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