Tukes Valley Middle

On a warm Thursday afternoon, coach Brock Ledbetter is walking his Amboy Middle School girls basketball team through a series of drills inside the school gym. "After we plant our left foot we're going to immediately follow through with our right knee," Ledbetter says, demonstrating the movement, "just like it's connected with a string." Behind him, the row of girls mimics his actions.

“I like how the games are competitive, but not too competitive,” said Amboy seventh grader Harper Knippelberg. “And I really like teaming up with my friends.”

This is the third full year since Battle Ground Public Schools brought organized sports back to the district’s six middle schools. Sports at the middle schools were eliminated in 1982 following a double levy failure that resulted in deep budget cuts throughout the district.

In 2019, the district’s board of directors approved a plan to bring back middle school sports, contingent on local voter approval of an educational programs and operations levy. Local levies provide the bulk of funding for sports in the district, including equipment, facilities and transportation for student athletes.

Once voters approved the current EP&O levy in November 2021, the district moved ahead with implementing basketball, soccer and cross-country during the 2022-23 school year. Volleyball and track were added the following year. 

“Not only have we seen an uptick of participation since the middle schools added organized sports; we have also seen kids show more interest in multiple sports because of the variety offered,” said Stephanie Watts, Prairie High School’s athletic director. 

At Battle Ground High School, the volleyball program has four full teams this year for the first time in recent memory. Previously, the program struggled due to not having enough players.

“Middle school sports teach you about relationships with your peers, how to communicate with each other and about sportsmanship in general,” said Duyen Phan, an eighth grader and cross-country athlete at Laurin Middle School. “As a school community, I feel like it’s important for students to know they can lean on their classmates and their teachers.”

Laurin cross country coach Rachel Sautter said the introduction of organized sports has helped some students who may have struggled with school in the past to apply themselves more to their studies. “They really turned it around,” she said, “because they have to meet specific behaviors and maintain their grades.”

Other students find a safe space in sports and an opportunity to thrive when they might otherwise shrink from social situations. “They learn to be team members and leaders, and we see them come out of their shell where they might not have done it in any other setting,” said Sautter.

“I’ve learned that I’m not too shy to put myself out there, you know, block anyone, play defense, stuff like that,” added eighth grader Zoie Likhatskiy, a basketball player at Amboy.

Prairie High School cross-country coach Cody Barton also teaches at Laurin. Several of his current Falcon athletes have known him for over five years. “I teach these kids in seventh grade and then they see me two years later as a high schooler and it’s a completely different relationship because a lot of the foundation has already been built,” he said.

As for students who may still be on the fence about playing a sport?

“I would tell them to get over here and come help us play,” said Knippelberg, “because they’re all needed.”

“You’ll be amazed how much you can improve,” said Laurin eighth grader Avery Wise. “The first year I joined cross-country I improved my mile-and-a-half time by three whole minutes.”

In the future, the district hopes to add additional sports at the middle schools, possibly including football and wrestling, depending on the availability of funding and facilities. Barton and Sautter said they also hope to eventually introduce intra-district rivalry games and more open events to make families aware of the athletic opportunities that are available.