GCA ATHLETICS
Garden City Academy is home of the Farmers. The Farmer Athletic program will play a significant role in the GCA community and student experience. At the middle and high school levels, students will be able to compete in varsity-level WIAA sanctioned sports during the inaugural school year. For the elementary grades 1-6, we will be offering an after school sports program called the Farmer Sports League. More athletic opportunities will be offered as the school grows with the expectation to have a full athletic program that is highly competitive at the state level in the very near future.
WIAA ATHLETIC TEAMS
High School & Middle School Athletics
We have an ambitious vision for the Farmer Athletic program and will begin with sport programs in year one of operations. Our long-term plans include building a state of the art athletic complex to support big-school, competitive teams that compete at the state-level. In the short-term, we will have WIAA sanctioned teams and individual sports that compete at the 1B level in the Central Washington B (CWB) League. If there is a sport that is not offered at GCA, then students can compete for the public school where they reside.
Below are the WIAA sports we plan to offer for the 2024-25 school year.
2024-25 WIAA Sports for MS & HS
Boys & Girls Cross Country - Fall Season
Girls Volleyball - Fall Season
Boys & Girls Basketball - Winter Season
Boys & Girls Track & Field - Spring Season
Boys & Girls Golf - Spring Season
Pillars of the Program
Honoring God
Character Formation
Leadership Development
Fundamental Mastery & Athletic Development
Family Life Prioritized
Farmer Sports League
Elementary Grades 1-6
The Farmers Sports League is a youth league that exists to support the family by providing a competitive, high-quality youth sport option that emphasizes character formation, leadership development, fundamental mastery, and family life prioritization. FSL aims to change the way youth sports are done in the Wenatchee Valley by offering something different and attractive to families. The youth sports model across the country is broken and we are striving to fix it by giving families a better option for their children.
After School Practice Schedule
Boys - Mondays & Wednesdays - 3:00-4:30pm @ GCA
Girls - Tuesdays & Thursdays - 3:00-4:30pm @ GCA
Typical Age Brackets
Grades 1-2
Grades 3-4
Grades 5-6
Grades 7+ we can sponsor club teams and/or they can play WIAA school sports
Pillars of the Program
Honoring God
Character Formation
Leadership Development
Fundamental Mastery & Athletic Development
Family Life Prioritized
Philosophy of the Famers Sports League - How Are We Different?
By operating the Farmers Sports League, we are attempting to take back youth sports and create a healthy environment for kids to compete and develop. Like so many parents today, our leadership group believes there is a healthy alternative to the current negative youth sport culture. We have intentionally developed this program to provide children with a youth sports experience that ignites a joy for competition and uses athletics to teach life lessons that they will carry with them.
Program Highlights:
High Caliber Coaching - We have some incredible coaches that have significant playing and coaching experience in high-level athletics. More importantly, our coaches all love Jesus and seek to use athletics to teach life lessons that will be much more valuable than the athletic skills they will be teaching. Every coach will go through the Farmer Transformational Coach Training where coaches learn how to invest in their athletes’ lives. During the training, character formation, spiritual formation, and leadership development are emphasized and coaches are given the skills and resources to use sports to teach valuable life lessons to the athletes.
Multi-Sport Athletic Development - Farmer athletes can play five different sports over the course of the school year without overlap, and, without overextending your family. Playing multiple sports at a young age is the best way to develop high performing athletes. Compared to single-sport specialization, young athletics that play more than one sport developm more athleticism, better in-game instincts and creativity, less injuries, and have a lower chance of sport burnout at older ages.
Family-friendly schedule - The only commitment is twice per week for that particular sport season with after school practice times. No weekend commitment, except for the occasional competition weekend.
Healthy Sport Community - The Farmer Sports League will have an environment that doesn't tolerate the negative youth sports culture. Athletics will be kept in their proper place. Coaches will invest in players, encourage them, and build them up. Parents will be required to be positive and supportive at the fields, gyms, and track. Referees and opponents will be respected at all times. Win or lose, the athletes will get to compete in a healthy environment that honors God and fosters positive actions from everyone involved.
Professional & Organized - The Farmer Sports League will be organized, professional, and have quality communication. There is nothing worse than a rag-tag league that is poorly ran. Our league will have world-class coaches and be operated by high level athletic professionals.