From the Bench: Trying to Legislatively Fix Regulation that is a Rotting Carcass Law for State's Prep Sports
By Jeff Toquinto on January 18, 2026 from Sports Blog
It did not take long, nor should it have taken long. It should have never needed to have taken place at all.
But here we are. Another session of the West Virginia Legislature. And immediately there is high school sports-related legislation introduced to replace as bad a piece of legislation as I can recall (except for one a few years ago calling for each athlete to be guaranteed playing time).
The bill in question is the “transfer portal” bill. I wrote a blog about it after HB2820 passed on March 26, 2023 (although there were a few 
blogs on failed attempts prior to it as well). The headline summed up my thoughts on the bill – it stinks. Nearly three years later I still have some thoughts on the bill – it stinks.
blogs on failed attempts prior to it as well). The headline summed up my thoughts on the bill – it stinks. Nearly three years later I still have some thoughts on the bill – it stinks.
In fairness, stink should take offense to being used. This is a rotted carcass of legislation that needs to be gone.
It has helped a whole lot of schools achieve success in athletics. It has hurt a whole lot more.
Without getting into all the details, the bill is this: Student-athletes are allowed to transfer to any school at least one time and keep their athletic eligibility. In other words, if you can find transportation to another school that is not your public school, you can go there. And across county lines is fair game too.
Legislators told us it was about fairness. It would increase visibility. It would open the door to scholarships.
My response in a few articles was that it would create chaos, a whole new level of recruitment by some parents and misguided coaches, along with shady influencers, and that there would be no real ramifications for the Legislature because the blame would fall squarely on the WVSSAC, the governing body of athletics in West Virginia.
There is no tangible way to 100 percent say if any of that is correct. But, I will say this – I am correct.
I am not going to waste the time of WVSSAC Executive Director Wayne Ryan by calling him about the matter. He likely spends a good
portion of each week dealing with the stupidity of the bill from 2023. A bill that his predecessor nor anyone at the WVSSAC ever endorsed.
portion of each week dealing with the stupidity of the bill from 2023. A bill that his predecessor nor anyone at the WVSSAC ever endorsed.
That did not matter that the WVSSAC, the folks in charge of athletics, closest to it, and representing the schools that take part in it said it would be bad, it still passed. The WVSSAC has its allis when it comes to those on the front lines of prep sports who think this is a trainwreck.
A little more than a year ago, on Jan. 7 of 2025, athletic directors from across West Virginia spoke in front of the Joint Standing Committee on Education at the West Virginia Capitol at interim legislative meetings in Charleston.
Guess what? What he said at that meeting showing the consequences of the legislation was irrelevant because nothing changed.
It was interesting to hear the numbers from David Viands, the AD of Jefferson High School who headed up the state’s athletic director’s association during that meeting, which were released for transfers from 2023 and 2024.
Viands said in there were 432 transfers for fall sports – that’s just fall sport – in 2023. In 2024, it was almost the same at 433. Again, understand that is just the fall sports total.
No use digging up fresh information. We all know hundreds and hundreds of kids did it again in 2025 and will be doing it again in 2026.
In the same report, Viands pointed out students are transferring to the top teams. Stunning huh?
“We’re seeing transfers and juniors and seniors basically to go join a better team or to win a state championship,” Viands said in the 
MetroNews report.
MetroNews report.
“That sounds great for the schools accepting the student athletes, but it does create disparity in schools that if you lose a lot of seniors and a lot of juniors, you’re now playing freshmen and sophomores and you’re playing against the school that these student athletes went to.”
Another AD told those in the committee meeting he knows 80 athletic directors across the state. Of the group, zero likes the rule.
Simple: The West Virginia Legislature has a real issue with keeping its nose out of high school sports. Most lawmakers arrive in Charleston featuring a unique professional skill set that allows them to make informed decisions. It is clear the chamber is either extremely low or completely void of those who understand prep sports.
In fairness, not everyone in the Legislature is a fan. Back in my 2023 blog, I quoted Kanawha County Republican Delegate Dana Ferrell’s description of the bill after he voted against it.
“This is a travesty,” said Farrell. “We have unleashed a beast.”
Why would his opinion matter despite the fact a beast has been released? It is simple. Ferrell is a former high school coach who understood what was at stake. Recruiting, which is still rampant today, was predicted by Farrell in this quote from 2023 who easily saw what his colleagues either should have seen or refused to.
State Senate Minority leader Michael A. Woelfel is heading up the cause this time. He has introduced Senate Bill 122. It is one sentence. It would repeal the transfer portal.
Woelfel is not an educator or coach, at least through a quick Google search on him, in his professional time away from Charleston. No, the Senator from Cabell County is a lawyer. He could be a lawyer, a Pringle salesperson, or a lifeguard in the desert. The only qualification to fix this is common sense.
I would not know Woelfel if he picked up my bar tab at Primanti Brothers or my dinner bill at Twin Oaks. I do know he is right.I am not talking about a situation like Liberty High School closing and students being upended and blindsided leading to transfers. I am talking about schools that have been around that are not going anywhere on the closure front, with established rivalries, in established communities, where students hope, skip, and jump like it is playground time.
The portal needs to be closed. I do not care who benefited, who suffered, who stayed status quo because that cannot be changed. I do care that it needs to end.
I am certain of that. I am less certain any action will be taken on the matter.
The people in the prep sports trenches have seen and felt the damage. It is destitute legislation. The only thing worse than passing it in 2023 would be to allow it to continue after the 2026 session.
Editor's Note: At the top is the WVSSAC logo, while WVSSAC Executive Director Wayne Ryan is shown in the second photo. House Minority Leader Michael A. Woelfel is shown in the bottom photo in a Will Price image from West Virginia Legislative Photography.
