NHR: WVSSAC reclass.

[The Real SamC]

The WVSSAC has reclassed for the next four school years.

Fourth class added to five WVSSAC sports starting in the 2024-2025 academic year - WV MetroNews

Football will expand to four classes next season, following final approval from the WVSSAC Board of Directors.

wvmetronews.com

Weird, and, AFAIK, something no other state does, it is not 100% based on enrollment. They are using this complex format where enrollment is 80% of the measure. 10% is "economics" meaning poorer communities get a "discount" on their enrollment. For example (with 1.0 being perfect) Huntington High gets 0.26 in "economics" while Cabell Midland gets a 0.39 and Spring Valley gets a 0,42, while places in Morganhole and the eastern panhandle get up in the 0.9s. As does St. Joe's and all the other Catholic schools. 10% is based on "location", which, AFAIK, is a measure of how compact the district is (so kids can stay after school for practice and get home easily), how many private facilities like gyms and such are in the community, and, pretty much, how close the town is to a four lane road. HHS gets a 0.94, CMHS gets 0.77 and SVHS gets a 0.92, while places out in the country get things as low as 0.2.

They are going to four classes in basketball, football, cheer (WETF that is) , volleyball, baseball and softball.

list:

https://wvmetronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Final-Copy-of-WVSSAC-Competition-Models-2023-Version-3.pdf

My comments:

- So a kid from a poor community counts as less of a kid than a kid from a more successful community? A kid at HHS or Capital counts less than a kid at CMHS or South Charleston or Nitro or Hurricane. Do what? That is condescending, and somewhat racist. If you have 1000 kids in the school, you have a 1000 kids in the school.

- The geography part is confusing and hard to understand. Suburban compact communities get punished for being suburban compact communities. Cities with public buses get punished for being cities with buses. Rural counties where the kids have to figure it out to get to practice are rewarded.

- Four classes? That is between 28 and 32 schools per class. With 16 making the (football) playoffs. Really? Being the best of 28 schools is a "state champion"?

 

[GreenDuke]

Good summation Sam. I’m not involved or affected by the SSAC but do get insider information from a close friend. I can wrap this in a neat bow.
1) This whole thing is silly. The formula is understandable but that doesn’t change the fact it’s nuts.
2) This whole rubic’s cube started with one issue, Class A girls basketball specifically Htgn St Joseph, which was an AAU all star travel team for years. The small up the hollar A schools were deemed to be at a disadvantage because they couldn’t recruit kids from out of state and/or surrounding counties. Basically a private vs public school issue. And they were, but that’s changed somewhat with free for all transfer now in effect.
3) Sam, the answer to this convoluted mess is the same as the answer to all questions. The answer is MONEY. More teams in playoffs, more tickets sold, more money for the local businesses at venue sites. More money for the SSAC, a stealthy but powerful force in the state.

 

[GreenDuke]

But remember one thing education folks like to parrot.
“ It’s all about the Key-uds”. Lol.

 

[Jartard]

Probably the least amount of schools in state history, so let’s add another class. 🤣

 

[i am herdman]

Should go 8 on 8 football in the smaller classes. They do that in the smaller states.in west and Midwest. Make the private schools compete in their own division.

 

[RhinoD]

The whole thing is ridiculous... Being a "state champion" in a class with 28 schools is idiotic.

You could make a case that a better plan would have been to consolidate the public schools into 2 classes, and then make the private schools their own classification.

 

[i am herdman]

The whole thing is ridiculous... Being a "state champion" in a class with 28 schools is idiotic.

You could make a case that a better plan would have been to consolidate the public schools into 2 classes, and then make the private schools their own classification.

28 for a state championship is crazy. That's more like two.or three conferences.

 

[GreenDuke]

Should go 8 on 8 football in the smaller classes. They do that in the smaller states.in west and Midwest. Make the private schools compete in their own division.

Eight man is a good game and would make sense in several ways. It won’t happen. Also add Chas Cath and Wheeling Central as schools pointed out as having a recruiting advantage over the years.