To remain in Pierce County, 4A SPSL, 3A PCL basketball teams to play on courts built at Washington State Fair
High school basketball will be played in Pierce County this spring — but not in high school gymnasiums.
Under current health and safety guidelines, Pierce County, which is now in Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan, is not permitted to host indoor sporting events at the high school level.
Since the only option for schools in the county to play boys and girls basketball this spring appeared to involve hours of travel to Phase 3 counties — such as Kitsap, Thurston or Lewis — athletic directors around the South Sound came up with a new plan to keep the athletes close to home.
Beginning next week, 10 of the 12 schools from the Class 4A South Puget Sound League and all seven schools from the 3A Pierce County League will play the bulk of their seasons on the campus of the Washington State Fair in Puyallup.
“We just want our kids to have a place to play,” said Sumner-Bonney Lake School District athletic director Tim Thomsen, who is also one of the 4A SPSL basketball commissioners.
“We’ve seen the look in their eyes — whether it’s at the (league) track meet we held here or a football game — that this means a lot to these kids.”
The idea came together last week, with plans to construct three full-size courts in the show arena on the southwest side of the campus. The arena is covered, but also open-air, which meets the requirements of competing at an outdoor facility.
“The power of community has been on display and will benefit high school basketball players as early as Wednesday,” said a Friday afternoon release from the 4A SPSL, sent jointly by Bethel School District athletic director Bryan Steleski, Puyallup School District athletic director Jim Meyerhoff, Thomsen and University Place School District athletic director Suzanne Vick.
The asphalt, provided by Looker Asphalt, that will cover the dirt floor of the arena is scheduled to be laid out Monday.
Flooring for the three courts, provided by Sport Court of Oregon in Portland and delivered by Bartelson Transport, is expected to be installed Tuesday.
The project’s funding will be covered by the schools playing at the site, though contributions from the community will help ease costs.
“In less than a week organizers toured the facility, received confirmation from The Fair, secured flooring, and created a plan to host games with both leagues,” the release says. “We continue to look for the best hoops for our athletes. This idea started with a text message and has the potential to provide memories to last a lifetime.
“None of this would have been possible without the help of the greater community. The Washington State Fair has committed to helping us get to a ‘Yes.’ Looker Asphalt has volunteered to do everything possible to prepare the subfloor for the court service. A donation of almost 24,000 square feet of Visqueen vapor barrier by HD Fowler will be laid down. Bartelson Trucking will be driving to Portland to bring back a sport court surface large enough for three basketball courts.”
4A SPSL play is currently scheduled to begin Wednesday, and 3A PCL play Thursday. Boys and girls varsity, junior varsity and C-team games will all be hosted on the courts in block schedules Monday through Saturday each week until June 12.
The 17 schools that will play on the courts include:
4A SPSL North — Bellarmine Prep, Curtis, Gig Harbor, Peninsula, South Kitsap and Sumner
4A SPSL South — Bethel, Emerald Ridge, Graham-Kapowsin, Olympia, Puyallup and Rogers
3A PCL — Bonney Lake, Lakes, Lincoln, Mount Tahoma, Spanaway Lake, Stadium and Wilson
All 4A SPSL games played against Olympia or South Kitsap will be played at those two schools’ home gyms, as they are located in counties currently in Phase 3.
Schools can also schedule additional nonleague games with opponents in Phase 3 counties, but most of the 4A SPSL schedule and all 3A PCL contests will be held at the fairgrounds as long as Pierce County remains in Phase 2. If the county moves into Phase 3 at any point during the season, schools would return to their home gyms for games.
Fans will not be able to attend games at the fairgrounds under current health and safety guidelines, but Thomsen said the leagues plan to live stream games online.
“A great deal of work remains on the smaller details to make this a reality,” the release says. “With a motivated group of athletic directors, coaches and community members our teams can be playing next week. In the end, it’s all about the students and their experience. This pandemic has had an impact on our student-athletes and the example set through this process is, if you want something bad enough, find a way to get to a ‘Yes.’ ”
This story was originally published May 7, 2021 at 1:32 PM.
