In the fall of 2011, for the first time in their sixty-year history, the Bellevue Christian Vikings will be playing football.

The decision was recently made final and Athletic Director Mark DeJonge informed the BCS community on Friday of the decision to embark on what he termed both an exciting and daunting task in building a football program from the ground up.

The first order of business for DeJonge and the Vikings is deciding who exactly they will play against. BCS competes in the Emerald City League in athletics and the only ECL school with football currently is Cedar Park Christian. DeJonge said he expects Bellevue Christian to play an independent schedule in football against a combination of 1A and 2B teams while remaining a full ECL member in all other sports. “We’re very happy in the Emerald City League,” DeJonge said.

The decision to begin a football program was made easier during the fall of 2010 when another ECL member decided to follow the pack and move Boys Soccer to the spring, leaving only four schools participating during the fall. The Emerald City League initially resisted the seasonal shift from the WIAA mostly because of the fact only one member school participated in football at the time.

But with the spot left vacated by moving soccer, Bellevue Christian saw an opportunity they could no longer resist.

“With that [the decision to move soccer], we had some interest and we kept the dialogue going,” DeJonge said. “We had sixty current 8th through 11th graders show interest.”

While DeJonge noted that he doesn’t know how many of those sixty young men will show up for the opening day of practice in the coming August, the volume of interest backed-up what he and others around the school already believed; Bellevue Christian will have no problem finding enough willing participants to field their inaugural team in 2011 and should be able to build a strong foundation if interest is generated in the elementary schools and on-campus middle school BCS operates in the coming years.

Leading the first ever Vikings football team out of the tunnel (exactly which tunnel that is has yet to be decided, with public schools around the area all candidates as a possible home for BCS in 2011) will be Greg Schneider, a former player at San Diego State University. In addition to his time as a Division-1 football player, Schneider spent time coaching at the high school level in California before coming to the Pacific Northwest and joining the Jr. Wolverines football program, which is a member of the Greater Eastside Junior Football Association.

“We had a lot of very good candidates, so the process was long and hard,” Dejonge said of choosing a coach. “What differentiated Greg was, from the minute he walked in, it just seemed like a great fit.”

DeJonge pointed out that working in youth football requires a great deal of teaching the basics of the game and getting back to the fundamental elements. “He’s a teacher, [as a coach rather than by profession, Schneider is an engineer by trade] which is something we need just starting a program,” DeJonge said. “We are going to have some kids who haven’t put the pads on since fourth or fifth grade.”

DeJonge also said that his new football coach has a superb understanding of the school’s mission from both a faith and academic standpoint, adding that he believes Schneider will be an exemplary role model for his new players.

One player the Vikings will not have suited up in 2011 is Eastlake quarterback Keegan Kemp, who will be a senior during the 2011 football season. Kemp has played for Eastlake, which is the district he falls into by residence, as a result of the lack of a team at BCS.

But even with the addition of a squad in the upcoming season, DeJonge and BCS have no interest in coveting the Wolves starting signal-caller, despite the obvious positive impact it would have on their team. “When we were going through the process, we called the WIAA and we want Keegan to participate at Eastlake ,” DeJonge said. “We don’t want to take that opportunity away from him, that’s the last thing that we want.”

DeJonge and Bellevue Christian have contacted the WIAA, who agreed that Kemp should be allowed to remain a member of the Wolves for his final prep season. Kemp will be “Grandfathered” at Eastlake as a result of his unique standing as a senior, already having dedicated nearly three full years of his life to his final season at the Sammamish Plateau high school near his home.

Without Kemp, the Vikings will be strapped for experience in 2011. But don’t expect that or anything else to temper the enthusiasm about the upcoming season.

“We’re just excited for one more opportunity to bring our community together,” DeJonge said. “Our parents are very exited and love to come to our events and this is just one more opporrutntiy to bring them together and maybe even expand.”