Bright and early on Friday morning June 26, the sound of basketballs hitting the backboards and rims could be heard coming from Magnolia High School Gym. At 9:00am the New Martinsville Middle School Girls team took on the Tyler County Middle School girls’ team. The games were played in two 16-minute halves.

The first games of the morning were played in a Round Robin style. Magnolia played Tyler girls. The winner went on to play the girls from Moundsville Middle school. The tournament was held to give an opportunity for each school to have the experience of several games.

Each team was given the opportunity to play each other’s team, with the day’s winners playing against each other. Although scores were kept, the main point of the day was to bring teams together and give real play experience, especially to younger players.

At 1:30 the morning games between the middle schools had concluded and the teams that took to the court were girls that make up the high school teams. Magnolia, Valley, and Parkersburg Catholic were the afternoons teams.

The first game of the afternoon was between Magnolia and Valley. That was followed by Magnolia and Valley each playing against Parkersburg Catholic,

High school basketball seasons ended a few months back, and the 26 – 27 season is still six months off. Utilizing the approved flex days, coaches can, with the schools’ principles consent, play organized games under the flex days policies.

In West Virginia, flex days are designated out‒of‒season days when coaches may have sport‒specific contact with student athletes outside the regular season. The guidelines are spelled out in W. Va. Code R. § 127‒3‒7. Each sport program may use 32 flex days with principal approval. Flex days run from Monday of Week 49 of the current academic year through Friday of Week 48 of the next academic year.

With these approved guidelines through the WVSSAC in place, the girls team utilized this provision to play organized sports outside the normal season in high school sport.

And for the die-hard sports fans that filled the bleachers on Friday morning, it gave them a glimpse of the upcoming season’s performance from each team. It also gave coaches an early view of the talent they may have in the fall season.