Times' high school notebook: West A's Dave McBain calling it a career

There will soon be a changing of the guard in the West Allegheny High School athletic department.

Dave McBain has decided to retire after serving 23 years as the Indians’ athletic director.

“It’s time. I’ve done what I needed to do in the arena of interscholastic athletics,” McBain said. “It’s time to give someone else an opportunity.”

During McBain’s long run as A.D., West Allegheny developed into one of the WPIAL’s most successful athletic departments.

For starters, West Allegheny offers its students plenty of options to compete in sports. Counting cheerleading and club teams for hockey and rugby, there are 20 sports programs.

During McBain’s run as athletic director, West Allegheny teams won 21 WPIAL titles in seven different sports: football (6), baseball (4), girls softball (3), girls volleyball (3), girls swimming (3), boys basketball (1) and boys soccer (1).

The Indians also won three state titles during that time: football in 2001, girls volleyball in 2006 and boys soccer in 2018.

Also, West Allegheny has earned the prestigious WPIAL Sportsmanship Award six times. That award, launched in 1997, rewards schools that best demonstrate elements of good sportsmanship. The only schools to win the sportsmanship award more than West Allegheny are seven-time winners Hampton and North Hills.

“I’m very proud of the student athletes we’ve had, very proud of the coaches I've been able to work with, and very proud of the community that has supported interscholastic athletics at West Allegheny,” McBain said. “Overall, it’s been a great experience.”

Beside his duties at West Allegheny. McBain is also active in WPIAL matters. He’s currently the president of the WPIAL’s 22-person board of directors and a member of the WPIAL’s sports medicine steering committee.

A 1982 graduate of Cornell High School, McBain earned a degree in Sports Management at Robert Morris University.

After graduating from RMU, McBain served as the Colonials’ assistant athletic trainer. He then moved on to the Montour school district in the summer of 1988 where he started the Spartans’ first sports medicine program. He also served four years as assistant athletic director. While at Montour, McBain also was a seasonal assistant athletic training volunteer for the Pittsburgh Steelers working at mini-camps, training camps and three days a week during the season from 1992-2000.

McBain isn’t sure what he’ll do once his retirement goes into effect this spring, but says that “I will stay active. You don’t do this job for as long as I have and go sit on a couch and watch ‘The Price Is Right’ all day. It’s not my nature to sit idle. I will stay busy.”

The search for McBain’s replacement is under way. West Allegheny posted a job opening for its new athletic director on the WPIAL’s website on Jan. 5. Deadline to apply is Jan. 31.

JOHN ROSA HIRED AT HOPEWELL

Last week, the Beaver County Times reported that John Rosa was expected to be hired as Hopewell’s football coach at the Jan. 9 school board meeting. Rosa, who’s currently the athletic director at Western Beaver, was indeed approved by the school board.

Rosa, a 1985 Hopewell graduate who was the starting quarterback in ’84, once served one season as the Vikings’ offensive coordinator in 1995 when Chuck Blaney was head coach. He then moved on to Freedom where he spent 34 years as a teacher, athletic director and multi-sport coach. Last season, Rosa was the offensive coordinator at Western Beaver, which beat Hopewell in a non-conference game, 47-0.

“It’s like I’ve gone full circle,” Rosa said. “I started here, played here and even coached here before I went to Freedom. “This is a special place, a place I eventually wanted to return to if the opportunity presented itself.”

Rosa definitely will have a challenge on his hands.

He’s succeeding Matt Weiss, who resigned following the 2023 season. In Weiss’ five seasons as coach, Hopewell had an 8-37 overall record including 6-22 in conference play with no playoff appearances. This past season, the Vikings finished in last place in the WPIAL Class 3A Western Hills Conference, 1-9 overall and 0-5 in conference play.

Before Weiss, the Vikings were coached by Mark Washington, who resigned after four seasons. Hopewell went 13-26 under Washington, including 6-21 against conference opponents.

Hopewell has not made the playoffs since 2012.

“It’s not going to happen overnight, but we can win here,” Rosa said.

Rosa was expected to hold his first team meeting on Tuesday (Jan 16). He will soon start an off-season conditioning program as he also puts together his coaching staff.

“This first staff is going to be really important as we try to change the culture,” Rosa said.

UPDATE ON ALIQUIPPA’S APPEAL TO THE PIAA

Aliquippa is expected to learn on Wednesday (Jan. 17) when it will be able to present its appeal to the PIAA regarding the PIAA recent decision to bump up the Quips’ football team from Class 4A to 5A.

That decision – which has drawn harsh criticism from the media and even a few western Pennsylvania politicians -- was based on the PIAA’s “competitive balance rule” that takes into account a team’s success and number of transfers it brings in over a two-year period.

Shortly after receiving the PIAA’s intentions on Dec. 21, Aliquippa appealed the decision.

At this time, Aliquippa isn’t sure if it will have to send representatives, including coach Mike Warfield, for an appeal hearing at PIAA headquarters in Mechanicsburg, or if the appeal will be conducted via Zoom.

Two years ago when the PIAA tried to move Aliquippa from 4A to 5A, Aliquippa appealed and had the decision overturned by a 21-4 vote of the PIAA board. That hearing was held on Jan. 26, 2022 and conducted online via Zoom.

Aliquippa’s impending hearing will once again center on player safety and economic disparity as well as inaccuracies in the PIAA’s total of Aliquippa transfers over the past two years.

For example, the PIAA claims the Quips had 23 transfers including several starters who’ve lived in Aliquippa all their lives, including Tiqwai Hayes, a junior all-state running back who’s a Penn State recruit.

Over the past two seasons, Aliquippa went 27-1 with two WPIAL Class 4A titles and two appearances in the state championship game. The Quips lost in the PIAA final last year but won this year.

LINCOLN PARK GIRLS TRYING TO REMAIN UNBEATEN

With less than a month left in regular-season play, only four WPIAL basketball teams were undefeated going into Tuesday’ games.

Three of them are girls teams: Peters Township (14-0), Oakland Catholic (15-0) and Lincoln Park (13-0).

Lincoln Park faces a tough test Tuesday (Jan. 16) when it travels to Washington County for a game against Trinity (11-2). The Leopards and Hillers share first place in Section 4 with 4-0 records.

In the most recent team rankings according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oakland Catholic is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A with Lincoln Park and Trinity ranked third and fourth, respectively.

Last year, Lincoln Park finished third in the section behind South Fayette and Trinity. The Leopards finished 18-5 overall after losing to Mount Lebanon in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Lincoln Park returned most of its core players from last year’s team, including J'La Kizart, a senior guard who’s averaging around 20 points per game.

The WPIAL’s only other undefeated basketball team is the Uniontown boys (12-0) in Class 4A. However, in the Post-Gazette’s latest boys rankings, Lincoln Park (10-3) is ranked first in 4A with Uniontown second.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Times' high school notebook: West A's Dave McBain calling it a career