WVSSAC Super Six Football Championships

SSAC Changes Super Six Bidding
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
By JIM ELLIOTT- The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register

Gary Ray can do little but smile when he visits Wheeling.

As executive director of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission, Ray knows a good thing for his agency when he sees it — and the good thing that has come out of Wheeling over the past 14 years is how the city has changed the face of high school sports with its handling of the Super Six state high school football championships.

What has set Wheeling apart is that the focus of the event is on the kids, Ray said. The local Super Six Committee works hard to honor not only the athletes, but also those who excel in the classroom.

“Wheeling’s Super Six Committee is made of special men,” Ray said. “If you’ve ever listened to these folks in Wheeling ... they focus on the kids.”

Wheeling’s success with Super Six has led to a change in how the SSAC will be awarding bids for the event beginning next year. Instead of a two-year contract for the host city, the new contract will be changed to a three-year guarantee with a fourth-year option, Ray said.

Super Six will celebrate its 14th season in Wheeling on Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1.

The four-year proposal is something the SSAC has made across the board with its state championship sites, designed to allow potential host groups to gain more solid commitments from their sponsors and supporters.

“We had the request from many of our sites saying they needed more time to allow their sponsors to grow with them,” Ray said during Monday’s Super Six Media News Conference at the Thunder Club inside WesBanco Arena.

The fourth year, or option year, is written as a way to evaluate what’s taking place — both from the host city’s perspective and that of the SSAC, Ray said. If things aren’t going as planned, either side can opt out and have a new bidding process take place after the third year.

The last of the two-year proposals ends in mid-January, when Super Six will be back on the auction block at SSAC headquarters in Parkersburg, awaiting the best bid in the eyes of the SSAC board of directors.

“As usual, we will be going full force,” said Bernie Dolan, a member of Wheeling’s Super Six Committee.

That was just part of the discussion Monday afternoon, with much of the rest of it focusing on what Wheeling has done to progress Super Six into what it is today: A showcase for the kids.

“I’m so proud to have Super Six in Wheeling,” city Mayor Nick Sparachane said. “It’s the greatest (public relations) point this city and this community has.”

Ohio County Commissioner Tim McCormick echoed what the mayor, and the late Sam Mumley, who led the charge in 1994 to get the games in Wheeling, often said.

“We’re very proud to be sponsors of Super Six,” McCormick said. “It’s great to do things to take care of the kids because that’s what this is all about.”

The Wheeling group has never had a Super Six discussion without mentioning the kids, as it still follows Mumley’s guidance, which was repeated Monday by committee member Howard Corcoran.

“The kids, the kids, the kids. Take care of the kids for they are the foundation of our future,” he said, recalling Mumley’s words. “There is no other town that bids on Super Six that understands the kids like the way Wheeling does.

“We do take care of the kids and we’re going to continue to do that. They’re the best natural resource we have in West Virginia.”

Super Six 2007 will officially kick off Thursday, Nov. 29, with the annual Super Six Kickoff Dinner, slated to begin at 6 p.m. at the McLure House Hotel in downtown Wheeling.

That will be followed by the Class AA state title game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wheeling Island Stadium, the Academic Achievement Banquet at 10 a.m. Saturday at Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center, the Class AAA title game at noon, and the Class A title game at 7:30 p.m.