If you want to annoy a high school coach of sports like cross country, wrestling, tennis or swimming, there’s one sure-fire way to do it.
Call the sports they coach an “individual sport.”
It drives them nuts.
Now, we use the label “individual sport” to describe sports in which athletes can qualify for state as an individual. In “team sports” like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, you can only advance to state as a team.
That’s the distinction.
But coaches of sports like track and field, bowling, swimming dislike the label “individual sport” because they feel it minimizes the team aspect of their sports.
It’s a big selling point during their seasons.
As my college track and field coach would say: “If all of the I’s take care of their part, we will have a great season.”
In some “individual sports” teams do qualify for state in Washington. Cross country sends teams to state, as well as individuals. The same is true for gymnastics and bowling.
In other sports like track and field, wrestling and swimming, sending a full team is not practical because of the numbers involved.
But in golf, it is very practical. A golf team is just five players, the same number of a bowling team. A cross country team consists of seven athletes.
Yet, for years in this state, golf coaches willingly tossed aside the team concept when it came to their state tournaments.
Teams did not qualify for state, only individuals.
Here’s how team titles are decided in golf in this state.
Teams hope to qualify as many individuals as possible to state. But any “team” that has two or more golfers advance past the first-day cut at state can score points toward the teams title.
So you can win a state title with just two players.
There have been “teams” that have placed very high in the team standings at state despite having never won a regular-season dual match.
You need at least four players to win a dual match. So either the other two players on their team were not very good — inflating the team score — or they were nonexistent. In other words, they could not fill a full team to win a dual meet.
Yet, at state, they are among the best “teams.”
I’m sorry, but two players does not a team make.
Last year, in the 2B/1B girls tournament, only two schools were able to get two golfers into the second round and qualify for a team score.
In 2013, the Woodland girls golf team won the team title because the Beavers were the only school to get two golfers into the second round.
There has got to be a better way of determining a team title.
Well, finally, there is a proposal in front of the WIAA that could change this in the future.
Under the proposal, the fields for the 4A and 3A state tournaments would be expanded from the current 80 players to at least 112 so that full teams could advance to state.
The field would consist of the top 16 teams in the state, each consisting of five players for 80 players, plus an additional 32 individual players.
After the first round of state, the field would be cut to the top eight teams, plus top 20 individuals.
Of the five-player teams, the top four scores would be used to determine the team score.
Imagine that. A state team title being decided by an entire team.
Unfortunately, this proposal would only apply to the 4A and 3A tournaments. That’s because there aren’t enough schools in the lower classifications that are able to field a complete team.
So unfortunately, the flawed current system will continue in the 2A, 1A and 2B/1B tournaments.
At least things can be fixed in 4A and 3A, if this proposal gets adopted. And even if it is adopted, it would not be in play for state tournaments this May.
This proposal should be passed. Because remember, a team is only as strong as its weakest link — not only as strong as its second-best player.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.
