Travel Ball bill still bouncing at the capitol – WV MetroNews

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Senate Education Committee passed the travel ball bill for a second time this week in a meeting held Thursday morning at the state capitol.

The committee recalled the bill, SB 813, that it originally passed Tuesday and removed an amendment that would have allowed school coaches to also coach travel teams. The amendment was approved on a voice vote. The committee then passed the bill in its original form.

The measure would allow student athletes to play travel ball in a sport while they are playing a school sport in season.

Sen. Education Committee Chair Amy Grady, R-Mason, told the committee she has heard from West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission Executive Director David Price who expressed concern about the bill. She said Price explained why the SSAC currently doesn’t allow what the bill would.

“What he said to me was they were concerned about injuries and that the regulation helps to preserve kids from being injured from overplaying,” Grady said.

Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, authored the coaching amendment and withdrew it Thursday. He did pledge his support for the bill as it moves forward.

“I think it just gives some flexibility,” Oliverio said. “I don’t think that we necessarily envision a travel schedule completely overlapping with the school sport schedule but they overlap a little bit on the edges or specific events.”

Other senators said Thursday that travel seasons for a particularly sport are usually after the school season for that sport.

Grady is the bill’s lead sponsor.

“A lot of these parents and students are choosing travel over playing for their high school team because the travel gives them more exposure to more college coaches and other things. So we want to be able to get that exposure and have the sense of pride for playing for your community,” Grady earlier this week.

The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.