School administrators, coaches, players and fans have to agree without question the first year of Coupeville’s two-year “experiment” playing in the Class 2A/1A Cascade Conference was a disaster.

Now that the season is finally over, it’s time for folks to take a step back and examine what happened.

As I understand, the reason for moving from the old Northwest League was to cut down on travel time and expenses, and also to allow the Wolves to play against better competition.

Well, whoever came up with the idea that Coupeville should change leagues to save money and play good teams was right. The buses burned less fuel and the competition was better. Much better!

The theory behind playing against stiffer competition is it’s supposed to make your team better, but about 95 percent of the time that’s all it is — a theory.

During the year Coupeville teams with the more experienced players struggled against league opponents and the teams made up of younger players were annihilated.

Here is a statistic that might open a few eyes.

The Wolves’ combined record against Cascade League teams for the year was 13 wins, 98 losses!

The baseball, boys soccer and girls basketball teams won just one game apiece against league opponents and the girls soccer team was winless.

At many of the games I attended, I could sense fan frustration with the mounting losses and I sympathized with the coaches.

Just how many times can you say, “The kids played hard and never gave up,” when the truth was they got their heads handed to them game after game despite giving their best effort.

Unfortunately, it’s the players who are affected most in a situation like it was this year and that’s the tragic part.

You have to remember these were just kids who donned the red, black and white uniforms for the glory of CHS, not professional athletes, and getting stomped into the turf or the hardwood court begins working on the psyche after a period of time.

The result is when a team goes up against one they are capable of defeating, the game is always a tough one. Tougher than it should be and often results in yet another loss.

Having been a coach myself I have discovered kids sometimes forget how to and what it feels like to win, and that is a crying shame.

On a more individual level, good players on losing teams often do not get the recognition they deserve when it comes time to vote for all-league teams.

Who is going to be voted a first-team all-star when the team they play on has a 1-17 record?

Coupeville has one more year under the new league format and is just going to have to make the best of it.

After that, it’s time to think about evening the playing field for the Wolfpack.

One thing we all have to remember next year is never forget to support the teams. The kids deserve it and it makes losing records seem a little bit better.