I have a deep passion for high school sports.

Always have.

After spending the past weeks covering the WVSSAC track and field state championships and softball state tournament, one thought continuously came to mind: 

What are we doing?

I’m not talking about culture wars or hot-button issues driven by narrative and nuance.

I’m talking about factors that impact the bigger picture – infrastructure, facilities and organization.

The problem isn’t passion.

Quite the opposite.

High school sports drive community pride everywhere, whether you live in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia. Fans travel regardless of distance. Communities rally behind their schools and kids. That doesn’t change because of geography.

I get that I’m the new(ish) guy on the block, and yes, this ain’t Texas. I’m not naive enough to think the same resources, budgets and facilities exist in West Virginia.

That’s not the expectation.

But there’s a difference between understanding and working within your limitations and simply accepting chaos because “that’s how it’s always been.”

That phrase is the most dangerous one in the English language.

The softball state tournament raises several legitimate questions and highlights a broader structural issue.

First, why are the baseball and softball tournaments structured so differently at the state level?

These are two sports that are very similar and popular in communities all around West Virginia. Yet, the high school softball state tournament feels more like a little league tournament while the baseball tournament feels like a traditional high school state championship.

For example, the softball state tournament is played at Little Creek Park in South Charleston.

While Little Creek Park is a nice community facility, the atmosphere feels more like a summer evening at the little league fields than a state championship event.

Both fields appear closer in size to little league baseball dimensions than regulation softball fields.

In contrast, the baseball state tournament is played at Marshall’s Jack Cook Field, a collegiate stadium that immediately creates a championship atmosphere for players, coaches and fans.

But that’s not where the irregularities stop.

The structure itself is dramatically different.

The softball state tournament is a double-elimination format spread across two weekends to accommodate eight-team brackets in four classifications.

In total, the event consists of:

• 16 quarterfinal games
• 8 semifinal games
• 4 championship games
• 24 consolation games
• 4 potential “if necessary” championship games.

That’s 56 total games vulnerable to spring weather delays. As Wednesday proved, the margin for error is incredibly small.

Officials played 16 games Thursday across two fields.

Sixteen.

And after Wednesday’s weather delays forced officials into the 16-game schedule across two fields, the softball tournament began to feel less like a state championship event and more like surviving a summer select-team tournament schedule.

In contrast, the baseball state tournament is single elimination played at one stadium over the same six-day span.

Why the difference for essentually the same sport?

I want to be clear: I’m not criticizing any individual or organization. Most people involved are doing the best they can within the current structure. But eventually, we have to ask ourselves: Don’t the athletes and coaches deserve better?

State championships should feel like a big deal, because they are.

High school sports create opportunities for a college education that may not be there otherwise while teaching kids to take pride in their communities.

They also create life-changing experiences for many student-athletes. 

When administrators and schools invest in better environments and organization, the experience improves for everyone involved and the results match that investment. 

So here’s a fair question:

Why not move the quarterfinal round for both baseball and softball to neutral sites a week before the state tournament?

Pair the regional champions together – Region I vs. Region II, Region III vs. Region IV, and so on – and play those matchups as best-of-three series at nearby neutral sites. 

The winners would then advance to a four-team double-elimination tournament hosted at a collegiate venue such as WVU or Marshall, creating a true championship atmosphere while dramatically reducing scheduling strain and weather vulnerability.

If they’re not, West Virginia colleges should invest in the state’s high schools because that is their pipeline.

That investment doesn’t have to be monetary. It can be simply offering facilities for use and letting the WVSSAC manage the logistics, staffing and other factors that involve hosting a state event.

It would also make reaching the state tournament feel even more meaningful.

At some point, the question becomes: Are we organizing these events in the best possible way for the athletes, coaches, fans and schools? Or are we simply maintaining systems because they’ve existed for decades?

Sometimes, the idea of get in as many teams as possible isn’t always the best solution.

At the end of the day, the goal should be to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience that truly feels special.

Because it is.