Two sports notes from Seattle Lutheran High School:

(November 2010 photo courtesy Bil Hood)
First, belated congratulations to the SLHS soccer program for more honors following their state-championship season: In statewide voting, coach Jeff Norton (above) was chosen State Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year (2B/1B), Ashley Shaw won Player of the Year and All-State First Team selection, and Sam Depew and Natalie Pimblett were chosen for All-State Second Team.

Second – our coverage of Saturday night’s varsity basketball games with Seattle Lutheran hosting Bear Creek, ahead:Read More

If you haven’t already seen this (it’s linked from the WSB More News page) – our partners at the Seattle Times have an inspiring story today about Chief Sealth International High School‘s Tre’Von Lane, who is both varsity basketball player and freshman basketball coach. You can read Mason Kelley‘s story here.

(2009 WSGS photo shared by Jersey Jill
Whether you’re a champ or a contender – a player or a prospective board member – West Seattle Girls Softball has someplace for you. 2011 signups are under way:

Spring is just around the corner; that means West Seattle Girls Softball registration has begun. (Through) February 28th, you can sign your daughter up for this year’s season. More details can be found at www.westseattlegirlssoftball.com. The cost of registration includes a uniform for your daughter to keep and a trophy at the end of the season.

We are currently looking for new volunteers to be on the Board. Please contact our President, Shawn Herrera, for more information. We would love to have you as a volunteer. If you can make it to our next board meeting, please join us. It is February 9th, 7 pm, at the West Seattle Eagles Club on California Ave SW, next to the Post Office. Please enter through the back door.

For scholarship details please contact Shawn Herrera.

See you on the field!

Shawn’s e-mail address is wssshawnp@yahoo.com.

Final scores are in from tonight’s two high-school basketball games in West Seattle – in a #1-vs.-#2 division matchup, Chief Sealth International High School fell short after a thriller vs. Rainier Beach, 67-63 (more to come, including video); meantime, West Seattle High School lost to visiting Lakeside, 68-61.

ADDED: Notes from the Sealth-Rainier Beach game, and a video clip, after the jump:Read More

That’s the followup to the photo we published last night from Bob in North Admiral – the house that previously flew Bears and Seahawks flags side by side now has taken down the ‘Hawks flag. Though today’s 35-24 loss is disappointing (unless you’re a Bears fan!), remember that they made history by winning a playoff game despite a regular-season losing record. A few photos shared with us during the game – Shannon shared this one of a young cheerleader:

And Kelly at Muttley Crew Cuts in Admiral noted that the dogs there had the chance to watch the game too:

With the Seahawks’ season over – you could look ahead to the Mariners‘ season, opening at Oakland on April 1st (with spring training games starting 2/27) … and for an even more-local hook, the Rat City Rollergirls just skated their first 2011 bout yesterday and have the next one on February 19.

… though it won’t be open to the public (so far as we know). Bob in North Admiral shares the photo of a West Seattle home where every TD in tomorrow morning’s game will draw a cheer – from somebody. 10 am, Q13 FOX, Seahawks vs. Bears – and if you’re still deciding where to watch, we’ll have a list early tomorrow of West Seattle venues planning to open early and/or offering specials. Let us know if you’ve heard of one, or run a business that’s offering one. (Among what we’ve heard of so far – you can even get pizza for breakfast – Zeeks is delivering starting at 9 am citywide.)

ADDED SUNDAY MORNING: Places we’ve heard from (or seen via Twitter and/or Facebook) opening early (or early enough) and specifically mentioning game-viewing include: Elliott Bay Brewery, The Wing Dome (free popcorn chicken), and Talarico’s in The Junction, 9 am; Brickyard Bar-B-Q and Admiral Pub (free breakfast buffet) in Admiral, 9 am; Beveridge Place Pub in Morgan Junction (21+), 9:45 am; Christo’s on Alki (20% off game-watchers’ tickets), 10 am. And for an alternative – West 5 promises, via Twitter, a Football Widows’ Brunch: “No TVs, no bandwagon … hope we get to do it again next weekend.”

(Panorama of Bar-S fields; photo courtesy West Seattle Little League)
Now that the New Year has arrived, spring and baseball don’t seem as far away as they did just days before the old year ended. One reminder comes from West Seattle Little League, which is days away from its first of two in-person registration events. Players can register January 11th and 18th, both at West Seattle High School‘s library (3000 California SW), both 6-8:30 pm, says WSLL president Mark Terao, who shared details of what you need to bring, as well as other important league-related information – read on:Read More

From West Seattle Association of Pee Wee Baseball president Eric Olson:

Registration for Spring Baseball through the West Seattle Association of Pee Wee Baseball opened January 2nd and will continue through February 17th.

You can register today or find more information at www.westseattlepeewee.com. This season marks our 54th year servicing the greater West Seattle region, providing baseball for children between the ages of 5 and 10 through our Shetland (t-ball), Pinto and Mustang Divisions. WSAPWB is a member of PONY Baseball and operates under their rules and guidelines. All WSAPWB games are played at our four diamond field adjacent to Riverview Playfield in the Highland Park area.

Last season we had over 350 kids playing in our 3 divisions. As part of the PONY organization, our goal is to teach fundamentals of baseball, instill the values of good sportsmanship and fair play, and build a sense of community amongst all those that participate in the League. Our practices start the first week of March and the season ends in mid-June.

After three public meetings, official activity on the planned driving range at West Seattle Golf Course is in a lull, according to Seattle Parks’ Garrett Farrell. But local golfers are ramping up their concerns about the most recent proposal (unveiled at the third meeting), which would lead to changes on three holes of the course itself. First, the official update from Farrell:

Parks is evaluating the community feedback to date while gathering better detail on the proposed range and how it fits the site.

A ball trespass study to determine how much netting is required and other pieces that help evaluate costs have arrived in the past month.

I anticipate being back out in front of the community in early 2011 with an update on status.

Now, the latest on concerns. A new “Save West Seattle Golf Course” Facebook page has been set up, urging people concerned about the latest version of the driving-range proposal to contact City Councilmembers and other city leaders. The site includes a version of an open letter sent to WSB by Kurt Niedermeier, who is a member of the West Seattle Golf Club Board, though he stresses his letter is not an official statement on behalf of the board – read on:Read More

(Sunday photo of the 13th, from the tee, courtesy of Paul)
Not surprising that when you have a golf course along a creek, you’re going to have a little excess water now and then, but yesterday was “excess” enough to force the West Seattle Golf Course to close for the day (as shown in our ongoing storm coverage). We checked this morning with Seattle Parks, and spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad tells us the golf course is OPEN today. (First tee time of the day this time of year, according to the golf course website, is 7:45 am.) She says the course is “playable, but soggy. And they have some work to do to restore some areas that eroded with the water.”

10:17 AM UPDATE: New information from Hammerstad: “We are not allowing the golf carts at West Seattle Golf Course today. The erosion on the paths is quite bad in places. We don’t want to risk a cart tipping over and injuring somebody. We’re hoping to get crushed rock and stone at the course tomorrow to begin repairs.”

(Photo by Matt Lawrence; pictured are – Lying: Sami MacKenzie and Danielle Nielsen. Kneeling: Gabby Rivera, Kelsey Klapperich, Jaqueline Andrade, Nicole Roed, Xiu Xiu Bunting, Abby Tuthill, and Meghan Foulk. Standing: Malea Rudolph, Katy Gillingham, Erin Castillo, Charli Elliott, Ali Campagnaro, Annalisa Ursino, Julia Nark, Talia Lawrence, and Coach MacKenzie)
The West Seattle Soccer Club is proudly sharing the news tonight that one two of its three teams who made it into the statewide Recreational Cup finals (as noted here a week ago) won championships. First, from Cori Roed:

The WSSC West Side Cheetahs, coached by John Mackenzie, played the Harbor Thunder (Aberdeen) to a 3-0 final score, becoming the best Girls U-14 Rec Soccer Team in Washington State for 2010. Way to go, Cheetahs!

(added Monday afternoon) More details from coach MacKenzie:

Playing Sunday at Starfire in Tukwila in a torrential downpour, the Cheetahs got off to a quick start by scoring a goal in the first minute of the game. “We had talked about our slow starts in previous games and how we would really need to get a goal early to put the pressure on them, I guess they took it to heart,” said Coach MacKenzie. The Thunder never really challenged after that. The Cheetahs led 2-0 at half, then scored another goal in the 2nd half to ice the game.

The Cheetahs tore through district and regional play to get to the State Championship game by winning 8 straight games. They scored 21 goals and only allowed 1 during that streak. The team is built around a tough and gritty defense, a fearless goaltender, a smart and physical midfield, and lightning-fast, unselfish forwards.

Several of the girls were on the team that lost 2 years ago in a double overtime shootout game played in 17 degree weather on a snow covered field. They all vowed they were not going to let that happen again.

The Cheetahs players and coaches would like to thank all of the fans for their support especially considering the weather.

The BU-11 Crush and BU-19 Sambas also were in state finals games this weekend, all played at Starfire.

(Photo added Monday morning, courtesy Eric and Jenny Freeman)
ADDED 10:44 PM: WSSC president Bill Fry reports in comments that the Crush also emerged victorious:

We are happy to report that the BU-11 West Seattle Crush coached by Jason Woodward and David Douglas are also STATE CHAMPIONS!! They won the BU-11 final 2-1 on Saturday morning.

The BU-19 Sambas fell just short of the prize today, but they have clinched first place in their division and have a perfect 11-0 record in league play – with just one match remaining.

We are very proud of our players and their wonderful supporters!