West Seattle, Washington
31 Friday
West Seattle Little League had hoped this would happen as the new season begun … but the stars just didn’t align. Now, they have, and the long-awaited “snack shack” dedication date has been set. From WSLL president Mark Terao:
The day has finally come.
Along with the Seattle Parks Department, we at West Seattle Little League will perform our official dedication and ribboncutting ceremony celebrating the completion of our new concession building and storage building at Bar-S Playfield.
Please come and celebrate with us as we give a big Thank You and show our appreciation to all of the people and companies that helped this dream of over 50 years come true.
Through the help of many, we were able to construct a first-class facility that will be enjoyed by thousands of families throughout the Seattle area for years to come.
The dedication will be held at 3:00 Saturday, June 18th, at Bar-S Playfield.
WSLL has been chronicling the project – photos and more – here.
One more event happening tonight: Chief Sealth International High School‘s spring-sports banquet celebration (6 pm at the school). To accompany that event, athletic director Sam Reed has written one of his trademark season recaps, calling the season “one of the most successful” spring-sports seasons ever at Sealth – read on for the details:Read More
Even without a taste of true summer yet, you’ll want to look ahead to fall if you’re involved with – or thinking about getting involved with – the West Seattle Soccer Club. Fall registration is open now online, and they’re looking for coaches/volunteers as well as signing up players. Returning players who register by June 30th get priority placement on their former teams; after that, players go into the “general pool” for assignment on a space-available basis. Got questions? E-mail wsscboard@gmail.com if you can’t find the answers at westseattlesoccer.org.
One more to put on your radar for next Saturday: The West Seattle High School Girls’ Volleyball Team will be at the West Seattle Produce lot (10:30 am-2 pm) to wash your car. They need to raise money for new gear and fees for next season, and your donation in exchange for car-washing will be more than welcome. WSP is on Fauntleroy just south of Alaska (map); the WSHS volleyball coaches point out you can shop for produce or dine at the Beloved Mexico truck while you wait for your (shiny) car.
Two years in a row, and it starts to feel like a tradition: A late-night triumphant homecoming for the Seattle Lutheran High School baseball team, hours after winning a state-championship game. After the bus rolled up to the north-of-The-Junction school late Saturday night, it was time to gather in the gym for a prayer of thanks:
As reported here earlier, the Saints beat Warden High School in Yakima, 7-1, for the state 2B championship, which they brought home to West Seattle last year too.
(Photo added 7:02 pm, courtesy SLHS)
The score’s just in from Yakima, via Twitter: Seattle Lutheran 7, Warden 1, and the Saints win their second consecutive state baseball championship! SLHS jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and were ahead the rest of the way.
9:59 PM UPDATE: The team is expected to arrive back at the school (on the north side of SW Genesee between 42nd and 41st) between 10:30 and 11, and you’re invited to be there to cheer the champs on arrival.
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
If we told you local fans gathered in a West Seattle pub to watch a professional-sports championship game today – you might guess we were talking about the Stanley Cup. (After all, Vancouver’s in the finals.) Nope. That’s next week; this was a different cup. Soccer’s European Cup, pitting Manchester United against Barcelona, filled the Corner Pocket in The Junction at midday. The CP has for years been a hot spot for watching soccer – particularly if you are a Manchester United fan. WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen stopped by early in the game.
Fans explained to Ellen that while you can watch soccer at other Seattle pubs, for more than three years, Corner Pocket has become the headquarters for Manchester United loyalists – who sing, cheer, and otherwise raucously root for their team. Things were tied 1-1 while Ellen was there, but Barcelona eventually won, 3-1. It was a party just the same – Ellen reports one fan even brought in Manchester United cupcakes for all to enjoy, complete with individual players’ pictures:
If you want to read a UK take on how the game unfolded – here’s one we found.Manchester has won the European Cup three times previously, by the way. And their upcoming U.S. tour includes a Seattle stop – on July 20th, they’re playing the Seattle Sounders FC at Qwest Field.
(P.S. Thanks to Selena for putting this on our radar via Twitter – one of many ways to share info on what’s going on or coming up!)
Saturday afternoon in Yakima, defending state 2B baseball champs Seattle Lutheran High School will play for the title again. In the semifinals tonight, the Saints beat DeSales, 12-7, which means they’ll face the other semifinal winner, Warden, tomorrow at 4 pm. (Last year, SLHS beat Colfax to take the title.)
Here’s the summertime chance of a lifetime – a six-week trail-skating series with the Rat City Rollergirls‘ “Rain of Terror” travel team. For six Thursday nights, starting June 2nd (one week from tonight), you’ll hit area skating trails “followed by a heart-pounding off-skates workout” and then a visit to “a nearby watering hole for a refreshing beverage.” RC Rollergirl “Lucinda Pack” shared news of this tonight and says spots are still available – the trails are all around the region, from Renton to Sammamish, with an Alki session planned, all ages welcome, $80 for the entire 6-week series (orientation plus 5 skating sessions, and a T-shirt). Here’s where to sign up.
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand – that’s from the race’s start; video below, by WSB editor Tracy Record, added 1:08 pm, is the entirety of the field, off and running/walking!)
10:01 AM: The 1,234 West Seattle 5K runners/walkers/joggers are still crossing the finish line. Here are the top men and women:
MEN
1. Joe Sheeran, 53, Ellensburg, #871, 15:57 chip time
2. Kyle Smits, 32, Seattle, #879, 16:16 chip time
3. Ian McMorran, 33, #1186, 16:33 chip time
WOMEN
1. Megan Johnson, 29, Seattle, #445, 17:31 chip time
2. Mary Hanna, 49, Maple Valley, #1266, 19:02 chip time
3. Alexandra Walton, 30, Seattle, #982, 19:12 chip time
P.S. Appropriately enough for a race raising money for education (organized by the West Seattle High School PTSA) – #1 female finisher Johnson is a teacher here in West Seattle.
(added 2:13 pm) Full results will be available later here – though many checked them right after the race, at terminals inside Alki Bathhouse:
P.P.S. The race is about the people on the sidelines, too:
Lots of cheering. And other sites – people running with kids, even pets:
(added 11:03 am) Thanks to Debra Herbst for this overview from further down the race course:
If you squint at the lower-right corner, that’s Spud the fish-and-chips mascot. (added 2:20 pm) A few more photos – starting with WSHS first-year principal Ruth Medsker, thanking the participants for supporting her school:
WSB sponsor Erik LaSeur of Alki Moves, jubilant to have run the West Seattle 5K for the first time:
Kids on the run:
Congratulations to all. We are proud that WSB has been a co-sponsor of the West Seattle 5K since year one.
Postseason for many high-school sports, and tonight we checked on baseball, since it was West Seattle High School against Chief Sealth International High School. Final score: WSHS 3, Sealth 0. The Wildcats are hoping to see a good turnout for their game against Blanchet at 11 am tomorrow, Steve Cox Memorial Field in White Center (1321 SW 102nd).
Another postseason win to report from the local high-school sports scene: Chief Sealth International High School’s baseball team beat Bishop Blanchet today, 4-3. Other Chief Sealth teams have post-season games/matches this week too, as detailed on the school’s home page.
(Photo from 2010 Chief Sealth Basketball/Life Skills camp)
Registration is under way now for the 14th annual Basketball and Life Skills Camp at Chief Sealth International High School. And though it’s at a high school – it’s for second through ninth graders (the grade they’ll be entering next fall). It’s run by Sealth head boys’ basketball coach Colin Slingsby and athletic director Sam Reed, and Denny International Middle School head coach Diallo Jackson, with star player and budding coach Tre’Von Lane (a graduating Sealth senior this year) also on staff. Along with basketball, the “life skills” part of the program includes topics from goal-setting to self-discipline. There are three one-week sessions, each Monday-Friday, 9 am-4 pm daily, with those sessions starting June 27, July 11, and August 8. You can find out much more in the official brochure – download it here (PDF).
It’s playoff time for spring sports, and once again, the West Seattle High School Wildcats have won their division in fastpitch softball. Sandy Watkins shares the news (and the team photo):
West Seattle High School’s fastpitch softball team won their division this week against their rival Chief Sealth with a score of 3-2. The winning pitcher was Toni Spadoni, who struck out 14 batters. They will enter the Metro playoffs this week, with their first game on Wednesday, May 11 @ 3:30 at Riverview Playfield. The opponent is to be determined.
This is the first year for the new WSHS coaching team reported here earlier this year, head coach Jim Perkins and assistant coach Deavonnie Spadoni. (And as pointed out in comments, the team’s leadership includes assistant coach Randy Bittermann too.)
On Alki Beach, you can sit and watch the sunset … or you can play and watch the sunset! WSB contributor Stephanie Chacharon shared a scene from the season’s first Wednesday night games involving teams from Underdog Sports Leagues (WSB sponsor), which has “early summer” Monday games too.
It hasn’t received as much attention as the now-under-construction Delridge Skatepark – but Roxhill Park (south of Westwood Village) is getting a skateboarding area too, technically a “skatespot” rather than a “skatepark.” $600,000 was set aside by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy, and now the project is full speed ahead – the city is just going out with the “request for qualifications” for design work for Roxhill. (The RFQ – see it here – says it’ll be 5,000 to 8,000 square feet of skating space, with construction to start next spring.) And tomorrow, Mayor McGinn plans to announce a donation for the Roxhill project (which also is to include a renovation for the park’s play area). We’re told it involves the people behind the big-name skateboarding event that’s at KeyArena this weekend.
3:45 PM P.S.: A mayor’s-office advisory confirms it’s a donation of “funding and equipment” to be announced by the Rob Dyrdek Foundation. Dyrdek is a pro skateboarder/promoter; his foundation sponsors the Safe Spot Skate Spot program to help with urban-skatepark projects like this one.
It happened over the weekend in Interbay, but it was a big occasion for teams from both Chief Sealth International High School (above) and West Seattle High School (below):
They are making history as two of eight Seattle Public Schools high schools that have launched soccer teams for the new Seattle Public Schools Unified Soccer League in partnership with Special Olympics, which describes the international Unified Sports program as being for teams that include players “with and without intellectual disabilities,” training and playing together. On Saturday, all eight schools met for a series of round-robin games at Interbay as part of a special event dubbed The Kickoff. The games were preceded by opening ceremonies including a March to the Match. (Sealth’s band was originally scheduled to play, but it turned out that noise regulations didn’t allow that so early in the morning!) The other schools involved are Rainier Beach and Cleveland, in the “South Division” with WSHS and CSIHS, and Nathan Hale, Ballard, NOVA, and Ingraham, comprising the “North Division.” We also found the West Seattle area represented early Saturday morning by School Board president Steve Sundquist:
Joe Hampson, director of sports programs for Special Olympics Washington, explains that soccer is the pilot program for Unified Sports locally; elsewhere in the U.S., he says, basketball and golf are played too. They’re starting with soccer since it is now widely played by kids before they get to high school, it seemed like the perfect sport with which to begin. Competition for the new league continues next Saturday at Interbay.
Maybe the sunshine has you in the mood for golf. Here’s a chance to play in a month for a local cause – reservations have just gone on sale. From the Chief Sealth International High School Athletics Department, the official announcement:
– Rainier Golf and Country Club will host the first Chief Sealth Athletics Golf Tournament on June 3, 2011 with all proceeds benefiting the student-athletes at Chief Sealth International High School. Reservations for foursomes and individuals are now on sale and can be purchased here.
More after the jump:Read More
Big weekend for the West Seattle High School baseball team. Tomorrow afternoon, they play Highline High School at Safeco Field – the game is free and you’re invited, 4 pm. As a fundraiser related to the game, they’re still selling Mariners’ tickets, as noted here recently, and now they’re offering an alternative way to get them: This Sunday, 10 am-3 pm at Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor), 7901 35th SW, the team will wash your car, and for every $10 donated, you get a ticket to the M’s game for which the team’s been selling tickets, next Thursday (May 5th) vs. the Texas Rangers.
Did you get caught in the late-afternoon/early-evening downpour? If you did, this scene might not surprise you. J sent the photo as Bar-S Playfield got special attention from West Seattle Little League – with a Shop-Vac! Yes, that’s what’s in the wheelbarrow – click for a closer look. (As you might recall, the wet spring left WSLL beleaguered, so to speak – forcing the cancellation of the traditional pre-season Jamboree.) The weekend’s supposed to be nice(r), though – really!
Today we welcome a new sponsor, Underdog Sports Leagues, who would like to ask you three questions.
*Do you spend more time coming up with nicknames for your teammates than coming up with plays to run?
*Does your pre-game preparation consist of remembering where you left your glove and cleats?
*Do you remember half the lines from “Office Space” and “Caddyshack,” but often forget what your team record is?
If you’ve answered yes to any of those questions, and if you’re over 21, Underdog Sports would like to invite you to join them for any of the eight sports they offer in the Seattle area. Whether it’s kickball, dodgeball, volleyball, and/or their brand-new bocce-ball league, Underdog Sports wants you to know that they offer a place to meet people and have some fun. Here in West Seattle, Underdog offers beach-volleyball leagues starting in May at Alki. Choose from a Monday or Wednesday night league and get out in the sand for some fun. The season is six weeks long, with an additional two weeks of playoffs. The format is co-ed four’s with teams rosters up to eight people; games are one hour, and you get three matches in a night, two skill levels to choose from. Signups are online at this link – and you can use this special WSB online coupon for a discount.
In the fall, we bring it inside for some liquid sunshine at West Seattle Bowl, with 6-week bowling leagues filled with theme nights and prizes! Leagues start again in the fall when the leaves start to change.
We thank Underdog Sports Leagues for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
West Seattle was one of the stops today for a nationwide bus tour promoting a new program called Kids Bowl Free – which really is exactly what it seems. WS Bowl is among the bowling centers participating in the program offering kids two free bowling games every day this summer. Also along for the ride, pro bowler Mitch Beasley, who hails from Puyallup and is clearly excited about finding a way to get more kids involved with bowling:
West Seattle Bowl management tells us there’s plenty of room for hundreds more kids to sign up for the Kids Bowl Free program, beyond the 500 or so they have signed up already – just go to kidsbowlfree.com/wsbowl. (According to the registration page, the age limit is 15, and bowlers will still pay “standard rental rates” if you have to borrow bowling shoes.)
Remember Kellen Gearon, the West Seattle High School senior who launched a drive to collect donations for foster kids via Treehouse? He’s working on a new fundraiser – but first, words of thanks about his Treehouse project: “Thank you to everyone who so generously donated to my Drive for Foster Kids. It was a huge success. With all the community support I received I was able to collect over two large containers of clothes and items and $225 in cash donations. Treehouse will be able to better serve foster kids because of this.”
Now, he’s sent word of a chance to get a deal while helping out the WSHS baseball team, which he’s on. Once again this year, WSHS gets to play at Safeco Field – but needs to sell 1,000 tickets for an upcoming M’s game (it’s a team fundraiser too). So they’re offering $10 view seats for the May 5th 7:10 pm game against Texas. Here’s the official flyer. Kellen’s selling tickets through Menashe and Sons Jewelers in The Junction (4532 California SW) – or call 206-932-4272 and ask for Kim Gearon (Mondays-Fridays, 8:30 am-5:30 pm).
As for the Wildcats’ big game at the Safe, it’s at 4 pm Saturday, April 30th, against the Highline Pirates – and admission will be free.
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