A Great New League Great Northern Promises Tough Games Every Week

As the newest name on the area sports scene, the Great Northern League came up with the perfect way of getting attention.

The league without a defending champion kicks off its conference season next week with a battle of defending champions.

Chewelah, the defending Northeast A champion, travels to Pullman to face the defending Frontier League champ.

What better way to get the new league noticed than to match up the most high-profile members.

“I can’t complain,” Chewelah coach Roy Albertson said. “Last year I complained we didn’t have enough tough games, which make you better. Now I have more tough games than I want.”

Albertson has a point.

The Cougars play Friday at Bonners Ferry, Idaho, which won its league last year, then go to Pullman, then Riverside, “then,” the coach said, “we get a break. We play Post Falls, they’re about double to us.”

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

“In order to be a top team in November, you have to have played tough games,” said Albertson, who only coached two losses at Chewelah the last two years, both in the playoffs. “Just last year, I looked at (State A champion) Royal’s schedule. They had a lot of tough games. When they had a non-league game, they played Zillah, which was the toughest team in the other division.

“So I got my wish, a lot of tough games. Whoever survives (in the Great Northern), will be a very good representative.”

Pullman is in uncharted waters - and they are deep.

All those years in the Frontier, when, more often than not, only one team made the playoffs. Suddenly, three berths are available.

“I almost didn’t tell my team,” Greyhounds coach Bill Christie joked.

That’s a pleasant concern after years of being one of the little guys.

“We’re not the small guy on the block and not the big guy,” Curtis said. “We think it will be a competitive league. It’s a different league. People do different things than we’re used to… . We feel we can be competitive every year… . Our kids are working hard. Our expectations are to win the league.

Albertson said, “We go from being a middle A school to being a small 2A. With it goes the worry of injury, having enough backups that can play at that level.

“We at Chewelah have to work harder, both in the weight room and on the field, than we have in the last two years. Instead of having athletes, we have to make athletes. We have our work cut out for us. So far, the kids have been up to the challenge.”

Quick kicks

The 2A Great Northern League is the result of the state reclassifying the schools and adding a fifth division.

The 2A schools are considered the new classification for record purposes and the Great Northern, with three old Frontier League teams and five from the Northeast A, should make its mark quickly.

Colville and Riverside, an NEA power before moving up two years ago, dropped from the Frontier League with Pullman. Lakeside, Medical Lake, Deer Park and Newport moved up from the NEA.

“I think it’s a great league,” veteran Medical Lake coach John Giannandrea said. “Every game will be tough. They made the alignment best for the state. There are always some who don’t like it. They made it, let’s go.”

He’s right. With a potential championship game the first week, let’s go.

, DataTimes