Each Year around this time the OVAC holds their annual media day banquet. It’s a nice event where they bring you up to date on everything going on in OVAC sports as school gets ready to start back up. The normal thing is for writers, reporters, radio and TV stations to get together and work with the OVAC to get information and schedules so to give the schools as much coverage as possible.

This year, due to low attendance in the past few years, they decided to try something different and combine the media day with meet directors from the OVAC giving the media an opportunity to meet directors and listen to their plans for upcoming seasons in all sports including the Ron Mauk Wrestling Tournament, one of the largest in the country.

The meet directors each gave a detailed talk about the sports they represent. The meal was excellent and gifts were handed out to all in attendance. However it was somewhat disappointing that there were only two members of the media in atendance. Media day has always been a priority for me as I gather as much information as possible about the new schools in the OVAC and new A.D.’s. This year there were no new schools and also none that left. With 51 OVAC schools competing in five classes the conference is the largest high school athletic conference in the country.

It has much to offer each member school. There are awards for and championships for every sport from swimming, bowling to football and volleyball. This year the OVAC celebrates it’s 80th year in existence (1943-2023) that right there proves it is doing things right. Just a couple weeks ago the OVAC All-Star Football game was held kicking off the high school season and giving ex-high school players one last chance to be in the spotlight. This years attendance was up compared to previous years and the contest the game itself was unmatched.

If you are a school that doesn’t belong to this great conference, you should consider the rewards. The scholarships they give out each year is reason enough to include your school. Also the Museum and Hall of Fame located in Wheeling at the Civic Center is amazing. There is none other like it in the country. If you are ever there when it’s open it’s free to the public and worth the trip. Many of our local past coaches and players are members of the Hall of Fame. There are stats and pictures of most of the schools. The walls show the value of being a member of the conference.

Another thing is the competition. With schools competing in five classes, extending to Morgantown, Parkersburg, Cambridge and beyond their is no problem finding teams to play. Many of the area’s best officials belong to the conference, and by the way they need help.

There are other conferences that you can join, but there are none better or larger or more beneficial. I had the opportunity on Thursday last week to watch River on their first game of the season over a highly talented Colonel Crawford team located 3.5 hours away. They spent the night in New Martinsville to freshen up, before heading to Hannibal and getting a hard fought 21-20 win over a very good River team. I picked River to end the season with a 9-1 record, I think I will stick to that prediction, they could have won the game but failed on a two point conversion near the end.

Speaking more about football, I would like to state some WVU facts: West Virginia is the 15th All-Time winningest football program in the nation; WVU is 18-4 in the Neal Brown ERA when rushing for at least 100 yards; WV is 96-15 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle; The Mountainers have made 227 national network appearances since the 2000 season and 311 all-time; They are one of 16 power five schools to make 18 bowl trips in the past 21 years; They have had 47 All-America Selections since 2002; WVU has had at least one player selected in the NFL Draft in 15 of the last 16 years; Has had a top five round NFL Draft selection in 13 of the last 16 years; And has had 40 NFL Draft Selections since 2008; Plus over 200 Mountaineers have been drafted by the NFL, including 85 in the top five rounds. If that doesn’t make you Mountaineer proud nothing will!

Let’s go Mountaineers; Let’s go Wildcats; Let’s go Hornets; Let’s go Lumberjacks; Let’s go Silver Knights; Let’s go Blue Eagles; Let’s go Pilots. There’s something to cheer about for us all! Let’s have a great sports season, play hard give it your all and use good sportsmanship. Listen to your coaches and respect the officals.