Manley: Get ready, ‘huge realignment’ coming to South Sound high schools in 2024-25
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High school football is back
The News Tribune is visiting schools in the area and previewing local leagues as the first week of games approaches.
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Buckle up: League shakeups are coming to high schools in the South Sound next year. It’s reclassification time.
The 2023-24 school year is the final year of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) four-year classification cycle, which classifies high schools into 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, 2B and 1B, based on enrollment size. The goal is to maintain competitive balance.
Preliminary enrollment numbers from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) were sent to the WIAA over the summer. Those numbers could fluctuate between then and October, which is when the next batch of numbers will be sent. Given the continued growth of the Puget Sound region, several local schools are poised to make a jump to a larger classification during the 2024-28 cycle.
One source to me: “There will be huge realignment. Lots of movement.”
If the preliminary numbers hold up, these schools will move up next year: Enumclaw, White River, Bonney Lake, Spanaway Lake and Eatonville. Yelm is currently just below the cutoff point, but could rise above it when new numbers are released.
Enumclaw and White River are currently Class 2A, competing in the 2A South Puget Sound League, while Yelm, Bonney Lake and Spanaway Lake are 3A. Yelm competes in the 3A South Sound Conference, while Bonney Lake and Spanaway Lake compete in the 3A Pierce County League. Eatonville currently competes in the 1A Evergreen Conference.
Enumclaw and White River’s departure would leave the 2A SPSL at seven teams, likely costing the league a fourth playoff spot in future years, unless the league is able to add a couple new schools.
Bonney Lake and Spanaway Lake’s departure would leave the 3A Pierce County League with just five member schools, which seems unworkable. It would either need to add schools or potentially merge with the 3A South Sound Conference, which would be down to seven schools if Yelm moves up to 4A.
There could also be split-classification leagues, which is rarely an ideal solution. In that scenario, teams from different classifications play against each other during the regular season, then go their separate ways in the postseason, competing in district and state tournaments in their respective classifications.
It’s still too early to tell what’ll happen, but different scenarios are already swirling. Athletic directors and school administrators are already jockeying for position.
One source: “A lot will be looked at.”
There’s politics involved, too. The elephant in the room? Schools remain hesitant to partner with the Tacoma Public Schools, citing a lack of competitive sub-varsity programs. It’s what caused Gig Harbor and Peninsula to look elsewhere during the 2016-17 reclassification cycle, forming a league with mostly Thurston County schools.
Geographically, the 3A South Sound Conference is a mess, spanning from Kitsap County down to Thurston County. But competitively, then-Gig Harbor athletic director Bob Werner and current Peninsula athletic director (and football coach) Ross Filkins felt the Thurston schools were a better fit.
“There is quite a bit of travel, but in terms of the competitive balance, being able to field programs at the sub-varsity level, it’s a really good fit,” Filkins told me in 2018.
“We have good depth at the sub-varsity level,” Werner told me in 2018.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE 4A SPSL?
That’s the big question. The league — widely considered the best and deepest league in the state across all sports — is already at a healthy 10 teams. If Spanaway Lake, Bonney Lake and Yelm make the jump to 4A and need a home, they’d likely head to the 4A South Puget Sound League.
That would put the league at 13 teams and it would need to split into divisions across all its sports. The 4A SPSL already has divisions in some sports, but not in football. One 4A SPSL source told me divisions would be a good thing. Currently, 4A SPSL football programs don’t have room on their schedule for any nonleague games.
“I hate the 10-team football conference,” they said. “It’d be better for the programs that have struggled, like South Kitsap and Rogers, if they could schedule some non-league games and build their programs up.”
Maybe a new 4A conference could be born — the Central Puget Sound League, perhaps? — but the 4A SPSL athletic directors enjoy working together and are proud of their league, so splitting into a division system seems far more likely.
One thing that could throw a wrench into all of this: I’m told Thurston County superintendents want to renew old rivalries and have been pushing for an all-Thurston County League. It would have to be a split-classification league, which would remove Olympia from the 4A SPSL. Much of the 3A South Sound Conference would have to be plucked to make it happen: Timberline, North Thurston, Capital, Yelm and River Ridge.
It feels like a longshot, but if it happens, Gig Harbor, Peninsula and Central Kitsap — currently members of the 3A SSC — could be left in the cold.
WHAT’S THE TIMELINE FOR RECLASSIFICATION?
Numbers will be updated throughout the school year, but are unlikely to fluctuate much. Unless schools are sitting right on the cutoff line — like Yelm — we already have a good idea of who’s moving up in 2024-25.
Schools will be able to appeal their classification with their district, if they wish, if they have worries their programs won’t be able to be competitive, geographical concerns, etc. The appeal process ends in the winter and reclassification will be finalized in the spring.
One other change is coming: the WIAA is trying to balance the 3A and 4A classifications this time around. Currently, there are more 3A schools than 4A schools, which caused bloated 3A state tournament brackets in the 2020-24 cycle.
In May, an amendment was passed by the WIAA’s representative assembly, changing the enrollment parameters for the 3A and 4A classifications. Prior to the amendment, the parameters for 3A schools were between 900 and 1,299 students and for 4A, over 1,300 students. The new parameters are between 900 and 1,224 students for 3A and over 1,225 students for 4A.
There’s talk the parameters could use further tweaking. The WIAA doesn’t want 20-team state tournaments in Class 3A going forward. An additional decrease in the 3A threshold would almost certainly launch Yelm into Class 4A.
MOVING DOWN
The preliminary numbers have Silas High School (formerly Wilson) moving down to 2A, although Silas could opt-up to remain with the majority of the other Tacoma Public Schools (Lincoln, Mount Tahoma and Stadium) in the 3A Pierce County League. Foss currently competes in 2A.
I joked with a Tacoma-area football coach that their league should just follow the college football realignment model. Maybe add a school from Spokane, one from Ocean Shores, maybe poach a couple programs from the Tri-Cities. They could name it the B1G.
At least we haven’t gone that far off the deep end.
This story was originally published August 24, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
