Eastern Panhandle judge’s order puts state soccer tournament in doubt
Berkeley County judge orders halt over teams being unable to play due to COVID map
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MARTINSBURG – A circuit judge from the Eastern Panhandle late Thursday morning granted a temporary restraining order to a girl from the Martinsburg girl’s soccer team who sought to delay the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission state tournament.
Judge R. Steven Redding ruled in favor of Emily Beck, who filed suit against the the SSAC on behalf of her, her teammates and boys and girls soccer teams from the four high schools in Berkeley County.
The state tournament is scheduled to begin today in Beckley. Wheeling Park’s girls squad is set to play Friday morning, and students were on the bus on their way to Beckley when they learned of the order.
SSAC Executive Director Bernie Dolan did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
None of the Berkeley County teams were able to play in postseason competition because of the orange status for Berkeley County on the state map two weeks ago. Orange on the state’s COVID-19 map prohibits teams from playing games.
Redding agreed with Beck’s argument that she and others were being deprived of “equal protection of the law,” in part because of a “disparity of availability among the counties or the absurd reality that schools in counties with much higher infection rates are not barred from playing in the tournament.”
Redding wrote in his directive: “The ability to participate in high school sports is an important and integral part of our children’s overall educational experience. Therefore, the public has a strong interest in seeing that students have an opportunity to participate in high school sports. Furthermore, because this action raises significant issues concerning the WVSSAC’s eligibility rules, the public has an interest in addressing those issues now since they are likely to arise again in connection with other sports such as volleyball, football and basketball.”
Beck filed the lawsuit on behalf of the eight Berkeley County teams, both boys and girls teams from Hedgesville, Martinsburg, Musselman and Spring Mills high schools, seeking a delay to Friday and Saturday’s West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission state tournament taking place in Beckley.
In the lawsuit, beside a temporary restraining order to half the state tournament, Emily Beck wants “the Court then grant an injunction against the WVSSAC, prohibiting it from proceeding with the state AAA girls and boys soccer playoffs and tournament until after access to free COVID-19 testing has been made available to residents of Berkeley County in a manner equal to residence of other counties in the state, or, in the alternative, until the WVSSAC adjusts the criteria for participation in secondary school activities to account for the disparity in public access to free COVID-19 testing between Berkeley County and other counties in the state.”
Redding has scheduled another hearing for next Thursday.