From the Athletic Director
Strength & Conditioning Update
Team News
BUF Nationals Fundraiser
Thanks for a Great Year!
ABC FAQ
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May 28: Fall Sports Paperwork Accepted
Jun 11: Senior Awards Night
Jun 10: Beaver Nation Athletic Awards
Jun 17: Graduation
Jun: 27: Last Day of School
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From the Athletic Director
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Hello Beaver Fans!
What an exciting spring sport season with lots of action and exciting performances by all of our student athletes – it truly has been fun to be a part of!
- Boys’ soccer had a great season, barely missing the state tournament after a tough 2-1 loss to Interlake last week without leading scorer and Metro League MVP Jake Allmon who had to miss the game due to injury.
- Baseball had a stellar season finishing third in Metro and our tennis players battled all season long against the best competition in the state.
- Girls’ Lacrosse qualified for the state playoffs for the second year in a row and as I’m writing this, Boys’ Lacrosse is still alive – they will face a tough Mercer Island team tonight in the state playoffs.
- Track and Field has had had some great performances as well – 29 athletes will be competing at the District tournament and don’t be surprised to see a good number of those move on to state next week!
Out of all of the events this spring, the highlight for me by far was the opportunity to participate in the 101 scholar athlete awards at the Washington Athletic Club May 16
th
. The 101 club, as it is called, was formed over 86 years ago for the purpose of supporting amateur athletics in Seattle. This year each school in the Metro league recognized three male and three female student athletes for their hard work and dedication on the field/track/court and in the classroom. I had the opportunity to present awards to six student athletes who have made the Beaver Nation very proud:
Soccer Coach Mark McAlexander said of
Graeme Hooper
, “He’s all about hard work. He never complains, he never backs down, he never asks for a sub. He plays selflessly but also has the courage to come up big when his team needs him to. He is a self-sustaining engine!” In addition to two varsity letters in soccer, Graeme also earned three letters in golf while at Ballard, serving as captain his senior year. In the classroom, he’s been phenomenal earning over a 3.9 GPA and plans to study engineering at University of Washington.
Coach Neal Howard said of
Samantha Smith
, “as a 4 year varsity runner, she had one of the most successful BHS cross country careers in school history. She had competed at state all 4 years, of which the girl’s team placed in the top 10 each year. Since the start of her sophomore year she has been the leader of the BHS girl’s cross country program, and her leadership has directly impacted the success of the program.” In addition to running she’s also a talented basketball player, a sport in which she lettered all four years in. In the classroom she’s no slouch either, earning a 3.99 GPA. She plans to run Cross Country and track at Willamette University.
Gymnastics Coach Stephanie Gundell said of
Celyn Stermer
: “She came in with a lot of talent along with an openness to try anything that was asked of her, and continuously proved that just because you're the "star" doesn't mean you're above anyone else. She was voted captain by her teammates after only one season and spent her junior and senior years leading the team through her words and her actions. She has high standards for herself, paired with an inner confidence, which is a powerful combination.”
Celyn lettered three years and led her team to 4th place finishes at State her junior and senior years. She made the State Finals on vault all three of her years, and ended her senior season at State with her highest all around score ever and highest all around placement. In track, she excelled as well lettering three years. Her junior year she sprung off of that success and continued to excel, placing 3
rd
in state in the 4x100 m and 4x200 m relays, and placing 2
nd
in state in the Pole vault behind the state record holder.
In the classroom she stood out as well – currently holding over a 3.9 CUM GPA. Next year she will pole vault at Colorado Sate University.
Coach Howard said of
Sophia Drezner
: “she has been a member of the BHS track team for the last two years. As a track athlete she has dabbled in both longer and shorter distances. There has not been an athlete more enthusiastic and willing to participate and push herself. She is a great competitor and does not fail to support her teammates in their success. “ In addition to track, she has been accomplished soccer player, serving as team captain the past two seasons, earning three varsity letters and all league her junior year.
In addition to athletics, she’s heavily involved in activities around school. She has been in ASB for a year, National Honor Society for three years and Link Crew for two. She’s also done a lot of volunteering with medical organizations such as Nick of Time and the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. In the classroom, she also excels with over a 3.9 GPA. She plans to attend Scripps University in the Fall and plans to play soccer. She has expressed an interest in entering the medical field
Wrestling Coach Jared Daniels said of
Jeremy Miyake
: “he came into the sport having never been on the mat. He quickly caught on and made it to the state tournament all 4 years and getting close to a medal 2 of those years. This is remarkable for a high school wrestler and shows how intelligent this young man is to adapt and succeed in a thing that he has never tried before. I have no doubt that whatever he decides to do in life he will see nothing but success.” As an accomplished wrestler over the last four years Jeremy earned four varsity letters. He was a captain his sophomore, junior and senior season, took third in Metro his freshman year, 2
nd
his sophomore and junior years and won the metro title his senior year. He also qualified for state all four years.
In cross country, earned three varsity letters and four varsity letters in track and field. In the classroom he also shines – with over a 3.9 GPA He plans to attend Cal Poly next year.
Head Football Coach Ross Humphries said of
Alec Sigmar
,“He is a culture trailblazer for Ballard Athletics. He is a fierce competitor with a blue-collar work ethic. he has been a coachable player who puts the best interest of the team over his own. I am incredibly proud to have had the opportunity to coach him the last three years!” During his four years at Ballard, Alec earned a total of 10 varsity letters. In wrestling, he was a four year varsity captain, metro champion as a senior and runner up as a junior. He also qualified for state three years and was the 3A 160 pound academic state champion. In football, Alec earned three varsity letters and three in baseball. Alec’s work ethic has paid off in the classroom as well where he has earned over a 3.9 GPA. He plans to attend Colorado State next year where he will study chemistry.
I’m sure everyone would agree this group would make anyone proud. For me as our AD and a former Ballard student athlete, this was especially true as I announced those names that afternoon. Another great day to be a Beaver!
Eric Ensign
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Strength & Conditioning Update
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Spring sports has come to an exciting end, as track and boys lacrosse fight on! The season came and went very quickly, both our lax teams, boys soccer, track, baseball and track all participated in in-season lift! By far the largest group we’ve had participate in, in-season lifting. Big thanks to all the parents and students who put in the work to get there, adding two hours or even one to an already busy week is a big commitment! So I appreciate the time and trust!
Going forward we’re still open 7-8 M-W and T/Th!
Next week on the 21st Girls Basketball will be coming from 3:50-4:50 on T/TH. There’s been a small group of Volleyball players training at the same time for the past month and a half and have been doing a really good job! I think this is an awesome opportunity for any other girls sports teams to join us! It can be an intimidating environment and I’ve found getting all girls together and training is the best as far as sustainability is concerned!
Please feel free to email me with any questions, I also share a lot of information via Instagram.
Thanks for your support!
-Coach Colin Matthiesen
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Ballard Cheerleading has enjoyed a little bit of time off this Spring and is now back to the grind after a successful tryout in April. We have a total of 29 athletes in the program for the 2019-2020 season and are looking forward to the upcoming Moving Up Assembly and UCA Master's Camp in late June at Great Wolf Lodge. This summer we will be focusing on gearing up for Football sidelines, learning new skills and choreography for competition season and some quintessential team bonding.
The Ballard Cheerleading coaching staff is excited to be attending the Washington State Cheer Coaches Conference on June 1st where Samantha Burnstead is 1 of 4 Finalists for "
Coach of the Year."
Cassie Buchholz & Christa Dakers are also Finalists for the
Rising Star
award. We are so proud and grateful to be recognized and eager to learn from all the outstanding speakers and coaches over the weekend.
As usual, you can keep up with our team on Instagram
@ballardcheer
!
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Spring practices start May 28th! Our players have done a great job competing in other sports, working out together in the weight room, and attending our study hall sessions! That being said we can’t wait to get back on the field together!
We are very excited to present our 2019 regular season schedule! This season we have two new opponents; week 3 against Rainier Beach and week 8 versus Bainbridge.
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We also have a youth camp (rising 2nd-8th graders) and an incoming Freshman camp this July! Please help us spread the word by sending our flyer out to interested families -- just click the image to download!
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If you haven’t already, follow us on Facebook (
Ballard Beaver Football
), Twitter (
@BallardHSPride
), and Instagram (
@ballardbeaverfootball
). Ballard Pride!
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Girls Lacrosse just wrapped up a very successful 2019 spring season!
After losing their first two games, the JV team finished with a record of 7-4, and made great strides in play over the course of the season. Varsity finished the regular season with a record of 7-4-1, and a #11 ranking in the state, which qualified the team for the State Playoffs for the second consecutive season!
In the first round of playoffs, the #11 ranked Varsity team upset the #6 ranked Seattle Prep by a score of 15-11. In the state quarterfinals, Ballard lost to Lakeside by a score of 7 to 15, to end the 2019 season. Congratulations to all players on a great season! And congratulations to Maisie Clark, Emma Bergeron, Rachel Howell, and Sam Simpson for being named to the Metro All-Conference team!
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Boys Soccer finished out their season, with Varsity taking 4th in the Metro Tournament. Co-Captain Jake Allmon was named the Metro League MVP with 18 goals, while Pierluca Carnovale and Kiernan Smith made all All-Metro 2nd Team. Angus MacDonald, Graeme Cooper, Dayton Westmark and Drew Hartz were all Honorable Mentions.
The JV team had an undefeated season, finishing in 2nd place while the combined JVC team ended the season in 1st place! We are proud of all three teams and look forward to a bright future!
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Winter Coed
Out Varsity Coed team participated in the annual Spring Reign Tournament in April which is the largest Youth Coed Ultimate tournament in the world, held in our own Burlington, WA and organized by
DiscNW.org
which is our local Seattle based Ultimate organization. More info about that tournament here -
https://www.discnw.org/spring-reign-information
Our team came in 5th place overall and won the Spirit of the Game award for the High School A Division which was quite an honor.
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Girls Season
The BUF Girls season is just wrapping up playoffs in the SPS division. Additionally, our girls had a great showing at the Seattle Invite and even though they came in 5th place, they were actually 1 point away from making the championship bracket. But the next day they ran the table to take the 5th place spot in the tournament. As a result,
the Ballard Girls are now ranked nationally as the 15th best girls team by
Ultiworld magazine
. 8 of the top 25 girls teams are Seattle based teams.
Nationals
Given the ranking of the girls team and their performance this season, they have been invited to play in the 2019 National Invite Tournament this year! That tournament takes place June 7th and 8th in the Chicago area and we are very pleased to be sending our girls to participate in that tournament this year. We are raising funds for the girls and if you are so moved, you can donate to their cause here -
http://alturl.com/dkqpo
More information on the National Invite can be found here:
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Help Send Ballard Girls Ultimate to Nationals!
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The BHS Athletic Booster Club is proud to support BUF in their effort to get to Nationals, and we will be matching $500 worth of donations to their
GoFundMe campaign. Please consider donating to help these hard-working student athletes represent Ballard at the
National Invite Tournament!
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Thanks for a Great Year, Beaver Fans!
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Dear Beaver Nation Families, Coaches, and Athletes,
As we transition into the final events of the spring season and the end of another school year, I realize the most important goal we achieved as a team was not the fastest sprint times, the number of victories or points scored, but the love and support for our student athletes from our entire community. We all benefit from passionate parents, dedicated coaches and community, each supporting our mission statement and commitment to all student athletes at Ballard High School.
We are in the process of change and renewal with the hiring of a girl’s basketball coach, swim coach and search for a girl’s head soccer coach. We have several long term team parent representatives transitioning to the next phase of their lives as well. These dedicated parents have already insured the future of their programs by encouraging a new generation of parent representatives to be proactive and start the planning process for a successful 2019-2020 school year. If you’d like to join this group of new parent representatives and new coaches to learn about the resources available for your teams, please attend our informal informational meeting on Monday June, 3 at 6:00pm in the 2nd floor staff lounge at BHS.
It takes a village to raise a child and I’m very grateful to be a part of the Ballard High School Village. I’m very thankful for the continued support from the members of our ABC Board, their dedication to excellence and for having the vision to see and plan for the future of all student athletes at BHS. If you’d like to join the BHS Athletic Booster Club or would like to hear about our open board positions please contact me
bhsabcvicepresident@gmail.com
.
I’d like to welcome our newest board member, Shannon Koller, ABC Team Parent Coordinator and team parent for fast pitch softball. Cara Glickman-Clarke, our Beaver Gear Parent will be taking on the position of Secretary as well as continuing to manage Beaver Gear. We say farewell to our current secretary, Sara Fraser Brands, as she moves along to her next chapter as the parent of a college student athlete.
Thank you again Ballard Families for the opportunity to be of service! Make sure to renew your membership in September and consider attending and supporting athletic events outside of your own students programs. I set a goal for myself to attend an event from every spring sport program. The experience was incredible! Meeting so many dedicated parents, learning about sports that I didn’t know a lot about and watching our student athletes from eight programs represent Beaver Pride. The opportunity was so amazing that I’d like to challenge myself to attend an event from every sport, spirit and strength program for the 2019-2020 school year. Who would like to join me in this challenge?
It’s Always Great To Be A Beaver!
Frances Goldberg
Vice President BHS ABC
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With so many different volunteer groups working to support BHS students, we know things can get confusing. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the ABC.
What exactly
is
the ABC?
The Ballard High School Athletic Booster Club (BHS ABC) is a parent volunteer group that works with the Athletic Director and BHS coaches to benefit the student-athletes and athletic programs at Ballard High School. We
support
athletic programs at Ballard High School by providing administrative, communication, and bookkeeping services; we
promote
BHS sporting event attendance, school spirit, and camaraderie for all Beavers; and we
advocate
for BHS Athletics in the surrounding community.
Ok, so what does the ABC do?
The ABC Board meets monthly with the Athletic Director to make sure that our efforts align with BHS Athletics values and goals. One of our most important jobs is maintaining financial records and managing bank accounts for all BHS sports teams, so that teams do not have to maintain individual non-profit status and coaches and team parents are not also required to be bookkeepers. We also:
- pay for and maintain the Ballard Athletics website
- pay for, produce, and distribute this newsletter
- produce and sell Beaver Gear
- host the Ballard Athletics Blast fundraiser
- purchase fun Beaver Swag for giveaways at select sporting events
- pay an annual percentage of the Strength and Conditioning coach's salary
- provide grants to the Athletic Director for special projects that benefit BHS Athletics
I want to support BHS athletes! What can
I
do?
- Become a member of the ABC. Membership fees help cover our costs and keep the ABC strong.
- Buy and wear Beaver Gear, especially when you are out supporting our Beavers at sporting events.
- Plan on attending the various social and fundraising events we host throughout the school year. Help us build community while we celebrate our athletes!
- Become a team parent, or offer to help your existing team parent -- volunteering to help out with a team's administrative, fundraising, or communications tasks means that the coach has more time to focus on his or her athletes.
- Make a direct donation to your team!
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