CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s Capital City is gearing up to host the four different WVSSAC high school football championship games at UC Stadium at Laidley Field.
The state championship games will be hosted by Charleston for the first time in 30 years, as Wheeling Island Stadium in Wheeling has been the host since 1994.
The games will begin on Friday and last through Saturday, with class A getting things started with No. 4 Cameron (12-1) against No. 3 Wahama (13-0) at noon.
On Friday night, No. 2 Roane County (13-0) and No. 1 Frankfort (13-0) will battle for the class AA title at 7 p.m.
The class AAA state championship will be at noon on Saturday between No. 4 Herbert Hoover (13-0) and No. 3 Bridgeport (13-0), and class AAAA will wrap up the state championship games on Saturday night. No. 2 Spring Mills (12-1) will take on No. 1 Martinsburg (12-1) at 7 p.m.
Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Tim Brady says the city will make the games comparable to a college football bowl game atmosphere.
“Their helmets will be shined, their shoes will be shined, their lockers will be hung. We’re making it like a true bowl game environment,” Brady said on “580 Live” with Dave Allen Tuesday. “When the teams walk into their locker rooms, there is a sense of arrival. It’s a championship atmosphere for the teams.”
Tim Brady
Charleston won the recent bid for the championship games over Wheeling and Bluefield, as well as Morgantown and Huntington, who combined on a bid to potentially split the future championship games between Milan Puskar Stadium and Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Charleston will host the next three years of championship games, with the mutual option for a fourth year.
Brady says the City of Wheeling did a great job over the past three decades in setting a standard for how to host the games.
“Wheeling did a fantastic job with this event,” Brady said. “In a lot of ways, they really created the templet and set the bar for what the expectation was from a host committee for this event. Wheeling did an outstanding job with it.”
Brady says there are multiple parking options, but there will be one game that presents a challenge.
“There is still Laidley Field parking. There is on street parking in the neighborhoods around Laidley. There is also parking on Washington Street and down towards the East End. You can park off of Piedmont (Road). There’s parking available, but Friday at noon is going to be a challenge,” Brady said. “We do anticipate a big crowd from Wahama. We do anticipate a big crowd from Cameron…anyone from the state that wants to take the day off, I’d encourage that.”
Despite being West Virginia’s largest city, Brady is reporting that last-minute overnight accommodations seem unlikely to find at this point. He says half of the eight competing teams not being close to the Capital City will make the economic impact even better this year.
“We’ve got four teams that qualified for housing under the WVSSAC formula, and that’s Martinsburg, Spring Mills, Frankfort and Cameron, and all of the teams are staying two nights. We anticipate that their fans are going to come and spend at least one night in Charleston,” Brady said. “I do know that, between the football championships and the cheer championships, our hotels are full.”
In preparation for the state title games, Laidley Field has a brand-new video board that will show replays for fans, as well as locker upgrades and railings.