Sunday was a fun day.
It’s an annual rite of passage for me.
It’s the Sunday before the start of the girls soccer state tournaments. And it’s the day when I have to pepper local athletic director and coaches with the question: “Where and when will you be playing your first-round match?”
And in many cases, they will answer back: “We don’t know yet.”
You see, here is how it works.
On Saturday, girls soccer teams across the state are winning berths to state and/or playing for their seeding position into the state bracket.
After that is resolved, schools that are slated to host first-round games have to find a WIAA-approved venue to play the match (no sloppy, grass fields, please).
Once a venue has been secured, next the host school must contact the opponent and ask what day and/or time works for them.
All of this often needs to happen on a Sunday, and many administrators around the state don’t like to work on a Sunday. Well, apart from NFL players and the clergy, who does?
So often, many questions go unanswered.
But we have some answers, which we’ll share here.
In the Class 4A state soccer tournament, two locals teams – Camas and Union – advanced. Union will play at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Henry Jackson of Everett at Everett Memorial Stadium. Camas will be home at Doc Harris Stadium against Kamiak of Mukilteo at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
In Class 3A, Prairie and Mountain View have advanced. Mountain View will make the long trek to Kennewick to face Southridge at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Prairie will host Shorecrest of Shoreline on Tuesday or Wednesday at Prairie High or McKenzie Stadium. Stay tuned.
The schedule is mostly set for our local teams in the 2A state tournament. Columbia River will face Olympic of Bremerton at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Kiggins Bowl. Ridgefield travels to play White River of Buckley at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Orting Stadium. This game time is tentative.
And in Class 1A, King’s Way Christian will host Meridian of Bellingham at 6 p.m. Tuesday at King’s Way.
Other questions will be answered Monday morning.
Football
Four Clark County teams are headed to their respective state tournaments after surviving Week 10 games. We’ve got all those game times locked down.
In 4A, Camas will host Graham-Kapowsin at 7 p.m. Friday at Doc Harris Stadium. Get there early. This should be a great game.
You’ll have to travel a while for another solid 4A matchup as Skyview heads to Pasco to take on Chiawana at 3 p.m. Saturday at Edgar Brown Stadium.
In 3A, Mountain View returns to McKenzie Stadium to face Peninsula of Gig Harbor at 7 p.m. Saturday.
And in 1A, La Center takes on Port Townsend at 7 p.m. Friday at Woodland High School.
Volleyball
Four local volleyball teams are heading to state this week.
Prairie will head to the Toyota Center in Kennewick for the 3A state tournament. The Falcons open against Lakeside of Seattle at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
The trip will be much shorter for Ridgefield and Woodland in the 2A state tournament at St. Martin’s University in Lacey, which opens on Friday. Woodland opens against North Kitsap of Poulsbo at 11 a.m., while Ridgefield meets Bellingham at 1 p.m.
La Center heads to the Yakima SunDome for the 1A state tournament, where the Wildcats will get an early start on Friday. La Center plays South Whidbey of Langley at 8 a.m.
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.
