Josh Strope

WHEELING –In what seems like a yearly debate, the private schools in West Virginia are again under fire as athletic representatives from around the state are trying to find a way to make the playing field a little more level.

The argument is as old as time when it comes to high school athletics, with schools from smaller areas having chips on their shoulders about the private schools from larger ones. Recently a few proposals came before the WVSSAC Control Board.

The first –Proposal 9 — stated that all non-public schools should compete in the same classification as the public school zone where it resides.

For example, Wheeling Central would have moved from Class A to Class AAA with Wheeling Park. Madonna would join Weir in Class AA. This measure was defeated.

The second — Proposal 10 — states all private schools would compete against each other for postseason tournaments. This measure was passed by a 100-24 vote and will go to the Board of Education in July, where it will decide to whether to take a vote on the measure.

That would put the eight private schools — Wheeling Central, Madonna, Charleston Catholic, Huntington St. Joe, Parkersburg Catholic, Clarksburg Notre Dame, Trinity Christian and Greater Beckley Christian — separate from the other Class A schools when it comes to determining state champions. Three of those schools don’t play football.

Private schools have won 28 girls’ basketball state championships in the last 31 years; 12 softball and 18 girls’ tennis championships in the last 22 years. On the boys’ side in the last 20 years, 17 in basketball, 11 football, 10 baseball, 16 golf and 16 tennis.

Wheeling Central won football and boys’ and girls’ basketball this season. Last spring, the Maroon Knights were champions in softball and girls’ track. Madonna is the Class A wrestling champion.

“Football was one of the things most looked at and in everyday competition, we are talking 85-90 kids from a football team in Class AAA and we are fortunate to have 40,” Wheeling Central athletics director Donnie Murray said about the failed Proposal 9. “You would wear kids out and that becomes a safety and liability issue.”

One of the many criticisms from the other schools, led by Tolsia High School, was that private schools cap their numbers to remain a Class A school.

Murray vehemently denies that accusation.

“At any Catholic school I have ever been in, that has never been the case,” he said. “We function on tuition-paying families. If we have 900 kids knocking on the door to come to Wheeling Central, we will graciously accept those kids. If we had 500, we would gladly move up to Double A.

“The dynamics of Catholic schools, we don’t get subsidies from the Diocese, only money from those tuition-paying families. These schools feel we don’t provide special education services. We can’t afford those.

“Athletics is not what we are about. It is not always about championships. We use high school athletics to teach character, values and integrity and we also do that with students who don’t strap on a helmet, get on the ice or swing a bat.”

Murray also hopes Proposal 10 goes away, saying it is segregation from a religious perspective toward the Catholic and Christian schools.

And for athletics, does it really solve the problem?

“You are going to get a school that wins the Class A title in basketball, now how many people will say that comes with an asterick?” Murray said. “You can say they are the best small school team in the state, but are they really? A lot of people will feel since you take out the private schools, that is only the ninth best team.”

Murray felt the private schools were misrepresented at this week’s meeting, citing a school such as Bishop Donahue that was closed for not having enough students.

“I understand the plight of those communities, and while I am concerned, it is out of my control, the economics and commerce facing those schools and if that hurts the population and the student-athletes,” he said. “I am fortunate enough to be in Wheeling where we have a mayor that is doing great things to draw people here.

“Should Wheeling fall on hard times, I don’t think there is anything the private school could do. We are not the problem and I think that is where we are being misrepresented.”

One of the public schools that knows Wheeling Central and Madonna very well is Cameron. The Dragons share a sectional with both teams and while competitive, know the challenges of taking on schools in larger areas.

“I do feel a competitive edge goes to the private schools, but I don’t know what the right answer is,” Cameron athletics director Roger Simmons said. “I know we don’t want to lose playing Wheeling Central because that is good competition for us.

“We schedule them in some sports and we like playing them. Same with Madonna. We added them back in football this year and play them in a lot of other sports. I don’t like the idea of putting them in their own class. I don’t know how I feel about a fourth class because I don’t want it to water down all the levels. But I do feel something needs to be done.”

En route to Wheeling Central’s three state titles this season, each time the Maroon Knights went through Cameron to get there.

While Wheeling Central can accept or deny students coming into their school (and for my best guess, especially after talking with Murray, that decision would never be based solely on athletics), Simmons is quick to point out that Cameron doesn’t have that luxury.

“As a public school, we have to take everybody that shows up at our door step,” he said. “We are the size we are and we will compete against anyone the state puts in front of us. I have nothing against Wheeling Central or any of the other private schools, but for schools like Hundred and Valley and Paden City, it makes it tough for those schools to compete.”

Another proposal being floated around is allowing a team to play up a class in a specific sport. While Simmons said Cameron would probably never go that route, Murray stated that is something that would need to be talked about between specific coaches.

“I have been asked about this numerous times and we would have to talk about the value of moving up,” he said. “We had a very good football team this season, but no way could we have competed against Martinsburg. Now our basketball team could have played against anyone in the state. There are a lot of challenges you face, but again, even if we did that, it would not be about winning championships as much as it would be challenging our student-athletes and finding the character traits that make them stronger men and women.”

Football Journeys Continue

Former Wheeling Park standout Vondel Bell hoped to hear his name called during the NFL Draft week. Unfortunately for him, that didn’t happen.

Bell has yet to catch on with a team as an undrafted free agent, but has a tryout with the Cleveland Browns this week. If that doesn’t pan out, he is invited to a three-day camp with the Indianapolis Colts on May 10.

His good friend, C.J. Goodwin, is also hoping to keep his football dream alive. The former Linsly standout was recently released by the Arizona Cardinals, but picked up on waivers by the New York Giants.

Change to Class AAA Sectional

After talking with John Marshall softball coach Ed West and Wheeling Park’s Pat Durkin after Wednesday’s game, both don’t seem to be in favor of the current system to decide a sectional champion.

Sections have two weeks to determine a champion before regionals, but that is mainly because of some Class A sections that feature 5-8 teams that may need the extra time to sort it out.

What that has become is unfair to John Marshall, Wheeling Park and Brooke, who opened their tournament play with doubleheaders the first two days.

Now the Monarchs have to wait TWO weeks to play again. That’s right. During the sectional you have 20 minutes to prepare for your next game, only to have 14 days until the regional tournament.

In baseball, only one game is played per day and it stretches the whole week. Pitchers are refreshed, batters and fielders aren’t worn out from a long day. The champion doesn’t have to wait so long and get out of a rhythm before the regionals. I think softball would be wise to implement this change for next season.

Speaking of Long Days

I have to give a shout out to the boys’ tennis players that participated in the OVAC Tournament. The rain forced play into the Wheeling Park Bubble last week, where they stayed for almost 15 hours, not leaving until well after 11 p.m.

West Liberty University is the perfect venue to host the tournament, but when the rain hits, it becomes a disaster and I don’t know if there is a solution. This isn’t the first time the tournament has gone late and I have no doubt OVAC Executive Secretary Tom Rataiczak and tennis director George Frazier have talked numerous times about what their options are. Wheeling Park should be applauded for letting them use the Bubble, but with four less courts, the event can drag.

What can be done? I’m not sure anything with a lack of indoor courts. Move the event to another day? Have players take less time during warmups? I’m not a tennis guys so I don’t have any answers, but keeping kids until 11 p.m. on a school night –especially from the farther away schools like Morgantown, University and Parkersburg South — doesn’t seem like a favorable situation.

Josh Strope can be reached at jstrope@theintelligencer.net