Kingston football embracing challenge of rejoining Olympic League

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, August 4, 2026

For the past two seasons, the Kingston Buccaneers football team has been competing in the 1A Nisqually League, tallying a 4-16 record over that span. Now, Kingston is rejoining the Olympic League this season, hoping to compete with the larger 2A schools in the region.

The Buccaneers previously just missed out on qualifying as a 1A school during the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s 2024-28 classification cycle. The school attempted to appeal to the WIAA that its football team should compete in 1A due to its lack of recent success, as they haven’t had a winning season since 2013, along with injury concerns playing against bigger 2A schools. Kingston’s appeal was denied by the WIAA, but they were allowed to play in the 1A Nisqually League as a 2A team.

While Andrew has high expectations for his team every year, finishing at or above .500 would be a big step forward for Kingston, as they have not tallied a winning season since 2013 when they finished the season 8-2 and 6-0 in Olympic League play. Nonetheless, it will be a challenge, with the Bucs having 22 freshmen on the team and many of the kids having no prior football experience.

In order to help the Bucs achieve that and help the young roster mesh, Andrew had the team attend a four-day football camp at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. The camp was full of two-a-day scrimmages and practices in an effort to instill a better focus for the Bucs this upcoming season.

“Mindset’s a problem, but they’re done with the loser mentality,” Andrew said.

Buccaneer seniors Liam Walter and Connor Mutch are looking to lead the young roster Kingston has, hoping to implement an uplifting culture in the locker room. Walter said the Bucs have at least 20 kids in the weight room every week over the summer, as they are looking to be a more physical and technically sound unit.

“We’re not scared,” Mutch said. “I have trust in our (offensive) line; they’re gonna do what they need to do. And our defense is going to be lights out.”

Kingston starts its season Sept. 4 on the road against East Jefferson.