Success followed Gavin to many spots

Greg Gavin coached West Valley to the State AA football championship in 1976 and Central Valley into its first state playoff six years later.

On Saturday in Bellevue, Gavin will be inducted into the Washington State Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

The announcement brings back memories. We go back all those years, a couple of young people in the formative years of our respective crafts who became friends.

Gavin was not long out of Eastern Washington University where he was an All-American football center and team MVP in 1969. He had worked for his college coach, the late Dave Holmes, and begun a 30-year coaching career at Deer Park, coming to WV in 1974 brimming with confidence.

Things didn’t immediately pan out. The Eagles lost early and he suffered through a mysterious physical ailment. But an upset victory over then-unbeaten rival East Valley provided a cure and the program – elegant in its simplicity – took off.

Weight lifting and power-I formation football produced two golden years. WV’s style was similar to Adam Fisher’s current program at EV, and not coincidentally. Fisher’s is patterned after his dad, Ed, a Holmes disciple and Gavin teammate.

West Valley’s junior-oriented team in 1975 survived a three-team Frontier League first-place tiebreaker to qualify for state and that led ultimately to a surprising date in the rainy AA finals in Burien. The Eagles lost to Sumner, but because of their youth were ranked first in state from the outset the next year.

They wore the mantle well, winning the area’s first title in those formative years of state football play, beating Hoquiam to finish undefeated.

A couple of years later the coach was at Central Valley and in 1982 it was off to Walla Walla for another state playoff game. Gavin finished his career at Davis and Eisenhower in Yakima, winning a Big Nine league title in 1992 with consecutive winning seasons and a state playoff victory with the Cadets.

The 6 p.m. Hall of Fame banquet caps the WSFCA midwinter clinic beginning today. Tickets at the door are $20.

GSL hoops add non-leaguers

Imagine the interest in a preseason meeting between girls basketball state champions Lewis and Clark and Coeur d’Alene.

Next year it could be reality. Greater Spokane League principals, activities coordinators and coaches approved a one-year schedule that will create non-league dates for teams.

The 4A schools will have a 15-game league schedule including two games against fellow 4A teams and once against 3A teams. Likewise, 3A schools will meet twice and play 4A schools once, adding up to a 14-game league slate.

That will give them five and six non-league dates to fill, respectively. Two of those will come against GSL teams, but the others can come outside the league, like a potential Vikings-Tigers date.

GSL secretary Randy Ryan said about two-thirds of boys coaches and most of the girls coaches favored the change.

“Principals are still wrestling with how to determine a league champion, but it meets the needs of coaches (seeking outside competition),” GSL secretary Randy Ryan said.

Dream Duals Saturday

East Valley will host the annual Dream Duals team wrestling tournament on Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and capping with championship matches at 5:30 p.m.

There are six teams in each of four classifications and a four-team girls competition. The top three teams in each receive trophies.

Entrants are: 4A – Snohomish, Moses Lake, Rogers (Puyallup), Mead, Central Valley; 3A – defending champion Enumclaw, Yelm, East Valley, North Central, Port Angeles, Hanford; 2A – defending champion Riverside, Othello, Cheney, Washougal, Tumwater, North Mason; 1A – defending champion Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), Orting, Castle Rock, Warden, Royal, Newport; Girls – Mt. Baker, Rogers (Puyallup), Warden, Springdale/Chewelah.