CAJ’s Sakurako Abe led the Christian Academy Japan Knights with 15 hitting winners in the finals of the American School in Japan YUJO tournament Saturday. Shisa VC’s Brooklynn Wilson had six and Cameron Eavers 10 in the losing effort. Wilson and Eavers, who had been competing as a club team, will now get to put on their school uniforms again after DODEA-Pacific announced Tuesday that high school sports will resume, despite on ongoing government shutdown. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — DODEA got the OK on Tuesday for high school athletics and extracurricular activities to resume despite the government shutdown.
“DODEA-Pacific has received updated direction allowing extracurricular activities, including athletics and after-school clubs, to be considered excepted activities during the current lapse in appropriations,” an email from DODEA-Pacific spokeswoman Miranda Ferguson stated.
DODEA-Europe spokeswoman Jessica Tackaberry confirmed that high school sports were deemed an excepted activity Tuesday, allowing them to continue during the government shutdown.
Practices for the Pacific and Europe will resume Wednesday, Tackaberry said.
“Students are already at school, coaches and athletic directors have their schedules and plans, and we want to make sure the students have the right equipment, gear to be able to prepare — and of course transportation, for parents and families to be able to coordinate that,” she explained for the Wednesday restart.
Teams in Europe already were scheduled to take this weekend off and that won’t change.
Tackaberry didn’t say if the European golf championships will go on Wednesday and Thursday as originally scheduled. She said DODEA is reviewing the scheduling of the rest of the fall season.
It was not clear Tuesday why the decision to shut down sports and other extracurricular activities during the lockdown was reversed or who made that decision.
This weekend is the final weekend of regular-season competitions in DODEA-Pacific.
Far East tournaments in cross country, volleyball and tennis will go on as scheduled, Ferguson’s statement said. Tennis is scheduled for Oct. 15-18, volleyball Oct. 16-18 and cross country Oct. 17-18.
“Unfortunately, it will not be possible to reschedule competitive events that were canceled last week, as Fall Far East Championship dates cannot be changed,” Ferguson’s statement said.
Among the contests not being rescheduled are four homecoming football games: Nile C. Kinnick at Humphreys, Kadena at Kubasaki, Yokota at Robert D. Edgren and Matthew C. Perry at Zama.
The reaction around the Pacific was immediate and positive.
“Overjoyed,” said Kubasaki tennis player Josephine Zwierzynski. She played and won the girls singles Tuesday in a tournament not affiliated with the Okinawa high schools, but featuring players from Kadena and Kubasaki.
Key to resuming DODEA-Pacific athletics is the chance to play in the Far East tournaments, players and coaches said.
“We’ve only been able to play Kadena” this season, Kubasaki tennis player Sophia Wurdinger said. “Now, we can go to Far East. Just being able to play other teams, that’s the thing I was most excited for.”
Reaction in the classrooms and hallways of Kubasaki was vociferous. “All the volleyball players started screaming” both in and out of his classroom, Kubasaki’s Maximus Ramos said. “The athletes were ecstatic.”
Defending Far East tennis tournament singles champion Chloe Lee of reigning Division I team champion Humphreys also expressed joy about the resumption.
“My team and I are very excited and motivated that Far East is back,” Lee said. “Everyone has been waiting for this moment to get back to practice and prepare for Far East.”
Football coaches around the region said they were glad to resume the chase for Far East Divisions I and II titles. Those games are scheduled for Oct. 24, D-I featuring Humphreys at Kubasaki and the D-II pairing still to be determined.
“The Blackhawks and my coaching staff are ready to get back to the grind,” Humphreys coach Reggie Meno said.
Zama’s game at Yokota has major D-II playoff implications.
“I was just writing a letter to my team and parents about how our season was essentially over” earlier Tuesday, coach Shawen Smith said. “Luckily, I didn’t sent it out. I just want my players to hopefully finish the season on a high note.”
The resumption of sports came too late for E.J. King and Matthew C. Perry’s volleyball teams to play in this weekend’s Western Japan Athletic Association tournament.
Originally slated to be played at King, it has moved to Nagoya International and the Cobras and Samurai are unable to play, King coach and athletics director Ricky Andrew said.
“We’re happy that Far East is back on,” Andrew said. “Our girls are going to be excited to be going. They’ll be happy about that.”
Kubasaki played as the Shisa Volleyball Club last weekend at the 11th American School In Japan YUJO tournament, finishing second to Christian Academy Japan. Kubasaki will host the D-I Far East tournament.
“We’re super excited that all of the activities including the arts are able to resume,” Dragons coach Joshua McCall said. “We are also grateful to be able to host the other schools for Far East and are looking forward to see a few teams we haven’t seen yet.”
In Sigonella, a pair of former E.J. King athletes in junior Kalem Lawrence and senior A.J. Harpel finally got a chance to play football, as the Cobras lacked a program.
Just three games into their first high-school season, though, a 32-6 loss on Sept. 26 at the International School of Brussels that was cut short because of Jaguar injuries seemed as though it could be the last game for some time.
Tuesday’s news was music to the Sigonella players’ ears.
“As you can imagine, we got a little upset when we found that our season was possibly going to get cut short,” said Harpel, an offensive lineman. “A lot of us are super excited to get back at what we love.”
Lawrence, senior running back Aiden Shaposka and junior lineman Joaquin Duron agreed with Harpel. They said they already had plans to open Wednesday’s practice with some music, debating between Pearl Jam’s “Black” and Tee Grizzley’s “First Day Out” as the first one over the speakers.
But above else, they’re excited to hit each other on the field.
“I just kept my head up and knew eventually we were going to get back at it,” Lawrence said. “I’m ready to get back at it and get back to what we want the goal to be, ready to fight for it, ready to do what it takes.”
While many athletes and coaches expressed dismay over the break in action, in Bavaria, the Vilseck girls volleyball team have seen it in a positive manner.
Currently in third place in Division I after beating Ramstein and three-time defending champion Wiesbaden on Sept. 27, the Falcons have taken the opportunity to heal, said Marcia Molock.
Normally a defensive specialist, Molock has had to play setter due to the injuries of teammates Hannah Wayland and Talia Kaye Neal and even some right-side hitter against the Warriors. Now, she expects to return to her natural position.
“The break has strengthened us,” the junior said. “I think that recovery time will help us be stronger for our next game.”
Jen Mosteiko, mother of Kaiserslautern senior linebacker Josh and freshman cheerleader Sophie, spearheaded a parent movement to seek to have DODEA athletics deemed essential.
Her Change.org petition collected more than 1,100 signatures from places all over Europe and even Guam, South Korea and Japan by Tuesday morning, she said.
Tuesday’s news meant Mosteiko’s immediate mission had been accomplished, but the Raiders football team missed its home game against crosstown rival Ramstein, originally scheduled for Oct. 3.
That contest had the added importance to Sophie. A member of the JV cheer squad, the Raider-Royal matchup was the team’s first game and just one of two it will cheer at this season.
“They want their chance,” Mosteiko said. “Fingers crossed for that, but something’s better than nothing.”
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