The Port Townsend football team may have to look for a new home.
The Nisqually League denied the Class 1A school’s application to join as a football-only member recently after Christmas break.
Port Townsend Athletic Director Patrick Kane submitted an appeal to the West Central District for inclusion in the 1A Nisqually shortly thereafter and will make his case at an executive board meeting Thursday at South Kitsap High School.
A ruling from the board is expected by the end of the meeting, Kane said.
“I really don’t know [what will happen],” he said Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m going to give [the executive board] the history of where we’ve been with football in the Nisqually League, our situation, why we need to be in the Nisqually for 1A football and go from there and hope it falls in our favor.”
Port Townsend has been a football-only participant in the 1A Nisqually League the past four seasons.
During that time, the rest of the school’s sports teams have competed in the 2A-dominated Olympic League as the lone 1A member.
There had been considerable debate about Port Townsend joining the 1A Nisqually for all sports during the 2012-14 classification cycle.
In the end, however, Port Townsend School District Superintendent Gene Laes chose to keep the school in the Olympic League to avoid increased travel costs and students’ time out of class.
The 1A Nisqually will add two new members (Eatonville and Bellevue Christian) and lose one (Orting) for the upcoming two-year cycle.
That will put the league’s total football membership at an even number (8) minus Port Townsend’s inclusion.
League athletic directors denied Port Townsend’s bid to join for 2012-14, claiming its addition would create scheduling issues with an odd number of teams.
If the West Central District’s executive board agrees with the 1A Nisqually, then Port Townsend will be forced to look elsewhere to fill out its football schedule.
Among the alternatives are joining the 2A Olympic League, the 2B Sea-Tac League or going independent, none of which are viewed as favorable by Kane.
More reclassification
The Olympic League will have another 2A member next year, it just won’t be a new addition.
The WIAA approved its enrollment numbers for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years this week, and Bremerton squeezed its way into 2A.
The current 3A school made it right under the cutoff for 2A — 1,085 students for grades 10-12 — with an enrollment of 1,079.
It’s the largest figure of any 2A school and one that was recognized by the WIAA only after Bremerton appealed its original estimate of 1,173 students in December.
The appeal was based on the assertion that Bremerton’s numbers incorrectly included enrollment figures from West Sound Technical Skills Center — a Bremerton-area school which has students from all over Kitsap Peninsula.
Bremerton’s drop means the Olympic League will be made up of eight 2A schools and one 1A school (PT) during the 2012-14 reclassification cycle.
The Olympic League will have four of the 10 largest 2A schools in the state with Bremerton, Port Angeles (1,070), North Kitsap (1,004) and Olympic (1,002).
The 2A classification will have the same number of schools (64) as it has during the current 2010-12 cycle.
Class 1A will be the largest classification in the state with a total of 74 schools, 10 of which will opt up from 2B. Also included in 1A are area schools Chimacum and Forks.
The second-largest classification will be 1B, which includes Quilcene, Neah Bay, Crescent and Clallam Bay.
To view the classification numbers released by the WIAA, visit http://tinyurl.com/7p9qrh5.