Athletic director Ed Santos said Wednesday South Kitsap has joined the South Puget Sound League.
SK applied to the SPSL last week and was originally denied. The West Central District overturned the denial Monday.
SK quickly decided to join.
“We really didn’t have any other option,” Santos said.
The Narrows League 4A was left with just three 4A schools — SK, Bellarmine Prep and Olympia — as many members dropped down to 3A. All three schools will join the SPSL along with Curtis, Puyallup, Emerald Ridge, Rogers, Graham-Kapowsin and Sumner.
The SPSL is currently a 17-team, three-division league, but many of those schools are leaving to join the North Puget Sound League, which is re-incarnating after going dark in 1990.
These new leagues go into effect in September and will be in place for the next four years.
South has been in the Narrows League since it formed in 1979 (Port Angeles and Bremerton were also original members). The Narrows League could still exist as a 3A league as Central Kitsap, four Tacoma schools (Stadium, Wilson, Lincoln and Mount Tahoma), Shelton and possibly Capital could keep it going. Those schools are still weighing their options. All but Capital were turned down by the SPSL 3A.
CK athletic director Bill Baxter said Tuesday he planned to appeal the denial to keep the SPSL option open.
Many of the dominoes will fall into place now that the deadline to decide if a school will opt up was Wednesday at 4 p.m. Once schools are set in a classification, leagues can start to form.

South Kitsap is a charter member of the Narrows League and has been a member since 1979.
Next year it seems likely they’ll end up in the South Puget Sound League 4A. They were denied entry last week, but the West Central District denied that denial Monday, according to this report from our friends at the Tacoma News Tribune. The pieces of that league are still falling into place.
Central Kitsap was also denied by the SPSL last week as they were seeking entry into the 3A league. Their appeal hasn’t been heard yet.

South Kitsap and Central Kitsap applied this week to join the South Puget Sound League.
Both applications were denied Friday.
South Kitsap athletic director Ed Santos said he plans to appeal to the West Central District.
No word yet on what Central Kitsap’s plans are.
The SPSL also rejected four Tacoma school and Olympia, which you can read about here.

South Kitsap athletic director Ed Santos said Wednesday was a “moving and shaking kind of day” in terms of reclassification.
Ten schools opted up to the 4A classification. That was likely bad news for the future of the Narrows League 4A. Only four 4A schools remain for the league: South Kitsap, Bellarmine Prep, Olympia and Timberline. Timberline sits as the smallest school in the classification and the next school that opts up puts Timberline in 3A (which apparently will happen as Woodinville and Mount Si are ready to move up).
“There’s not a whole lot of options,” said Santos, who is part of the league’s realignment committee.
It seems the only option would be for the remaining schools to join the South Puget Sound League.
Santos said even that has some complications. He’s hearing the rebirth of the North Puget Sound League is imminent with the Kent, Federal Way and Auburn schools (who’ve all opted-up to 4A) joining Mount Rainier and possibly Kennedy Catholic (which would have to opt up to 4A instead of 3A).
That would leave eight schools in the SPSL 4A and possibly three more with the Narrows schools. Eleven schools aren’t ideal for a league to schedule (it leaves 10 league games for football (with nine games) and 20 for sports where you play everybody twice such basketball and baseball) but at least it’s a league.
“It’s a little crazy now,” Santos said. “We’re not sure what’s going on.”
What about the Narrows League 3A?
That is also up in the air. Gig Harbor is apparently staying 3A and exploring the SPSL 3A where district rival Peninsula plays. The Tacoma schools (Stadium, Wilson, Mount Tahoma, Lincoln) are also exploring the SPSL 3A. Foss will be a 2A schools and going for the SPSL 2A.
Central Kitsap athletic director Bill Baxter said he applied to the SPSL on Monday.
He’s still hoping to keep the Narrows 3A alive and could do it with CK, Gig, Yelm, Timberline, North Thurston, Shelton and one or two other schools.
“My hope is we get seven, eight schools that want to fit together,” Baxter said.

The Olympic League seems as it will remain the same with two divisions. Klahowya will remain at 1A and along s Coupeville wants to return (and I hear it will), it should stay.

Schools have to decide if they want to opt up by Jan. 13. Once the numbers are set, leagues have a better idea what they will do.