WVSSAC puts kids first
I, like a lot of people, tend to get a bit fed up with the WPIAL when it comes to how it runs its postseasons. Accurate or not, the popular perception that I have always heard expressed is that the powers that be in District 7 are focused on one thing above all else: making money. Considering the fact that a lack of tiebreakers can get more than half of a basketball section into the district playoffs, thus increasing the number of games and the money to be made from them, I would have to say there just may be some truth to that sentiment.
This weekend, I was privileged enough to go outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and witness how the state of West Virginia puts on its state football championships. Over a day and two nights as a statistician for the games, I was pleasantly surprised by how things were run at Wheeling Island Stadium. I can also say that the WPIAL might want to take some notes on just how its neighbors to the south celebrate their last football date of the calendar.
The most striking difference that I noticed was that the West Virginia Secondary School Athletic Commission (WVSSAC) actually bids out the rights to host its three title games (A, AA, AAA). Since 1994, those duties have been handled by the Super Six Championships organization, which, since its inception, has made the goal of putting the student-athlete first its primary goal.
Jeff Turner, whom I corresponded with leading up to this past weekend and got to meet face-to-face at the stadium, has been involved with the operation for more than a decade. He told me that prior to having the games played in the northern end of the state, the capital city of Charleston was the site of competition. However, several individuals, including one of the founding fathers of Super Six Championships, Sam Mumley, didn’t feel that the athletes themselves were the focal point of the operation.
So, Mumley and the organization successfully won the bid to move the games to Wheeling, where they have been held ever since. The process gives an organization the rights to host for three seasons, with a chance to keep for a fourth year. The fact that the Super Six has kept the bid for nearly 30 years is a testament to how their player-first mantra is succeeding in the Mountaineer State.
In keeping with that philosophy, the Super Six is a completely non-profit organization, which relies completely on volunteer assistance. They also provide “swag bags” for every player, which includes a ball cap, toboggan, t-shirt and game DVD. The group also arranges for one free meal from a local restaurant for each of the six schools.
On a larger scale, the Super Six assigns each squad a number of team hosts, which meet with the coaches and administrators of the six participating schools to iron out any preparations for the big game. One of those preparations could be housing for a program making a long road trip to play in the game. The WVSSAC provides the housing, while the Super Six handles the details, if a school meets certain requirements.
Now, some of you may be thinking that these games are much smaller than the WPIAL title tilts, and certainly at the state contests, which are typically more lightly attended than the District 7 match-ups. To the contrary, the three games’ combined attendance reached well over 20,000 people and featured multiple television, radio and newspaper entities in a crowded, but spacious press box. In contrast, the four WPIAL football title games combined for just 15,500 in 2014.
While I don’t expect the WPIAL to change its ways any time soon, I hope they will at least consider the practices of other states when it comes to the postseason. Like Sam Mumley said, “We must take care of the kids, for they are the future of all this.”