Having led a couple of teams to the state football championship game, Camas coach Jon Eagle knows how special that experience can be.
And for many years, the Tacoma Dome was a symbol of that experience.
So last week’s announcement that the Class 4A state championship football game will be played at a high school stadium — Mount Tahoma High in Tacoma — left the longtime coach with mixed feelings.
“It was such a symbol for every program in the state,” Eagle said of the Tacoma Dome. “We’re all in a state of ‘what’s the new symbol?’ We really don’t know. We’re in a state of flux about that right now.”
Skyview coach Steve Kizer, who led the Storm to the 2011 championship game, hopes the state championship games find a home in one of Seattle’s larger venues.
“What else are we going to do?” Kizer said. “The Seahawks need to help us. The Huskies need to help us. Until then, this gives us a venue to play in until they help us.”
Eagle also mentioned the Seahawks’ CenturyLink Field, Husky Stadium or even Seattle Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center as better venues.
“I don’t know all of what was behind it,” Eagle said. “I have some venues I personally think would have been better, but I don’t know all the factors that went into decision. (The WIAA is) doing the best they can. … They might have information I don’t have.”
But it’s not a topic either coach plans to spend a lot of time thinking about. Their focus is more on getting their teams to this year’s championship, no matter where it is played.
“At the end of the year, they’re going to crown a state champion and 20 years from now it won’t matter where you played the game,” Eagle said. “We’re going to let other people worry about where it’s being played, and we’re just going to show up. Hopefully.”
Skyview has worked “129” — the mileage from Skyview High to the Tacoma Dome — into it’s yearly motivational slogan. Mount Tahoma High is two miles closer to Skyview.
“I think it’s 127 miles away now instead of 129 miles to the Tacoma Dome, so we have to change everything,” Kizer quipped.
