Covering Cross Country and Track & Field in West Virginia

I'm only addressing this from an athletic and coaching standpoint. I have a separate overly long depiction of everything else that I've decided to exclude from the site as people don't come here for political opinions.

So...how will this impact track season. I'll have to make some assumptions, which is always dangerous. During the walkout, counties were given the option to continue extracurricular activities or not. Some chose to cancel. Some chose to hold the activities. The first assumption is that the counties will still have that option, and that they will make the same decisions regarding that choice. The second assumption is that the WVSSAC won't make any changes to Regional or State Track Meet dates. I honestly don't remember what happened in 1990. I don't recall any meets being canceled, so the season may have just been delayed, or we practiced through it. I really don't remember. The only change in date I recall for sure was when we had a measles outbreak, which I think was in 1994. The first issue is whether or not the coaches feel like they can coach during a strike as most are teachers as well. Even if the county says they can still hold extracurricular activities, will a teacher/coach feel like he/she is crossing the picket line to coach? Will these coaches feel as though they are turning their backs on their fellow teachers? Will they be able to say "I'm on strike" from 7:00 until 3:00 and then "I'm not on strike" from 3:00 until 7:00? It's not a very fair position to put these people in. I've seen people say "we have a coach that isn't a teacher, so we'll be ok." It's not that simple. If you were striking at your job, how would you feel about someone brought in as a contract worker just walking past your line as though nothing was happening. As one of those people, am I willing to cross that picket line to coach? Likely not without the blessing of the teachers and likely not without the other coaches. I know there were a lot of hard feelings toward those that crossed the line in 1990 that didn't go away for many years (or ever for some). It's not a position I envy for myself and any of the other non-teacher coaches out there. So, now you have a position in which some teachers will go ahead and coach and others will not, some lay-coaches will coach and others will not, and some counties will allow it and some will not. This brings up the second problem. It leaves us with a likelihood of meets being canceled and/or less well attended. This leaves us with some teams getting practices in and others are not. This leaves us with unequal levels of in-season training come State Meet time. Obviously, the level of training isn't equal to begin with across schools, but they do at least have the same amount of time. Suppose that the strike lasts 2 weeks. That would be 10 school days and 2 Saturdays that would have been available for practice. Those teams that got to practice during this time could have their 14 practices in by 3/13 and be able to compete starting on 3/14. Those that weren't able to practice would not have their 14 days in until March 28th. A school that is supposed to host an early season meet may end up canceling the meet if they don't have their practices in. Would Bridgeport still hold the Connect-Bridgeport Invitational or Parkersburg still host the Kim Nutter Classic if they can't participate in it? If an Invitational that normally gets 10 or 12 teams drops to 3 or 4 due to teams not having their practices in, will they still hold the meet? Schedules could get thrown into complete disarray as teams scramble to find meets to replace those that get canceled, or they conceivably go a month without getting to compete. It's too early to tell what the true impact will be. Hopefully, things get resolved quickly, and we can all go about our business. Regardless, if you have a coach that chooses not to cross that picket line or one that does, please understand that they do not do so lightly.

Also, please make sure the names of your athletes are spelled correctly and that their grade levels are correct. .

Team Abbr: Use the 4 digit code assigned by the WVSSAC. i.e. 0026. You have to have it this way for the Regional anyway.

Full Team Name: The full name of your school: i.e. Doddridge County High School

Short Team Name: A shorter name that still makes it obvious: i.e. Doddridge. The only teams I can think of that need to do something slightly different would Lincoln County (can't use "Lincoln" because there is also a Lincoln High that should use Lincoln), and Valley Fayette, Valley Wetzel, Liberty Harrison, and Liberty Raleigh who need to add just a little to differentiate themselves. Do not use an abbreviation like DCHS or a mascot like Bulldogs.

Alternate Abbr: The school abbreviation: i.e. DCHS.

Athlete Grade Levels: Please make sure you have updated your grade levels from last year.