Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2009)
2009 Sports Varsity Girls' Soccer Team wins Three Rivers League G unnar W olfe _______________ The Varsity Girls' Soccer Team is undefeated for the first time in over a decade, and it's largely due to defense. The team has allowed only three goals through 11 games so far this year. They are in first place in the Three Rivers League, - and are likely to be league champions. They have not once allowed more than one goal in a game, thanks in a large part to goalie Gabby Estey, sophomore. "I just try my best and give it my all every game,"Estey sa id ." I just want to keep us in the game and always give us a chance to win." It is especially amazing that the team is doing so well, considering they are so young according to Floyd Rocker, Varsity Head Coach. The team boasts only four seniors and winning the league in an undefeated fashion has been a suprise to them. "I think this team has done so well because they are so team oriented," Rocker, who was named TRL Coach of the Year, said. As TRL Champions, the team has the number one seed going into the playoffs, Photo by Nancy Steele, Picture This Photography T he V arsity G irls’ S occer Team celeb rates after its h om e p layoff v icto ry o v er N orth M ed ford . It w as a close co n test that the Lions w on 5-4 after p en alty kicks. which will give them favorable playoff matches. Zoey Olmstead and Natalie Smith, juniors, along with Estey were named First Team All League. Lauren Prych, junior, and Madison Leek, freshman, were named to the Second Team while Rachel Nelson, junior, received Honorable Mention. "We think we can go all the way," Estey said. "We want to win the whole thing." They beat North Medford in the first round of the playoffs 5-4 after penalty kicks decided the game. They played West Salem in the second round. Boys' Soccer makes State playoffs after rocky start to season G unnar W olfe It has been a roller coaster season for the Varsity Boys' Soccer team. After a rough start, they have turned it on the second half of the season, rallying to win five of their last seven games. "We just weren't playing good soccer, we weren't playing well as a team," captain Torsten Brummel, senior, said."We finally just got tired of losing. We knew we still had a shot at the playoffs, so we just decided J ennifer S ittgn Parents have officially taken youth sports too far. They can't seem to suppress their left-over, bruised, high school egos and are taking this out on innocent, young boys. These boys have been working hard since August and a group of petty adults think they have the right to take that away from them. Now, let me give you some background information so that you too can hang your mouth open in incredulity at what grown adults can do. On Nov. 5, the Tualatin Valley Youth Football League voted 33-1 to ban all WL youth football teams from playoffs. Why, you ask? According to a press release put out by the TVYFL, "WL's violation of the rules of fair play set forth in TVYFL bylaws was found to have been substantial and warranted the removal from playoffs as clearly spelled out in league bylaws." It is no secret that kids are allowed to attend any school in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District no matter where they live, simply by filling out a form for the district. I personally know lots of people who live within Wilsonville school boundaries M idfielder Hugo Rhoads, sophom ore, struggles to control the ball against a Putnam defensemen on Oct. 27 at a home game. The Lions won 3-0 which moved them into fourth place in the Three Rivers League. to pull together and our hard work has paid off." They have outscored their opponents 17-10 in their final seven games. This has earned them a record of 6-5-1, good enough to place third in the Three Rivers League, helping their playoff chances as they will have more favorable matchups. Their first opponent is Wilson, who placed second in the Portland Interscholastic League. They are regarded as a weak team which has the benefit of being in weak division. The Lions like their chances against the Trojans. "We are just going to go play our game. Who we play doesn't matter, as long as we go out and play our best," Brummel said. A playoff win would be huge for the team after the slow starting season. With the momentum they have now, they could be a darkhorse in the playoffs. The team lost their first playoff game 0-1 in overtime on Nov. 7 at Cleveland High School, as the Wilson field was not in playable condition. than 40 "ineligible" players on their rosters. Without inviting WLYFB representatives to defend, themselves, the TVYFL _ - voted unanimously that all WLYFB teams would be banned from playoffs. It is important to note that all athletes and all teams who are linked to WLYFB were not allowed to participate in postseason play, not just the athletes who violated the waiver rule. It is also important that you know there were eight WL teams who qualified for playoffs, seven the season that they fought so hard for. The WLYFB and Wilsonville Youth Football Leagues met and discussed the situation. At no time did the president or members of the Wilsonville Youth Football League request that the TVYFL ban the teams from playoffs. The Wilsonville president sent a note to the TVYFL asking that the postseason ban be reversed. WLYFB explicitly stated that at no time did they knowingly put an ineligible player on any of their teams. prior to the decision being made and there have been multiple television news stories. West Linn Mayor Patti Galle even became involved, sending an e-mail in response to the final decision to John Percich, TVYFL commissioner. "In the big picture, kids playing ball is one small thing we can give them as they too process through what we adults are going through. To take this away from them is inconceivable. If your objective is to teach them rules, you missed the mark by a long shot. In the end, the kids suffer and you win. I hope you are all proud of yourselves," Galle said. The decision, which will affect more than 200 players, was received with outrage, but those involved seem to have taken a deep breath and moved on. We all know this is a ridiculously unfair power play that hurts no one but innocent children, but instead of being angry, let's celebrate the impressive seasons the WLYFB teams have had. "For the kids, this was a great year! We (5/6 white) are the League Champions and we don't need two more weeks of beating the same teams again to prove it," Joe Taylor, youth football coach, said. Photo by Libby Kara but attend West Linn schools and vice versa. Many have played West Linn sports since a very young age. The TVYFL has in its bylaws a restriction stating that any student who both lives and attends school outside of the WLHS boundary and wants to play youth football for West Linn must have a release waiver signed by the district in which they live. The main confusion with this is that areas which are zoned for Athey Creek Middle School and Stafford Primary School have West Linn street addresses, but because these areas lie south of the Tualatin River, they are technically in the Wilsonville High School boundary. West Linn Youth Football believed that because these .students (about 40) who lived south of the river attended "West Linn schools," they did not need to sign the waiver. The TVYFL has talked the issue over with WLYFB in the past and indicated that students living outside the WLHS boundary but attending Athey Creek and Stafford did not need to sign waivers. Earlier this month, a complaint was brought to the TVYFL alerting them to the fact that WLYFB had more mamm f Photo submitted by Chris Miller Players on the West Linn Varsity (8th grade) Gold team celebrate a win over Oregon City w hich helped them to clinch the league title. Because all W L youth football teams have been banned from playoffs, this was the team ’s last game of the season. of which would have been the number one seed. None of these little boys will have the experience of completing In the past few weeks, the media has become quite involved in the dispute. The Oregonian printed an article
