By Ray Hamill — The H-DNL isn’t the only local high school league gearing up for a big year in sports.
For the second straight year, the Coast League will compete in six different sports with eyes on continued expansion in the coming years.
The local league, which includes charter schools from around the county, will kick off the new school year with a pair of events in early September, with the league-opening cross country races getting the action under way at College of the Redwoods on Sept. 10, followed by the first disc golf event of the year the following day.
“This is the second year we’ve had this many sports,” said Eureka Community Schools Athletic Director Jason Maguire, who also serves as the Coast League commissioner. “We’re trying to build it so the league is sustainable.”
So far so good for a league that has grown in leaps and bounds over the past four years, and one that has seen the number of sports it competes in go from one (basketball) to six in that time.
And that’s not all.
This year the Coast League schools will compete in an end-of-season tournament in volleyball in December for the first time, with plans to add a futsal tournament as soon as next year.
There’s also talk of adding two more sports in the near future, E-games and flag football.
“We get more and more athletes every year,” Maguire said. “And everybody’s excited about continuing to give all these opportunities to these athletes that wouldn’t have them otherwise.”
The Coast League fall season will include boys and girls cross country and volleyball, followed by basketball and futsal in the winter and track and field in the spring.
In addition, the league will hold two disc golf seasons, one in the fall ad one in the spring, with the action taking place at the Manila Bay Disc Golf Course.
Last year was the first for the league in the sport and featured a special visitor who flew to Humboldt County to put on a clinic for the Coast League disc golfers.
World Junior champion Kayla Hess traveled from Pennsylvania to put on the clinic, which was one of the highlights of the year for the league athletes.
Last year was a good one for many of the league athletes and for one league school in particular.
Alder Grove Charter School “dominated,” according to Maguire, and took home championships in cross country and track and field.
Six Rivers Charter School is the reigning league basketball champion.
The league schools include Academy of the Redwoods, Alder Grove Charter School, Eel River Community School, Eureka Community School, Laurel Tree Charter School, Northern United Charter School, Redwood Coast Montessori, Six Rivers Charter School and Zoe Barnum High School.
