BEAVER TOWNSHIP — When talking to Dana Balash, he will be the first to admit that the past five decades of his storied broadcast career have flown by, but in a good sense.

He has had the time of his life reporting sports to his viewers and the many accomplishments of area athletes, coaches and administrators that hail from or played in the Mahoning Valley.

Now in his 34th year as a sports anchor, he will complete his 40th year at WFMJ-TV 21 this March, a journey that began when he broadcast football and basketball games on their former radio station, 1390-AM.

His coverage and opinions have aided many over the years, a testament of his willingness to help others no matter the sport.

“The YSU football team has to fix things quickly with league play starting Saturday at Missouri State,” Balash told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center while rehashing the Penguins’ 73-17 loss last Saturday at the University of Pittsburgh. “With such a young team, the league did not do them any favors by giving them their bye week at the end of the season.”

Balash has covered a myriad of top games at every level over the years, but it’s Friday Night football ‘Overtime Report’ that has been hailed as one of the absolute best statewide when it comes to covering scholastic athletics.

“Our Overtime Report is in its 31st year and earlier this season we surpassed 7,000 games covered,” Balash said. “Certainly, this would not be possible without the backing and trust from our leadership team at the station, as well as the many workers over the years who have helped this evolve into what it is today.

“They say that high school football is the fastest 10 weeks around and we have already reached the midway point of the season. It is no surprise that the teams playing their best right now are Austintown Fitch, Ursuline, South Range, Western Reserve, West Branch and LaBrae, among others.

“Also, eight-man football is gaining more traction, and now the area has two teams participating, Sebring and Southington Chalker. For programs struggling with numbers, this is the ideal way to proceed. I was at Chalker’s first game, it was on a Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. and they had a tremendous crowd. As one parent at the game mentioned to me, we would rather have this [eight-man football] than not having football at all.

“I think a few other area programs need to at least have a conversation in their district’s about making the transition to eight-man. No administration wants to drop 11-man, but this is about the safety and the well-being of our student-athletes.”

When talking about dominating sports, it is softball and not football that sits at the top of the area’s success ladder.

“While football is considered to be the dominant sport in the area, it is actually softball, based on state championships,” Balash said. “Since 2014, there have been seven softball state champions, four baseball titlists and three football state champions from the tri-county area. This past spring, Canfield and Austintown Fitch both won state softball crowns, while West Branch won the state baseball championship in their division.

“There are multiple opinions for every sport going to more divisions in Ohio. I don’t want to take away from anyone who wins a state title when that happens, but the number of participants and teams is too watered down. Years ago, teams were competing with more than 200 programs to win a state title and with this, it will be just over 100 so I just hope the state is doing it for all the right reasons.”

Sanctioning more sports is always a topic of conversation entertained by the OHSAA (Ohio High School Athletic Association) at their yearly meetings.

“Girls flag football was approved as a sanctioned sport last week in Pennsylvania,” Balash said. “It had the support of the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers, and that could be the next sanctioned sport in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA has fielded inquiries about it but so far it is just talk.”

Balash said Name, Image and Likeness is here to stay and there is talk about NIL finding its way to the high school level.

“Name, image and likeness for high school student-athletes is quiet in Ohio and to me, that’s good,” he said. There are 39 states that have some sort of NIL (in) neighboring states, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia are like Ohio, while Pennsylvania passed theirs recently by a 25-4 vote. The issue was voted down overwhelmingly several years ago by high school principals and I hope they do it again if it ever comes up for another vote.”

Balash said the MLB playoffs should be interesting this October.

“Guardians manager Stephen Vogt will either be the manager of the year or finish second behind either Kansas City manager Matt Quatrar or Detroit manager A.J. Hinch,” he said. “The Royals finished 56-106 in 2023 and had 82 wins entering play this week. Look for some surprises in both leagues.”

Next Monday, Brian Shrum, YSU head women’s soccer coach will serve as guest speaker.