A decision that will have a significant impact on Bridgeport High School’s athletic future for likely the next four years is right around the corner. In fact, it is just days away.

 

The West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission (WVSSAC) will be holding a Board of Directors meeting this Wednesday in Parkersburg. The thing that will almost certainly be determined – the next round of high school sports classification realignment.

 

The decision may be made that day, but the public announcement generally comes a day or so after. Bridgeport High School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Tom Sears is pretty confident of a narrow period for that announcement.

 

“The expectation is before Christmas,” said Sears of when the announcement should come. In other words, schools may feel like they’ve received a nice gift under the Christmas tree and others a lump of coal in their stocking.

 

These announcements have been a standard occurrence every four years. And practically every four years, Bridgeport High School is uncertain of where it will land.

 

Why?

 

For the past two decades, the Indians have bounced back and forth between Class AAA and Class AA based on enrollment figures. Typically, the Indians have been one of the largest Class AA schools in West Virginia or one of the smallest Class AAA schools in the state.

 

Four years ago, when realignment last took place (and before the new formula was created for Class AAAA basketball for boys and girls), Bridgeport was the smallest Class AAA school in the state. If they are not now, they are definitely among the smallest and have at times competed against schools that have enrollments with a thousand or more additional students than Bridgeport.

 

Now, at least in several other sports, realignment will be in four classes beyond basketball. Perhaps the most critical is football. And not because Bridgeport is known for football or any other reason. It is the same for nearly every athletic program in the state.

 

In most four-year cycles, the announcement comes around the time the football playoffs begin. Even with that early November time frame, it has been extremely difficult for football teams such as Bridgeport to fill out a 10-team schedule.

 

Ideally, Bridgeport would load up on Big 10 Conference schools. With the lack of Class AAA schools in the conference and the WVSSAC requirement each school play a minimum of six teams in their own classification to be eligible for the football postseason it cannot happen. Unlike basketball, volleyball, baseball, and others, you are not automatically in a sectional tournament before the season even begins.

 

Having dealt with ADs at Bridgeport from Sears to Mark Jones, Matt DeMotto and even back to Mark DeFazio along with more at other schools, putting together a football schedule where you try to find five home and five road games can often be a grind. Because of that, the announcement needs to come as soon as possible after the Dec. 20 meeting.

 

“It’s definitely a challenging time, but it’s more challenging in football than any other sport because you are trying to make out your schedule. You don’t know how many teams in what class you have to play, and we’re not alone,” said Sears. “Basically, Bridgeport and several other schools are in a holding pattern; sort of a standstill until the new classifications are announced.”

 

Unlike four years ago when enrollment was the only factor, there are other factors coming into play this time around for the WVSSAC. While enrollment still accounts for a vast majority of where teams end up, socioeconomic status, and being located in proximity to a city with 10,000 residents or more also plays into it on a percentage basis. A similar formula was used with the four-class decision in basketball that saw Bridgeport, again, as the smallest school in the state in ‘AAAA.’

 

Here is the thing. Although it looks like four classes are going to happen, it is not a guarantee. It is also not guaranteed how many teams will be in each class. In the past, the WVSSAC tried to keep the numbers close in each classification. Does that happen again? If it does not, will one class have, using football as the example, a 16-team playoff field and another classification with a much smaller number of schools have, say, an eight-team field?

 

All of those questions need to be answered. The good news? Sears believes talk has long been in place to answer those questions at the BOD meeting Dec. 20.

 

“Those conversations are and have been taking place. Even though I feel good about where we are right now, we are waiting to see our classification. We have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C in place based on classification determinations and any other decision coming from the meeting,” said Sears.

 

Sears said Bridgeport’s October 2023 enrollment numbers were around 820 students, which is roughly the same as it was in 2019. The October numbers are the ones the WVSSAC uses when calculating their reclassification.                                                                              “There’s been a lot of conjecture out there and a whole lot of rumors floating around for a long time,” said Sears. “The bottom line is we’re not going to know anything for sure until after the Dec. 20 meeting. At a minimum, due to scheduling issues, I think the worst-case scenario is that they’ll announce reclassification for football. There have been some rumors there’s only going to be a football reclassification, but we just don’t know.”

 

Along with knowing the date of the meeting, Sears knows a few other things. First, a group that has been known as the competitive balance committee that is made up of principals and other sports-related officials across West Virginia to give input on decisions like this to the governing board of state athletics, has sent their recommendation to the WVSSAC Board of Directors.

 

“They’ve discussed proposals. They have provided their input,” Sears said.

 

Here is what else he knows about the reclassification and Bridgeport.

 

“Whether it is Bridgeport or any other school, it’s not fair or equitable to ask any school to be classified with a school that has a 1,000 more students,” said Sears. “We’ve definitely been watching to see how this goes and want what’s best for Bridgeport like other schools want what’s best for them. If something ends up happening that is clearly not in the best interests of our student-athletes, we won’t be quiet about it. I think (the SSAC) will do what’s best to get this right.

 

“The thing I know for sure is that wherever we land, the athletes, the coaches, and this community will be prepared to go to battle,” Sears continued. “When the smoke clears and all decisions have been made, that group will rise to face whatever level of competition they’re tasked with facing. That’s what Bridgeport High School is about.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is of Athletic Director Tom Sears, while the second photo (and cover photo) are aerial file photos by Ben Queen Photography. The WVSSAC logo is at the bottom.