Fans are reacting to the changes taking place in the state’s high school sports tournaments this year

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Fans of the three-day state volleyball tournament underway in Charleston say there is no reason why all student athletes shouldn’t have the opportunity to compete after it was announced Sunday that the Class Single A volleyball tournament would be canceled indefinitely.

The state volleyball tournament is currently underway at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center and runs through Thursday.

However, the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activity Commission made the announcement that the Class A volleyball teams would be postponed due to ongoing legal battles over which teams should be included. The WVSSAC plans to continue with Class AA, AAA and AAAA.

Darla Ellison was at the tournaments Tuesday to champion the girls volleyball team at James Monroe High School, where her daughter is the assistant coach.

She said this legal situation ultimately only hurts student athletes.

“The SSAC should have figured this out before the season even started, they should have had it figured out, but you know what, it is what it is because we see this in football too, and I hate it for that.” girls,” Ellison said.

The state high school football playoffs are also in jeopardy due to similar legal battles.

The football championships are expected to be played Dec. 6-7 at Charleston University Stadium at Laidley Field, but with the ongoing lawsuits it is unclear whether the first games will be played this weekend and risk being postponed an entire week. or more.

The whole situation started when the WVSSAC announced last December that they would be adding a fourth classification for certain sports, which would include 22 football teams and also affect other sports like volleyball.

This change led to a number of court filings and orders from several county school systems across the state, which allege these transfers are unfair.

Ellison said the state can have four classes, but they need to go back and really look at how they rank each specific team within those classes as some perform better if they stay in place.

“Because James Monroe was Class A for four years and they moved back to AA last year, and they got two boys state championships because they were Class A, so you know, we were fortunate to get those four years in a were lower class,” Ellison said.

George Springer cheered on Class AA Philip Barbour said Tuesday he agrees these changes will only hurt the players.

“There is nothing wrong with being defeated by a team in a state championship, but missing the opportunity to play for the state championship is unfair to the student athletes,” Springer said.

He said this will now be an ongoing issue as certifications will now take place every two years.

Springer said the SSAC should have just left the process alone because teams in Class A work just as hard as any other team to get there.

“Look, some of these kids worked for four years when they were a senior and they finally put the blood, sweat and tears into it and all that, and now they end up having to sit on the sidelines or maybe I’m not allowed at all let’s play,” Springer said. “It’s unfair. Sometimes adults get involved in things they shouldn’t be involved in and should have just let the kids play.”

The volleyball tournaments continue Wednesday at the Coliseum with AAA teams and Thursday with AAAA.