The Centralia School District’s success in competitive sports was something Centralia graduate and former coach Henri Weeks took pride in for decades.
“Centralia used to thrive in all kinds of programs, and sports was one of them. And you can go into the Centralia High School gym and there’s a lot of evidence of that,” Weeks said.
After graduating from Centralia High School in 1979 and coaching at the school from 1989 to 2002, Weeks stepped over into the Chehalis School District, where he continued to coach.
He kept his eyes on his alma mater, though. And in the last eight to 10 years, Weeks said, he’s been heartbroken by what he’s seen of Centralia competitive sports.
“Centralia has, for the most part — and I know there’s some exceptions — has not been very competitive, even in the league that they’re in, and that’s in most sports,” Weeks said. “It just made me sick to see that.”
Determined to do what he could to help Centralia sports succeed, Weeks started chatting with W.F. West High School Vice Principal Mike Westley, another “longtime Centralia kid” who has since moved to the Chehalis School District, in 2020 about ways he could help out.
“I got ahold of (Westley) because he knew the current boys and girls basketball coaches at the time and (I) just offered any help that I could offer in terms of developing (the sports programs) or helping the youth or getting something going on that would change the narrative eventually for Centralia,” Weeks said.
After some pandemic-related delays, Weeks started working with Katie Taylor, who was hired as the Centralia School District’s youth sports program director in 2023.
“Katie and I just started meeting and trying to brainstorm … what we could do,” Weeks said.
The two ultimately came up with the idea for Centralia Youth Sports: a program that partners with the Centralia School District to provide competitive, organized sports opportunities for Centralia kids as young as fourth grade.
The program officially became a nonprofit in December and is working to fundraise and expand its program offerings for the coming seasons.
Weeks serves as the president of the program’s eight-person board.
Taylor, through her role at the Centralia School District, coordinates after school sports programs aimed at getting kids interested in and excited about sports. Those kids then have the opportunity to sign up for competitive teams through Centralia Youth Sports.
So far this year, Centralia Youth Sports has held an after school track and field program for grades 2-6, a youth basketball league for grades 3-6, a wiffle ball after school program for grades 1-4 and a youth wiffle ball league for grades 1-4.
Registration for a grades 5 and 6 girls youth volleyball league runs Feb. 4 through Feb. 13, with the season running Feb. 26 through March 30. The program plans to hold a flag football league for grades 1-6 in the spring.
“I knew from experience that the only way you’re going to change the narrative is to get kids playing competitive sports and getting them involved,” Weeks said, adding that student athletes who only start competing their freshman year of high school are already years behind their competitors in other districts.
“They get into high school and then they’re starting from square one, and you can’t be competitive. I don’t care how good an athlete you are, you can’t,” he said.
One of the goals of Centralia Youth Sports is to give student athletes the experience of being on a competitive team before they get to high school so they’re prepared to represent their district at the high school level once they get there.
“My experience of schools is people in the community see your schools through their sports and extracurricular programs … And if those programs aren’t doing well, people see the school as not doing well,” Weeks said.
Weeks hopes that Centralia’s high school sports programs will benefit from Centralia Youth Sports in a few years when the current participants reach high school.
For more information on Centralia Youth Sports, including how to donate, volunteer or register a child for an upcoming program, visit https://centraliayouthsports.org/.
