The landscape of high school sports in Washington is receiving a shake up at the conclusion of the school year to create more balance in the number of schools classified as 3A or 4A. Yelm is included in that mix.
Due to higher enrollment numbers at Yelm High School, the Tornados will likely join the 4A South Puget Sound League classification for the 2024-25 season and beyond.
According to Yelm’s Athletic Director Rob Hill, Yelm received an invitation to join the South Puget Sound League in the 4A classification. The move to the SPSL would create a 12- or 13- team league, depending on whether or not Stadium High School classifies as 3A or 4A. The league itself could be split into two divisions and would potentially include Puyallup, Sumner, South Kitsap, Bonney Lake, Curtis and possibly Stadium in the north division. The south division could include Yelm, Graham-Kapowsin, Bethel, Spanaway Lake, Olympia, Emerald Ridge and Rogers.
“We have no other choice. We’re not even close to entertaining trying to appeal. Right now, 4A is any school that is 1,200 (students) or larger, grades nine through 11. We’re not even counting the senior class,” Hill said. “We are number 44 on the list of 61 total schools. We’re not quite in the middle, but we’re up the chart. We will be 4A.”
Hill noted Chiawana High School sits atop the list of enrollment students with 2,300, excluding seniors. Yelm’s enrollment, excluding the senior class, is currently at 1,260 students.
“The town keeps growing. There is no other way to go about this. We’re getting bigger. Look at all the new homes and apartments,” Hill said. “Our application is in. They invited us, our application is in, but nothing is official yet.”
If the SPSL does accept Yelm, the Tornados’ travel for league competition would be drastically shorter. Currently, in the South Sound Conference, the Tornados have three league opponents residing across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, creating roundtrip travels of 86 miles (Peninsula High School), 78 miles (Gig Harbor High School) and 130 miles (Central Kitsap High School), according to Google Maps. If the Tornados join the SPSL, their furthest travel to conference opponents would be to South Hill.
“We’ll have new opponents, new schools to play against,” Hill said. “We’ll also try to keep our ties in non-league competition with our Thurston County schools. Timberline and Thurston are natural rivalries. Some of those schools have already reached out and said if we’re leaving, they’d like to keep those rivalries.”
Yelm’s move to the 4A will be effective in the fall at the start of the 2024-25 school year. Hill said the SPSL and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association will ultimately decide whether the Tornados join the league or not.
“There really isn’t another viable option at 4A for us,” Hill said. “It’s new, and it’s an unknown. We’ll see how this goes.”
The deadline to submit an appeal to opt up or down in classification was Dec. 22, with appeal paperwork due Jan. 5. Classification appeals will officially be considered on Jan. 18-19. The WIAA executive board will set final enrollment thresholds and approve classifications at that time.
The new league alignment period is already in effect and will be until August.
“SPSL actually invited us. There’s nothing official yet,” Hill said. “There still might be a few schools that are appealing, but official word hasn’t come down yet. You don’t want to be appealing and trying to get in this league and that league and be left out in the cold. You don’t want to be a last-minute invite.”
Hill said his first meeting related to the SPSL decision is on Jan. 23.
