The first two years of the WSJCAC went without any bylaws until the spring of 1948 when Executive Secretary Jim Ennis of Everett JC along with Dave DuVall of Skagit Valley and Maury Phipps of Grays Harbor wrote the original constitution governing scholarship limits, grade eligibility requirements and overall philosophy of the conference's athletic programs.
Ennis was coach and athletic director for 42 years, 33 with the Everett School District. He came to Everett in 1939 as an assistant football coach and head basketball coach. In his first season, he guided the Seagulls' basketball squad to a 29-0 season and a state championship.
Ennis left Everett in 1942 to coach at St. Martin's College, where he met Dennis Erickson. He also worked at Washington State University and at Cleveland and Lincoln high schools in Seattle before returning to Everett in 1948. He remained there for the next 31 years.
Regarded as a master motivator, Ennis was known for his willingness to help young men enter coaching. Among others, he helped University of Miami Coach Dennis Erickson and Washington State's Mike Price. One of Ennis' sons, Terry, was head football coach at Cascade High School.
Ernie Dire, former athletic director of Everett schools, played for Ennis, as did Jim Lambright, a long time former assistant coach and head coach at the University of Washington.
Following his retirement from the school district, Ennis served as a consultant to the district and to the Evergreen State Fair. He also took an active part in the annual East-West all-star football game and worked on the Washington Coach magazine.
Jim was inducted into the Northwest Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 1989, one year before he passed away in 1990.
