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It was about this time last year or at least somewhere in the general vicinity, that the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission approved a proposal that would allow the summer prep sports practice window to expand. Currently, coaches of all middle school and prep sports have three weeks to work with their student athletes.

 

Last year, the WVSSAC approved proposal was to allow the practice session to be held for the duration of most of the summer. Of course, the measure needed approval by the West Virginia Board of Education and it never made on their agenda.

 

Thus, the proposal died.

 

It isn’t necessarily a miracle, but the proposal has been resurrected. In fact, it’s been brought back from the dead in an even more unique manner. Now, a proposal is back and will likely be pushed for consideration again by the State BOE; perhaps in July according to reports from MetroNews.com.

 

The difference?

 

Round 2 of the proposal isn’t just for the summer. Now, the WVSSAC’s membership – by a less than mandate showing 54-53 vote – is asking for year-round practices with the exception of two weeks. That would mean with the exception of the week of July 4 and the week prior to the beginning of any individual sports’ season that 50 of the 52 weeks of a calendar year would be open to practice.

 

While the proposal is for all sports, it’s prep football that has driven this engine. That’s not a slap at the other sports – it’s just where the onus of the matter originates.

 

Because of that, I got the thoughts of Bridgeport High School Coach Josh Nicewarner on the proposal. And he said that as it stands, he has no real opposition to it in the year-round format and actually likes it better than the three week session now in place and the all summer proposal from a year ago.

 

“Even with the three weeks we have now for kids that play multiple sports, I don’t know too many kids that would rather be down here at the football field working out and doing drills as opposed to being on the road in an AAU basketball tournament or traveling with a baseball program like the Patriot League,” said Nicewarner. “I don’t blame kids for that, but it hurts football. This would help football and as a football coach, I’m thinking about this proposal from a football perspective.”

 

I can see why it would be of particular benefit for BHS. For the Indians and their relatively straight forward approach – even with the pistol offense – the real benefit comes in repetition. Being able to take a group of linemen and work on one thing for a week could have a huge advantage for the team.

 

“As a basic concept, I’m for it because of the fact you would really have time work on small things. You could spend individual time with your quarterback and center exchange and we could spend time with our quarterbacks and receivers, which doesn’t always get the time it deserves,” said Nicewarner. “There’s a plus to doing things over and over.”

 

Of course, there are skeptics out there. And you know what, there should be.

 

For someone who says a coach out there won’t abuse this is like saying I won’t be having seconds at the next wedding buffet that is in front of me. Personally, I don’t know of any coaches locally or at BHS that would take advantage of the situation – if it comes to pass – and I know for sure Principal Mark DeFazio and Assistant Principal Matt DeMotto (also the athletic director) wouldn’t allow that to happen. 

 

I’ve been around Nicewarner long enough to know he’s not the type of coach to abuse the ability of having the chance to coach a kid 52 weeks. When your grandfather was the late Sonny Nicewarner, your dad and brothers played for legendary Coach Wayne Jamison and you played for Bruce Carey, it is part of the football DNA that you don’t take advantage of a kid.

 

That said, I’m kind of indifferent to the proposal as opposed to last year's where I saw a child's summer completely taken away. Still, part of me thinks many kids will put unnecessary pressure on themselves to miss out on being a kid – even if the pressure isn’t from a single outside source. And there’s part of me that believes that if a kid wants to work their tail of to get better in any sport and do it with their high school coach, then why not particularly when a new proposal would give more time in the summer with families. 

 

“I just think it’s positive to work with kids if they want to be worked with. Maybe that’s selfish of me wanting a kid to get better, but quite frankly that is exactly how I feel with this proposal,” said Nicewarner.

 

There is one thing I’m certain about. For those that believe this proposal is some sort of gateway for a boatload of Division I scholarships to be offered to West Virginia players in football and other sports, they’re kidding themselves.

 

I’ve heard that argument for years. I’ve also heard in the last 20 years about 1000 parents let me know their child is a major Division I prospect in multiple sports. If I used my fingers and toes, I’d still have plenty left over as to how many of those predictions came true in Harrison County.

 

Maybe, just maybe, a few more will come out of this. But if that’s what this is all about then stop it now. Somewhat to my surprise, and maybe it shouldn’t have been, Nicewarner totally agreed with that.

 

“I don’t claim to know everything and I haven’t had dozens of Division I athletes, but without a doubt I have had some experience with kids getting recruited in Division I and Division II,” said Nicewarner. “In almost every single case, it’s a kid that has God-given talent; they have size and speed. Heart can really take you far in high school, but there’s a reason Rudy was such a great movie and that’s because it just doesn’t generally happen.

 

“When it does, it’s few and far between and as a coach if a kid’s dream is to play Division I football I’m not going to discourage that because having dreams and goals are important in football and beyond,” Nicewarner continued. “But for people thinking if this passes then all of the sudden you’re going to have everyone getting Division I offers then you’ve got it wrong. The only way that’s going to happen is if West Virginia’s population isn’t less than a lot of big cities out there.”

 

Nicewarner said he does have one big fear. He said he knows there will be “rogue coaches” that will demand a kid spend all their time on one sport. Because of that, he said administrators in some places will have a tough time policing this if it comes to fruition.

 

While the current proposal may go nowhere, it’s back again for discussion. Soon, it could very well be up for a vote.

 

And now, the ball is in your court. Go to the right here and scroll down or go to the right of the sports page and scroll down to a poll and let me know what you think about the proposal by the WVSSAC that is soon to go before the State BOE.

 

Editor's Note: Photos show BHS football teams in action in the top two photos and cross country and boys basketball in bottom two pictures, respectively, during practice.