OK... First of all, congratulations go out to all of the girls honored on these lists from the Washington State Soccer Coaches Association. And because that is the most important, if you want to see my related thoughts please scroll down below them.
Lists for Eastern Washington Girls
4A All-State First Team
F - Kate Christian (Kamiakin, 12)
G - Devyn Chelin (Kamiakin, 12)
M - Hannah Whitemarsh (Kamiakin, 12)
4A All-State Second Team
M - Mya Lee (Kamiakin, 12)
D - Nicole Wertenberger (Kamiakin, 11)
4A All-State Honorable Mention
D - Addie Mitchell (Kamiakin, 11)
M - Gracie Rainsberry (Kamiakin, 12)
3A All-State First Team
F - Preslie Young (Ridgeline, 11)
D - Romy Robinson (Ridgeline, 12)
D - Liz Terrill (Mead, 12)
3A All-State Second Team
M - Quinn Mueller (Ridgeline, 9)
M - Natalie Thompson (Ridgeline, 10)
3A All-State Honorable Mention
D - Taylor Rasmussen (Ridgeline, 11)
M - Teryn Gardner (Mead, 11)
2A All-State First Team
D - Abbie Sicilia (West Valley, 12)
D - Molly Fisher (West Valley, 12)
2A All-State Second Team
G - Aubrey Lobdell (West Valley, 11)
M - Ashlyn Chase (West Valley, 10)
2A All-State Honorable Mention
D - Genesis Willis (West Valley, 11)
1A All-State First Team
M - Makayla Werner (Freeman, 12)
F - Aubrey Gregory (Freeman, 10)
F - Ella Carnahan (Deer Park, 12)
D - Gracelynn Martinson (Deer Park, 12)
1A All-State Second Team
M - Alena Cochran (Freeman, 10)
D - Rowan Mcgarity (Freeman, 10)
D - Andrea Snell (Deer Park, 12)
D - Brooklyn Dryden (Deer Park, 12)
1A All-State Honorable Mention
D - Alayna Demir (Deer Park, 10)
B All-State First Team
F - Glenna Soliday (Davenport, 9)
B All-State Second Team
D - Lena Waters (Davenport, 12)
M - Jensyn Jacobsen (Davenport, 11)
B All-State Honorable Mention
G - Lexi Cormier (Davenport, 12)
FULL LISTS - CLICK CLASSIFICATION FOR LARGE IMAGE
Class 4A - Class 3A - Class 2A - Class 1A - Class B
EDITORIAL... If ya all know me, I tend to stay a neutral figure and don't usually partake in sharing my thoughts and opinions on a public stage, but I feel I must in this situation. - WHAT A JOKE!!
As you will see in the images above for the full lists of players honored throughout the state, the WSSCA has a rather obvious disclaimer on all of the lists that states - "Note: If you are not seeing your school represented, it is due to the coach at that school not responding to email or participating in the process."
That's speak for, 'hey, a lot of coaches of top teams never replied to our email(s).' To some extent, I can relate to that frustration having done INWsn now for many years trying to get scores, info and possible Best XI picks (especially for defenders) from area coaches.
But GIMME A BREAK! I have an extensive history doing Best XI type awards going back to the turn of the century having worked at USL and doing nationwide Teams of the Week and season awards. Sometimes, you just need to be creative to fill in the gaps. Let's just list a few places the WSSCA could have grabbed some names from...
- Scoring summaries from state playoffs
- Scoring tables from the leagues
- THE ALL-LEAGUE LISTS from each league!! (they ALL do them)
Yea, the All-League lists... duh. Let's face it, the system - as I expected and learned is very much like - is probably one of those lists where the finish of the team (or round reached) dictates how many players from said school are recognized and they just put in whomever the coach recommends and filters it on down the second team and honorable mentions as needed. And if they are solely going by team finish in the state tournament, these arguably should be referred to as All-State Tournament Teams.
So if all you need are names of the top players from programs that have not replied... well, nearly every state tournament entrant is going to have 3-5 top players on their league's end of season awards and tiered to boot!
Honestly, how do they not even put every league's Most Valuable Player winners on these lists - that oughta just be automatic, which as you'll see below is shocking itself.
And it is not like they did not have time to request or research these league awards - they unveiled the All-State honors February 15 (per the Facebook page). State Finals were November 19.
November 19... Guess what? I did a little asking around and it turns out, whomever is in charge of creating these lists, did not reach out to coaches til mid-January. TWO MONTHS LATER!... And the coaches - who are fully in offseason - were only given a week to respond. Also heard that some coaches were not even contacted in past years despite their teams making the state tournament, which is prevalent in the process as noted above.
Shaking my head.
Now, I won't give 100% of the blame to the WSSCA. Coaches and league admins need to be looking out for the players they represent in their program and league with follow-ups or submissions of those league awards just in case. But the significant burden of making sure these lists are correctly representative lies upon the WSSCA... otherwise, don't do them.
When it comes down to it, these lists are abysmal. ALL THREE Offensive MVPs of the area leagues were not included... just makes you shake your head. No players from State Finalists St George's, Quarterfinalists Lakeside or Gonzaga Prep, who were perfect in league en route to a quarterfinal appearance.
I debated for two weeks on whether to share them, but at the end of the day, I figured those who were honored deserve to have their names shared once more for the fantastic seasons they had.
Hopefully, all involved do better by all the players next year (if not this spring for the boys).
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