Cruiser sports are back

Editor's Note: Since this article was published, new information has become available for where Eatonville High School's home football games will be played. They will no longer take place at Orting High School. They will be at Bethel High School, which has been reflected in the following text. Be sure to check out https://cruiserathletics.com for up-to-date information on Eatonville High School sports schedules. 

After not being able to play any contests for roughly 300-plus days due to the current pandemic, Eatonville High School sports are now back.

With the Puget Sound region moving into Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Roadmap To Recovery” plan, high school sports can once again start up in any region in Phase 2. So far only two regions, the Puget Sound and the West, have hit the benchmarks to move into phase 2.

The Eatonville High School football team will begin its official practices today, with the remaining fall sports — girls soccer, volleyball, swimming and cross country — starting their practices on Feb. 15.

The Cruisers were slated to enter into the Evergreen 1A league this season, but because of COVID and the fact that all the other teams in that league are in a different region, the school has decided to play in the 2A South Puget Sound League for one more year with teams that are in the same region.

Eatonville High School Athletic Director and football team head coach Gavin Kralik shared more information about the football team’s upcoming schedule.

The Cruisers will play a total of seven games this season, with four of them being away games. The three home games they will have will not be played at their traditional home field, B.W. Lyon Stadium in Eatonville. Instead, those “home” games will be played at Bethel High School. The reason for this is the timing in which the fall sports season is being played. With Eatonville’s field being a natural grass field, and all the rain it gets from September until April, it is in no condition to hold games on it, Kralik said.

One question on everyone’s mind is whether fans will be allowed to attend games. League policy is that only home fans will be able to attend games. It is up to the hosting school to determine if they will allow fans or not. If a school chooses to allow fans, they must keep the total number of people at the event under 20, per the Inslee's guidelines. That 200 will include players, coaches, referees and facility support personnel.

Eatonville will allow fans at all of its home contests. For football, Kralik said he envisions each suited-up player will be able to have one person attend the game. With the other sports, that number will vary. He said the Cruisers will be selling tickets to the games ahead of time. How and when that will happen is being determined.

Kralik said that the school is planning on live streaming as many of the sports contests as possible. The plan is to have the home games/matches live streamed via the YouTube streaming platform at no cost.

Below is the Cruisers 2021 football season schedule:

Eatonville at Orting, 7 p.m. Feb. 20. No fans will be allowed at this game.

Eatonville at Washington High School, 7 p.m. Feb. 26 — no fans.

Eatonville at Yelm High School, 5 p.m. March 3 — no fans.

Eatonville vs. Clover Park at Bethel High School, 1 p.m. March 6. Home game — fans will be allowed in limited capacity. More details will follow.

Eatonville vs. Fife at Bethel High School, 1 p.m. March 13. Home game — fans allowed in limited capacity. More details to follow.

Eatonville at Franklin Pierce High School, 7 p.m. March 19 — no fans.

Eatonville vs. Enumclaw at Bethel High School, 1 p.m. March 27. Home game, limited fans. More details to follow.

Schedules for all the Eatonville High School sports can be found at https://cruiserathletics.com/.