The Coupeville High School gymnasium is filled with the sweat and intense competition of prep basketball on Friday nights. On Saturday mornings, that effort and emotion change to the fun-loving play and the smiles of youth basketball.
The Coupeville Boys and Girls Club junior basketball program runs from mid-January to early March and includes 94 youngsters from kindergarten through the seventh grade.
There are 14 co-ed teams divided into four grade divisions (kindergarten-first grade, second-third, fourth-fifth and sixth-seventh).
Jamie Scharich, Boys and Girls Club unit director, said the goals of the program are for the young athletes to develop their skills, learn about good sportsmanship and have fun playing.
“I want the kids to love basketball,” Scharich said. “We’d love to say that our program helped Coupeville bring home a state championship, but, more than that, I want the kids to learn the fundamentals of the sport and learn how to be winners on and off the court.”
The players aren’t the only ones who benefit from the program.
More than 30 volunteers help coach, officiate and run the concession stand.
About 20 of these are current high school athletes, some who grew up playing youth basketball in Coupeville. They’ve come “full circle,” Scharich said.
Three members of the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball team, seniors Kacie Kiel, Julia Myers and Monica Vidoni, are among the group of volunteers.
Early one Saturday morning, Kiel and Myers came long before the team they coach was scheduled to play.
“I just like watching the little kids have fun,” Myers said.
Soon the pair was helping out by running the clock and scoreboard for one of the games.
Vidoni, a veteran of the youth league, started coaching because she “enjoys teaching.”
“I want to help them learn the basics and have a love for basketball,” she added.
The volunteer group also includes a “handful of firefighters” and “guys from the Navy” who fill in and coach and referee when needed, Scharich said.
“I have one coach (a dad of one of the players) that you can truly see he is having more fun then the kids each week,” Scharich said. “He loves being out there and playing alongside his son.
“You can also see it in the coaches that they want success for each of their players.
“I also have another coach (also a parent) that really knows nothing about basketball but is doing it to spend more time with his daughter and to create lasting memories.”
The high school coaching staffs, led by varsity boys coach Anthony Smith and varsity girls coach David King, are involved in the program.
Each Thursday evening, the CHS coaches, along with their players, offer clinics for the youth players.
“Coach Smith and coach King rotate weeks and get their whole team involved,” Scharich said. “This is something new this year. They have done an amazing job.
“The younger kids have truly loved getting one-on-one attention from the bigger kids. It has also been great for the high school coaches to help since these (the youth league players) are the kids that will be on their teams in a few years. It helps us build consistence and a cohesive program.”
In addition to the Thursday clinics, each team turns out once a week on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Middle school coach Bob Martin volunteers each week to “organize and facilitate,” Scharich said.
A group of local businesses and others also help with the program through sponsorships: Coupeville Booster Club, Coupeville Coffee & Bistro, Cascade Insurance, Red Apple Prairie Center, Cascade Custom Homes & Design, All-4-Kids, Central Whidbey Lions, DM Trucking, Tri-Essence Care, Island Facial Aesthetics and Harada Physical Therapy.
(Alysia Burdge puts defensive pressure on Harley Engle. Photo by Jim Waller.)
