By Aaron Coe
Herald Writer
MILL CREEK – Before the call came in, members of the Jackson High School baseball team had a feeling the season was over.
As they nervously waited on the Jackson baseball field, they goofed around the way teen-age boys like to do. They threw ice cubes at each other, which started an impromptu wrestling match.
“Hey, knock it off, we might actually have to play tomorrow,” Kirk Nicholson, the Timberwolves’ coach, yelled half-heartedly.
Then the phone Nicholson had borrowed from a player rang. His expression told the story.
“So we’re done?” he asked Jackson Athletic Director Steve Stearns, who was the bearer of bad news.
“OK,” he sighed, head hanging.
What Stearns called to tell Nicholson was that on Tuesday the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association upheld a decision the District I eligibility committee had made Monday.
One of Jackson’s players, who had attended Snohomish High School the past two years, was ruled ineligible. Because the student, who has attended Jackson for the entire 2001-02 school year, had played in most of Jackson’s games, a significant number of the Western Conference South Division champion’s 14 victories were forfeited.
The District I playoffs will begin today without the Timberwolves, who would have been the South’s No. 1 seed. Instead, Mountlake Terrace, Shorewood and Kamiak each moved up a spot and Edmonds-Woodway suddenly became a playoff team.
“You just saw the ending of five high school seniors’ careers,” Nicholson said. “Is that how it is supposed to end? I just wish it could have ended on the field.”
The player has always lived in the Jackson service area, but attended Snohomish High School the past two years. According to Nicholson, the player transferred to Jackson because of family and transportation issues.
The player would have been eligible to play at Snohomish, but students are required to play one year of sub-varsity athletics after transferring. Though The Herald was unable to find anything in the WIAA handbook that specifically addresses students transferring from a high school outside of his or her service area to a high school within a student’s service area, that is apparently how the rule was interpreted by the WIAA hearing officer, who was not named by the WIAA.
The student in question was granted a variance by the Snohomish School District and a release by the Everett School District prior to his freshman year. That paperwork allowed him to attend Snohomish. When he transferred to Jackson, no variance was required because he was returning to his own service area.
The District I committee or the WIAA could have granted a hardship status that would have reinstated the player’s eligibility – and Jackson’s victories. According to Bob Smithson, who is the Everett School District’s athletic director, the student never wanted to transfer to Jackson, but had to because transportation was no longer available for him to attend Snohomish.
After talking to the player, his mother and Everett School District employees, the WIAA hearing officer made a recommendation to Mike Colbrese, the WIAA executive director, who makes the final decisions about eligibility issues.
Colbrese was not available for comment. John Olson, WIAA associate executive director, said the WIAA does not comment on eligibility hearings.
Jackson players quickly picked up their gear and stormed off the field after Nicholson gave them the bad news. They hoped their teammate did not feel bad, because they did not blame him.
“We’re disappointed,” said Jason Morris, a junior. “I think we’re still Wesco champs, and we’re going to be back to fight next year.”
Nicholson said he was worried the player would blame himself. He said maybe a mistake was made and perhaps a call should have been made before the season began to make certain the player was eligible. He said he has seen players transfer throughout various schools in the past for athletic reasons. He was adamant that baseball has nothing to do with why this player – who was on the varsity team but not one of the team’s top players – is attending Jackson.
Nicholson said he discussed the player with Snohomish coach Kim Hammons at a preseason meeting and believes the Snohomish team had no problem with the transfer. Both schools have strong baseball programs. Jackson won the South Division with a 14-4 record. Snohomish finished second in the North Division and was 15-5 overall.
“We feel that based on the kid’s background, that there is a hardship,” Smithson said. “It is obvious the kid did not move for athletics. The move was made for the welfare of the child.”
Nicholson believes the team should not be punished.
“The bad thing about this is, mistakes that were made by adults are affecting children,” Nicholson said. “Maybe a mistake was made. So punish me. Punish the adults. Don’t just not let kids play. Are you telling me the reason why we won (the division) was because of this? That’s not the case. We are punishing the wrong people – the kids. Suspend me. Punish me. I can live with that.”
Smithson said the district will look deeper into transfers in the future to make sure eligibility issues are sorted out before games have to be forfeited.
For the 17 players on the Jackson baseball team, that won’t bring back the 2002 playoffs.
WIAA eligibility rules can be found on the WIAA Web site at: http://www.wiaa.com/pub/handbook/
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