| West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | WVSSAA |
| Type | Volunteer; NPO |
| Legal status | Association |
| Purpose/focus | Athletic/Educational |
| Headquarters | 2875 Staunton Turnpike Parkersburg, WV 26104 |
| Region served | West Virginia |
| Official languages | English |
| Executive Director | Gary W. Ray |
| Affiliations | National Federation of State High School Associations |
| Staff | 4 |
| Website | wvssac.org |
| Remarks | (304) 485-5494 |
The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC, but colloquially referred to as SSAC) is the main governing body of high school sports, cheerleading, and marching bands in West Virginia. Schools are divided into three classes by total enrollment in grades 9-11 only: A (0–337 students) , AA (340–618 students), and AAA (619+ students). Football, basketball, baseball, cheerleading, golf, softball, track, and volleyball are broken into these three classes. Cross country, tennis, and wrestling are broke into two classes (AAA and AA/A). Swimming is one class only.
The organization began with boy's basketball championships in 1914. The organization excluded private schools until 1979, when it merged with the state Catholic League. Today it also includes private schools of various religious viewpoints, along with all public schools in the state.
Unlike similar governing bodies in the United States, the WVSSAC does not dictate individual high school schedules during the regular season; those decisions are made by the coaches involved. Note that the WVSSAC does set forth some basic guidelines (i.e., the number of schools within its own classification or higher that a school must compete against) for a school to be eligible for that sport's playoffs. The WVSSAC determines scheduling during the playoffs. For example, in football, whose playoffs are seeded on a statewide basis, each game is played at the higher-seeded school's campus if its stadium is approved by the SSAC to host playoff matches. Otherwise, it is played at the SSAC-approved venue nearest to the higher-seeded school. The lower-seeded school has the choice of one of three starting times — 7:30 pm Eastern Time on Friday or Saturday, or 1:30 pm Eastern Time on Saturday.[1]
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West Virginia was one of only three states to hold girls' basketball in the fall, and girls' volleyball in the winter, ostensibly due to facility shortages at various high schools. Eventually the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that this unfairly disadvantaged girls in competition for college scholarships and the organization was forced to adopt a traditional schedule.
The WVSSAC holds its Super Six Football Championships in Wheeling, literally a few feet from the state line and far from most of the state's population. WVSSAC board members receive "fact finding" complementary trips to the adjacent Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack. Most hotel rooms in the Wheeling area are across the Ohio River in Ohio. Most teams and many fans thus spend money out of state for this event.
The Class A (small school) championships have, since 1979, been dominated by private, mostly Catholic, schools which are allowed to pull players from anywhere, while public school players must reside in the school's geographic district. In 2011, the state legislature directed the Legislative Auditor to complete a report due in 2012, on possible solutions to the disparity.
There have also been complaints that the disparity of enrollment in Class AAA makes it difficult for the smaller schools in the classification to compete, particularly in football. There is over an 800 student difference between Parkersburg and Bridgeport, Parkersburg being the largest and Bridgeport being the smallest school in the class respectively. On the other hand there is only about a 300 student difference between Bridgeport and the smallest Class AA school, Greenbrier West. There have been a number of unsuccessful attempts to add a fourth class, most recently in 2008. The measure was passed by the WVSSAC, but was ultimately voted down by the State Board of Education. The Board named the state's relatively small number of schools and worries over how a fourth class would effect travel as deciding factors. Given the number of failed attempts most now feel as though a fourth class will never be added.
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