Wahama fans celebrate the scoring of a touchdown against Cameron in the state Class A football championship at the University of Charleston Stadium in Charleston Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. Wahama won 29-22.
With Herbert Hoover fans in the background, the Bridgeport offense huddles before a play during the ƵSSAC Class AAA football state championship game at UC Stadium at Laidley Field in Charleston on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024.
Wahama fans celebrate the scoring of a touchdown against Cameron in the state Class A football championship at the University of Charleston Stadium in Charleston Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. Wahama won 29-22.
With Herbert Hoover fans in the background, the Bridgeport offense huddles before a play during the ƵSSAC Class AAA football state championship game at UC Stadium at Laidley Field in Charleston on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024.
After the West Virginia high school football state championships were held in Charleston for the first time in three decades, the city and the experience scored highly among participating coaches.
HD Media surveyed this week the coaches of the eight teams that played in the state title games Dec. 13 and 14.
The survey included the following questions: ƵHow would you rate your state championship experience?Ƶ and ƵWas the city of Charleston a good host for the state finals?Ƶ
Coaches rated their experiences highly, with all responses ranking from eight to 10 on a scale of 1-10.
Cameron coach Tim Brown and Spring Mills coach Marcus Law each scored their experiences as a 10. The total score from all eight coaches was 71 out of a possible 80.
The eight coaches unanimously responded ƵyesƵ to Charleston being a good host.
WahamaƵs James Toth deemed it Ƶabsolutely the best.Ƶ
HD Media also ran a poll on X/Twitter with the question, ƵDo you think the city of Charleston did a good job with the 2024 state football championships?Ƶ
Of 138 votes, 63% said ƵyesƵ and 37% said Ƶno.Ƶ
ƵCharleston did a great jobƵ
The eight coaches were asked, ƵWhat was the best part of the experience?Ƶ
A few coaches noted the pregame light show in each of the locker rooms, which were constructed by the Charleston championship committee.
The teams were welcomed into their locker rooms with hype music and the colors of their school.
ƵThe players loved walking into the locker room with the lights turned off and blue lights lighting up the room,Ƶ Frankfort coach Kevin Whiteman said. ƵThey love seeing their helmet, jersey and everything in their locker. The entire experience reminded me so much of being in Wheeling.
ƵCharleston did a great job, especially for being the first year doing it in a long time.Ƶ
Law said Cardinals team host Mark Plants did an exceptional job.
ƵHe was a tremendous help in helping us plan our trip and answering questions once we got to Charleston,Ƶ Law said.
Toth noted the attention the White Falcons garnered from everyone involved as a big plus in the overall experience.
ƵThe atmosphere with which we played and the attention our players and school received was awesome,Ƶ Toth said. ƵIf that game is in Wheeling or Morgantown, we donƵt get as much community support showing up.Ƶ
Some coaches commented on the renovations that Joe Varney, the facilityƵs general manager, and his staff made, as well as the new video board in the end zone closest to the Capitol.
Possible improvements mentioned
Coaches also suggested some possible improvements to the experience before, during and after.
ƵThe sideline area outside of the coaches box was a danger zone and it shouldƵve been covered with some type of material,Ƶ Whiteman noted. ƵThere are many plays and tackles made outside of the box, and it couldƵve created an injury.
ƵI didnƵt like that they made us get off of the bus on the other side of the stadium and walk across to the side of our locker room, then do it after the game.Ƶ
Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Tim Brady also noted the same issue of teams walking across the stadium to get to their locker room.
ƵOne of the things that none of us thought about as we prepared to host was the difference in logistics of the locker room to field,Ƶ Brady said. ƵIn Wheeling, you enter and exit the locker room right at the field level. You never go out into a public space if youƵre a team. ItƵs not the same in Charleston.
ƵNothing bad happened. Teenage athletes are a funny thing. If IƵm a coach, I want as few distractions as possible. So, I donƵt want my guys walking past their friends, parents, siblings and girlfriends. I want them to and from the field.Ƶ
Herbert Hoover, which had the shortest commute to and from the field, made its second state title game appearance in the last four years.
Huskies coach Joey Fields noted making the experience more like a Ƶbowl game.Ƶ
ƵI would love to see a coaches/players media day, a dinner for the head coaches and athletic directors and maybe two to four players before the games,Ƶ Fields said. ƵWe tried to treat it like a bowl game. I know some teams just went up and back.
ƵOur players only received one shirt, when in Wheeling you got a shirt, hat, beanie and bag.Ƶ
Positive feedback
The one common word in responses to the final survey question, ƵWhat was the feedback you got from your players and community members?Ƶ was Ƶhappy.Ƶ
CoachesƵ responses were generally positive in regard to their game-day experience.
Herbert Hoover, likely owing to its location in Kanawha County, brought a significant crowd, with the majority of the stands on its side of UC Stadium at Laidley Field covered in fans wearing scarlet and royal blue.
ƵOur community loved that it was in Charleston,Ƶ Fields said. ƵThe Hoover community brought more fans than anyone that weekend.Ƶ
Roane County coach Paul Burdette, similar to Fields, noted the benefit of the close proximity from Spencer to Charleston.
ƵA great plan in placeƵ
Brady was pleased with the execution of championship weekend.
ƵThe biggest takeaway is that we had a great committee that put a great plan in place,Ƶ Brady said. ƵWith some minor bumps, especially the first day, everything went as planned. That means we donƵt have anything big to fix between this year and next.
ƵThat means that we can present a great event next year because we donƵt have major fixes that we have to worry about.Ƶ
Brady said he and his staff surveyed athletic directors and coaches and received great results.
The Charleston CVB president and CEO also looked at feedback from city businesses from a financial perspective.
ƵThe feedback from our restaurants and hotels was also positive,Ƶ Brady said. ƵThe hotels had good experiences with the teams that stayed. The fans that stayed, the restaurants got business out of it. We can look at it for GoMart Ballpark, who set a record attendance for Light the Night.
ƵIf you can look around and see people in school gear at an event, theyƵre setting attendance records. It worked the way we had hoped (with) people that came for the game.Ƶ
Taylor Kennedy covers sports. He can be reached at 304-348-7935 or tkennedy@hdmediallc.com. Follow on Twitter.
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