For
years the Puyallup School District has allowed ninth-grade athletes a
chance to compete on high school athletic teams in some, but not all,
sports.
Ninth-grade
boys could play on high school soccer teams, for example, while girls
in the same grade were restricted to competing on junior high teams.
Similarly,
ninth-grade girls could join high school wrestling teams, but their
male classmates were only allowed to compete at the junior high level.
These
inequities will be resolved this fall when ninth graders are invited
for the first time to compete in every sport offered at Emerald Ridge,
Puyallup, and Rogers high schools.
The
school board agreed a year ago to allow ninth graders to play in all
high school sports, effective with the start of the 2014-15 athletic
season. Directors also appointed a team of junior high and high school
athletic coordinators to develop a plan of how to implement the change.
The
task force has been meeting ever since and held a series of public
forums last fall and spring to invite suggestions from the community
before submitting its recommendations to the school board in April.
The
board approved the recommendations, which address logistics such as
uniforms, transportation, an introduction of high school “C teams,” and a
first-ever junior high intramural sports program.
Transportation
One
of the key requests from community members who attended the 9-12
athletic reconfiguration public forums was to provide ninth graders with
after-school transportation to high school athletics.
The board agreed to transport ninth-grade athletes to after-school practices or games at all three comprehensive high schools.
Buses
that have historically gone to high schools empty after school to pick
up students leaving campus will now stop first at junior highs to pick
up ninth graders who need to be transported to high schools for
athletics.
“This
is much more efficient and cost effective than having an empty bus
traveling from one place to another,” said Rick Wells, director of
athletics, health, and fitness. Wells headed up the 9-12 athletic
reconfiguration task force along with Chief Equity and Achievement
Officer Gerald Denman.
Bell
schedules are also being adjusted districtwide to accommodate a series
of instructional program changes. Those changes, in turn, will also
support the 9-12 athletic reconfiguration.
Junior
high students will start and end school earlier beginning in September,
while high school students will begin and end the school day later.
This will give ample time for ninth-grade athletes to get to the high
schools on time after school for practices or games, Wells said.
Leveling the playing field
The
new 9-12 athletic configuration will, for the first time, give ninth
graders a chance to compete in high school football, volleyball,
basketball, girls cross country, girls soccer, track, and boys
wrestling.
“The
decision was based on a fundamental mandate to provide equity for ninth
graders within the district in terms of high school athletic
opportunities,” Wells said.
As
in past years, ninth graders will continue to be invited to compete at
the high school level in baseball, softball, tennis, bowling,
gymnastics, girls wrestling, water polo, swimming and diving, boys cross
country, boys soccer, and golf.
The
change brings Puyallup in line with all other school districts that
offer a 9-12 athletic configuration in the South Puget Sound League
(SPSL) South Division.

Puyallup
has been the only school district along the Interstate 5 corridor from
Oregon to Canada without a 9-12 athletic structure, Wells said.
The
school board also agreed to a onetime purchase of additional high
school athletic uniforms and equipment to accommodate incoming ninth
graders, as well as clothing and related equipment suitable for junior
high sports teams.
“C teams” and intramural sports
High school “C teams” will be created in football, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, and volleyball.
The
teams will be another option for athletic participation for athletes,
including those who do not qualify for junior varsity and varsity
sports, Wells said.
The
C teams will play other C teams in the SPSL South Division and focus on
basic developmental skills in each sport, Wells said.
“These
types of teams are often used for developing young athletes, similar to
how farm teams are used in professional baseball,” Wells said.
At
the junior highs, eighth-grade athletic programs will become the new
“varsity” teams, and seventh-grade sports teams will become a more
traditional junior varsity competitive program, Wells said.
Both
the varsity and junior varsity teams will compete against other junior
high schools in the Puyallup School District and be called the “Puyallup
Athletic League,” Wells said.
Students
in grades seven through nine who don’t play on junior varsity or
varsity teams can choose to participate in a new intramural sports
program in volleyball and girls and boys basketball. Teams will be
created at each junior high and compete against each other at that
school.