Putting the pads back on: Could Bremerton organize an alumni football game?

Scrolling through my Facebook feed on Monday, I saw a message from Bremerton High School football coach Paul Theriault, who was trying to gauge interest in a possible alumni game between Bremerton and Olympic this June.

"What kind of game," one person asked?

"Tackle," Theriault responded.

And there-in lies a big question: would enough people be interested in suiting up for a tackle football game to make an alumni game viable?

An even bigger question: would the aforementioned school districts allow participants to play on a local field — either Bremerton Memorial Stadium or Integrity Roofing Stadium — and/or use school-owned equipment such as helmets and pads?

On Wednesday, Theriault told me he heard back from Olympic football coach Sal Quitevis Jr. The answer: the Trojans were out. The same for North Kitsap when Theriault checked in with Vikings coach Jeff Weible. There were just too many liability concerns with football being a high-impact sport. And schools won't allow outsiders to borrow equipment used by current students.

Even Theriault, who took part of alumni games at Southern Oregon University where he played and coached, wasn't sure if Bremerton School District would approve a tackle football game that involved Bremerton alumni only.

“We’ve got to make sure all the boxes are checked for us being able to put this on," Theriault said. "The district has to be OK with it.”

Alumni games aren't completely unheard of at Bremerton. The high school used to host an annual alumni game in basketball between former East High and West High players. That series ended in 2012. Bremerton hosted another hoops alumni gathering — the Kings of Kitsap tournament — in 2017. Former Bremerton, Central Kitsap, Olympic and South Kitsap players participated in the fundraiser event, including former Knights star and NBA player Marvin Williams.

Last year at Central Kitsap High School, the boys soccer program put on an alumni game between its 2021 team and a team consisting of former players.

If Theriault can't get a tackle football game approved, he said he might try for a flag football game, which wouldn't require participants to wear helmets or padding. He doesn't think a flag football game would be as popular from a fan perspective, but it would be theoretically be safer.

"Maybe that's the way we end up going," he said.

Kingston restarts middle school program

In other football-related news, Kingston High School football coach Billy Russo called me earlier this week to let me know that Kingston Middle School was starting up its program for grades 6-8 this week. Local middle school football teams play in the spring, so it's been two years since players have had a chance to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Russo, who was hired in 2020, said the layoff has actually been longer for Kingston Middle School. Upon being hired, he learned Kingston Middle School wasn't offering football — and hadn't been for a while.

"They said the middle school football program hadn't been going for two or three years, that they were hoping to bring it back," Russo said. "I don't remember if the numbers had just dropped or they couldn't find a coach. I don't remember all the details."

Russo also learned that Kingston Middle School students were participating in football at Poulsbo Middle School, which feeds into North Kitsap High School. Russo believes that created a situation where some Kingston Middle School students were eventually enrolling at North Kitsap to play football for Kingston High School's in-district rival.

"They played with those kids already at Poulsbo, they know them," Russo said.

With the Kingston Middle School football program coming back online again, Russo is hopeful the middle school, high school and Kingston Youth Football Association can work together toward building a strong football community for all ages. It's been a struggle for the high school program for a number of years. Kingston finished 0-9 in 2021 and hasn't posted a winning season since 2014.

Russo said the work starts at the younger levels.

"You look at big programs like Bothell, Bellevue, Woodinville, Lake Stevens — they are all running the same stuff from the youth program all the way up," Russo said. "When players come to high school, they jump right in and they know exactly what you are talking about and how to do it."

— North Kitsap's football team will be participating in the Battle at the Beach 7-on-7 tournament in early July in Huntington Beach, California. The annual event typically draws upward of 20 programs, mostly from California.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Jeff Graham: Bremerton Olympic alumni football game