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CHARLESTON, W.Va.–The four classification system utilized in boys and girls high school basketball across West Virginia won’t soon be adopted for football or any other sport.
West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission rejected a proposal for a fourth classification in sports other than basketball was voted down 137-5 by the SSAC’s Board of Control.
The Board of Control is comprised of school principals across the state.
“The consensus in the room was we already have a Competitive Balance Committee who is monitoring the competitive balance and they will come back with recommendations for what sports make sense and which ones would be eligible,” WVSSAC Executive Director Bernie Dolan said on MetroNews Talkline. “They’re just waiting for them to do it. In this case, somebody wanted to push the issue a little faster than everybody else was ready for.
“There was some confusion also as to whether or not it would mean four classes in every sport, which it would not. Everybody just decided let’s wait and let the committee continue to work.”
The SSAC adopted a four-class system for boys and girls basketball on what was deemed a two-year trial period in advance of the 2020-2021 season, and it will remain in place moving forward.
Boys and girls basketball remain the only prep sports in West Virginia with four classifications. Football, boys and girls cross country, golf, volleyball, wrestling, cheer, softball, baseball and boys and girls track and field each have three classes.
Boys and girls soccer and boys and girls tennis both have two classifications, while boys and girls swimming are sports with one class.
In addition to the decision not to add a fourth class to any sport off the hardwood, the Board of Control also voted down a proposal to allow students immediate athletic eligibility on a transfer of schools one time over four years of high school. That proposal, which died on the final day of the state’s 60-day legislative session last month, was also voted down in convincing fashion, 113-29.
“Many of our rules are old rules and have been around for a long time,” Dolan said. “It’s good that periodically we bring them back up and they revote on them so that they see if the landscape has changed. It’s also a way for everybody to have their current opinion. When this rule was originally put in, very few of these people were in their current position, so it gives us a new and updated opinion.”
Currently, the SSAC deals with the athletic eligibility of transfers on a case-by-case basis, and in many cases, they’re deemed eligible immediately.
“From February of last year to February of this year, I think we had 115 appeals for the residence transfer rule and 70 of them were approved,” Dolan said recently.
However, an overwhelming majority of principals left little doubt where they stood on altering other sports to include a fourth class and allowing more freedom for transfer athletes in what some fear would lead to an increase in recruiting.
“They were against both,” Dolan said, “so they spoke loud and clear.”