The Commission seeks to present proper ideals of sportsmanship so that coaches, players, school authorities, game officials, and spectators may combine to make any activity enjoyable and productive of physical and social benefits to both sides involved in the contest, with partisanship and prejudice eliminated as far as possible. To accomplish these objectives the Commission asks the cooperation of its members, all lovers of clean, wholesome activities, and all fans, young and old, who believe in our American system of interscholastics. HISTORICAL SKETCH The West Virginia High School Athletic Association was organized June 17, 1916, during a meeting of the West Virginia State Education Association. The original draft of the Constitution and Bylaws as formulated by Mr. R.J. Gorman, Charleston, West Virginia, was submitted to the principals of the high schools by Principal W.C. McKee of Charleston High School. The charter members were Bluefield, Charleston, Clarksburg (Washington Irving), Elkins, Fairmont West, Grafton, Huntington, Parkersburg, St. Marys, Sistersville and Wheeling. The first officers were: President, John G. Graham, Principal of Huntington High School; Vice President, Benjamin H. Williams, Principal of Beaver High School, Bluefield; and Secretary-Treasurer, H. P. Johns, Principal of Wheeling High School. The officers of the association were to be three in number; namely, a president, a vice president, and a secretary-treasurer. After a few minor changes of the original draft, the eleven charter member schools met and adopted the Constitution and Bylaws by an unanimous vote. The Association grew very rapidly during the ensuing years, and the work on the part of the secretary- treasurer especially became very burdensome. During these years on three or four occasions, moves were made to employ a full time executive secretary, a step that had been taken in several other states. However, on each occasion, such proposal was defeated. It was not until 1946 that the Board of Control of the Association realized that a principal of a member school could not serve his school in an acceptable manner and at the same time serve as secretary- treasurer of the High School Athletic Association. As a result of a meeting of the Board of Control held in Bluefield, West Virginia, on April 6, 1946, “the report of the Committee on the Executive Secretary was distributed to the members in mimeographed form, and on motion of Principal W. C. Whaley, East Fairmont, and seconded by Principal Robert L. Bryan, South Charles- ton, the report was accepted by a majority vote.” The report accepted was as follows: “The president, vice president and treasurer shall constitute a Board of Appeals, which board shall have authority to appoint an executive secretary to serve for a period of four years or during the will and pleasure of the Board of Appeals. The beginning salary of the executive secretary shall be three thousand four hundred dollars ($3,400) to four thousand dollars ($4,000).” Shortly after the meeting in Bluefield, the Board of Appeals met and employed William R. Fugitt as the first Executive Secretary of the West Virginia School Athletic Association, and Mr. Fugitt immediately set up his office in Beckley, West Virginia. Mr. Fugitt came into his new position well prepared for the work ahead. A graduate of Marshall College (AB) and the University of Cincinnati (MA), Mr. Fugitt began his career as an elementary principal. He then taught and coached at Proctorville, Ohio, and Dunbar, West Virginia, after which he served for four years as a high school principal in Beckley. From 1933 to 1937, Mr. Fugitt was Assistant County Superintendent of Raleigh County Schools. During Mr. Fugitt’s tenure as Executive Secretary of the Secondary School Activities Commission, he was elected President of the National Federation of State High School Associations, an organization in which some 20,000 senior and Middle School/9th Grade hold membership. During Mr. Fugitt’s tenure in office, the name of the Association was changed to that of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission. This took place in 1955. Mr. Fugitt passed away on November 3, 1959 and was succeeded by W. Gordon Eismon who, at that time, was a member of the Board of Appeals. The office was moved to Charles Town for a short time and then to Parkersburg upon Mr. Eismon’s relocation.
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