where a student had tested positive for COVID-19.
Washington state officials announced the first death from the virus at a hospital in Kirkland on the same weekend the regionals were played.
Case counts were beginning to climb in the state and across the country by the first week of March. Pierce County confirmed its first case on March 6, and three more on the final day of the tournament.
The news surrounding COVID-19 was talked about inside the Tacoma Dome that weekend, but the scope of what would eventually become a global pandemic was not yet known.
“The vibe was a little different,” Jackson said. “We knew something was coming. It was imminent. But, I don’t think anyone realized how serious it was going to be.”
Jackson’s Spartans reached the final day of the four-day tournament, earning a sixth-place trophy — the program’s best finish since 1970.
He remembers bringing a big container of hand sanitizer to the locker room for players and coaches to use during halftime and postgame. Referees were opting for elbow or fist bumps instead of shaking hands. The WIAA implemented cleaning protocols at each of its three sites in Tacoma, Spokane and Yakima throughout the weekend.
Jackson said he told his players they were lucky to have the opportunity to finish out the tournament, as events started to get shut down around the country.
“We were very blessed and thankful that we could get through it safely and that it didn’t seem like there was a spread from that event,” said Olympia coach John Kiley, whose Bears finished fourth in 4A with a win over Sumner the final day.
There was one case later connected to the tournament in Tacoma, but the situation was deemed a “low risk for those involved with the event,” a WIAA release said, because the person became symptomatic following its conclusion.
Four days after the tournament is when the sports world started to shut down. The NBA opted to suspend its season on March 11 following a positive case, and other professional leagues and college basketball tournaments were shut down as the week wore on.
High school sports in Washington were canceled in both the spring and fall. There was a time when it appeared winter sports would be the first to return, but that timeline never played out.
The WIAA announced in January fall sports would be the first to return. Later in the month, the association announced spring sports would play in the second season. Winter sports were moved to the final season, which is set to begin in late April.
Still, it was unclear whether winter sports like basketball and wrestling — which are deemed high risk because of close contact and being played indoors — would be given the go-ahead to play at all.
“I kind of held off on ordering equipment or uniforms until we knew we were going to have a season,” Jackson said. “ … It really was kind of 50-50 unknown.”
When Gov. Jay Inslee announced a statewide move to Phase 3 of Washington’s reopening plan on March 11, those two sports were finally given more clarity.
“In Phase 3 all activities will be allowed to take part in competitions; however, tournaments are still prohibited,” the WIAA wrote in a release last week. “Masks are still required for all participants, coaches, staff and spectators during practices and competitions.”
While, like fall and spring sports, basketball and wrestling will have condensed schedules, primarily facing teams in their own leagues, and there won’t be any state tournaments, participants are happy to have a season at all.
Kiley said he was thankful basketball was moved to the third season to have a better chance to play, given the vaccine rollout and potential decline in cases.
“I feel like the later (season) was going to be better for the indoor sports like us and wrestling,” he said. “I think that’s playing out well. … It’s all going the right direction. I’m really excited for the kids.”
He said he’s proud of how his players have continued to work and prepare outside of high school basketball.
“To have literally — by the time we start — a 14-month offseason, I’ve just been so proud of their grit, their consistency,” he said. “They’ve worked on their minds, their bodies, their game, skill level. I feel like we should be ready to roll when the balls are rolled out because our guys have been really diligent in terms of preparation.
“And they’ve had hope that we’re going to have a season. We’ve hopefully helped instill that. … As hard as it would be potentially not to have a state tournament and all of that, at the same time I think we’re going to look back on this year as one of a lot of resiliency and adaptability. I think we will all have grown a lot.”
Jackson said students, parents and coaches alike are thankful for the opportunity to have a chance to play.
“For the kids just to be in the gym after one year, they’re ecstatic just to be there,” Jackson said. “You can tell the appreciation in their actions is a lot greater than it’s ever been. That they appreciate their teammates — just the social presence of other humans their age.”
Jackson noted the excitement his three seniors have shown to get a final high school season. Kiley sees the same reactions in his senior class members, many of whom he’s coached since third grade.
“We’re excited to play,” Kiley said.
The presence of COVID-19 was not quite as prevalent when Mat Classic wrapped up inside the Tacoma Dome last February.
The White River girls were the South Sound’s top finisher, winning their first team title.
Hundreds of days later, the defending champions will finally have a chance to return to the mat later this spring.
“Even though there’s not going to be a state tournament and we can’t defend our title, or even a regional tournament and we can’t defend our title, it’ll be nice to get the girls on the mat and form the team again,” White River coach Jason Jackson said.
“I think it’s an all-around good thing. … As a sport, I think it will do women’s wrestling a great honor just to get back. And on top of that it leads into the national tournaments.”
Because the usual regional and state culminating events aren’t likely to happen, Jackson said many of his wrestlers, who compete for clubs and plan to wrestle in college, could use the condensed season as a warm up for national tournaments this summer.
“It might benefit quite a few girls to be able to wrestle that late in the season through the high school,” he said.
Orting coach Jody Coleman guided his program to a runner-up finish in 2A last winter, and hopes expanding meets to a more regional scale might be possible.
“From our team’s perspective, we always have one goal, and that’s to win a state title,” he said. “I hope the kids are motivated to come out.”
Regardless of what the season ends up looking like, he hopes the athletes that turn out this spring enjoy it.
“We’re excited to get the kids together,” he said. “Our group of boys is really a tight group, so it will be good for them to just bond and come together. … I hope we can make it fun for them and create some memories that are positive.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
