The original
meeting of the Columbia Basin Big Eight League was held March 24, 1965. Mr. Mark Bonntrager was chairperson. During 1968-69 the league adopted league
championships in eight (8) sports. In
1970-71 the league membership increased from eight to nine; thus the league to
become known as the BIG NINE. The league
now recognizes league championship in nineteen sports.On October 1, 1996, the BIG NINE voted to add
Southridge (of Kennewick), making the league a ten (10)-school league.Per WIAA reclassification, Eastmont joined
the BIG NINE in the fall of 2002, making the league an eleven (11)-school
league.In the spring of 2006, the WIAA
underwent a reclassification of all divisions.The schools of the BIG NINE voted to admit three schools, Hanford, West
Valley and Sunnyside.The addition of
these three made a fourteen-team league, with seven in the 3A division and
seven in the 4A division.The name of
the league was changed by vote of the principals to be the Columbia Basin
League (CBL).In the winter of 2007-08,
eight true 4A schools emerged from reclassification and resumed operating as
the Columbia Basin Big Nine Athletic Conference.By spring, the remaining schools opted to be
4A members or petitioned the league to rejoin as a 3A member.The eight true 4A members of the league
were:Davis, Eastmont, Eisenhower,
Pasco, Moses Lake, Richland, Walla Walla and Wenatchee.The “opt-up” 4A’s were Kamiakin, Kennewick
and Southridge.The 3A members were
Hanford, Sunnyside and West Valley.Through much deliberation, some sports were put into division for
scheduling purposes and some were left alone as one big 3A/4A combined league.In the fall of 2009, Chiawana entered the
league as a new school as a 4A member.At the end of the 2011-12 school year, the Tri-Cities area schools and
Walla Walla High School chose to depart from the Big 9 League.The remaining six Big 9 member schools
included 4A members:Davis, Eastmont,
Eisenhower, Moses Lake, Wenatchee and 3A member Sunnyside.The Principals and Athletic Directors of the
six schools unanimously agreed to play a combined schedule with no
divisions.Davis and Eisenhower were
approved by the WIAA to change from District 5 to District 6.Beginning with the 2012-13 school year, all
Big Nine League 4A member schools are now in District 6, with Sunnyside
remaining in District 5.For the 2014-15
school year Sunnyside joined the 4A classification and remained a member of the
Big Nine.West Valley opted up to join
the 4A classification and joined the Big Nine.Both Sunnyside and West Valley were approved by the WIAA to join
District 6.Beginning with the 2014-15
school year, the Big 9 included seven 4A classification schools:Davis, Eastmont, Eisenhower, Moses Lake,
Sunnyside, Wenatchee and West Valley.All members of the North Central Washington Activities Association –
District 6.
