'Starting fresh'
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 1 month AGO
Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions lineman Andrew Kibukevich brings down running back/defensive back Eddy Dovmat at a practice scrimmage Saturday at Lions Field in Moses Lake.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Head Coach Aaron Noble catches a snap to show his team some passing techniques at practice Saturday.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | August 31, 2023 1:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake Christian Academy and Covenant Christian School are breaking new ground on the football field.
“Eighty-five to 90% of our kids have never played football,” said head coach Aaron Noble. “So we’ve been doing everything we can to get them up to speed.”
MLCA has 203 K-12 students, according to the Washington Federation of Independent Schools, while Covenant has 152. They’ve both had sports programs, and have combined forces for the last several years, but football was never a part of either one. Noble, who took over as pastor and administrator at Covenant, had previously coached football in Oregon, he said.
“Around Christmas time, it kind of hit me that our kids needed it, that it could help build our culture, help strengthen community,” he said. “(It could be) a way for our kids to learn emotional toughness, mental toughness, apply themselves and work together … Once we decided it was something we wanted to do, we just hit the ground running and started raising as much money as possible. And here we are.”
Between the two schools, the Lions were able to field 19 boys, enough to maintain a team in the eight-man classification. The Lions will be competing in the Central Washington B division in their inaugural season, playing their home games at Lions Field in Moses Lake.
There are some challenges to blending two schools and starting a new sport, said senior Rubin Ulyanchuk, who plays quarterback and safety.
“We’re starting fresh,” he said. “It’s all new teammates getting together, trying to work together, trying to get our plays down, timing, stuff like that.”
“I think we're looking good,” said Brandon Schober, another senior who plays defensive and offensive lineman. “Our team chemistry is great. We've got great morale.”
That morale, the spiritual side of the game, is the most important part of the program, Noble said.
“The three principles we're building our program off of are accountability, relentless effort, and competitive excellence,” he said. “Ultimately, our program is about strengthening young men that glorify God in everything they do.”
The teamwork is beginning to coalesce on the field, Ulyanchuk said, which is encouraging.
“When we trust each other, and we know how to run that play, we know that when the person is running the ball our offense will block the defense,” he said. “That chemistry starts building when we get those plays down. You win games like that.”
“We're very green, but our kids are working hard,” Noble said. “Our biggest thing is having a winning attitude. And we're more concerned with glorifying God with our behavior, and competing in a way that glorifies God.”
Joel Martin may be reached via email at [email protected].
MLCA/CCS Football Schedule
Sept. 2 — vs. Bridgeport — 6 p.m.
Sept. 8 — vs. Pateros — 7 p.m.
Sept. 16 — vs. Soap Lake — 6 p.m.
Sept. 29 — @ Tekoa-Rosalia — 3 p.m.
Oct. 5 — vs. Entiat — 7 p.m.
Oct. 13 — vs. Oroville — 6 p.m.
Oct. 21 — @ Waterville-Mansfield — 6 p.m.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”