ehcwasp

11 hours ago, Bluefield researcher said:

I am hearing it is not coming out until August. Hope that that is wrong.

You may be correct, since the VHSL is no longer tracking FB ratings. 

Hopefully they will continue to publish weekly ratings?  I guess that will depend on regions staying on top of the updates.

On 6/14/2025 at 2:23 PM, Stelley said:

Bit of a head scratcher but how in the world can clay be Cumberland District POTY but 1D POTY is Hamilton???? Both are good players but you have to be district player of the year to be the region???? Only exception is if you’re in a district with teams in different classes. Only way this is possible is your dad being the coach more than likely.

Hogo POTY is likely Tuell

M7 POTY is likely Humphreys 

SWD POTY is Whitt from V High. Pretty big snub IMO. V High finished 3rd in the district. SWD teams continue to hate Lebanon.

2D POTY is definitely Gobble

You dont have to be a district POY to be a region POY, just have to be a first teamer.  But I would agree that it is unusual.  From reading the Bristol paper, seems more likely that region POY was based on the performance in the region tournament, because Hamilton dominated in all 3 games

Could be interesting....several new VHSL transfer rules were just approved and will go into effect this summer

4 hours ago, Pickett said:

Rural Retreat while not the same turnover as Fort Chiswell has had a number of coaches  @ 20 years.....Dean Rhea, Chris Moore, Chris Akers, Jamey Hughes and now Hensley again......I may be missing one?

GW has only had 4 since 2000, I believe (Pruitt, Russell, Ingo, Harner).  FC going on 9, RR going on 7 in same period of time

4 hours ago, swva_fan said:

same for GW and Galax today, no stream

GW now uses Hudl Focus, no more NFHS for them.  Better picture, but it is pay per event.

https://fan.hudl.com/usa/va/wytheville/organization/8378/wythe-high-school

That is a valid point regarding the number of teams without football.  It will be interesting to see how many class 2 schools drop next year after mid cycle adjustments.

I am not sure if they set a hard number this cycle for class 1.  The breakdown is unusual when compared to years past, as far as numbers of teams.  Too many appeals granted I suppose.  One would think that class 1 would always be the classification with the smallest number of total schools, but that's not the case.

317 schools

Class 1 - 54

Class 2 - 49

Class 3 - 56

Class 4 - 51

Class 5 - 48

Class 6 - 59

VHSL schools are heading into year 2 of current contracts, so should be same opponents in same order, just at opposite locations.

GW adm number for VHSL alignment was 353, so that's prob correct.  No hard number anymore for class 1, which is crazy.  GW only has two students less than the smallest class 2 school....not as bad as Grayson, who's adm is larger than five class 2 schools.  

I believe the time change for FB came mostly from the direct requests of several football coaches.  Some of the concerns mentioned were locker room overlap issues at the various facilities, and teams/coaches/families being ushered off the fields after their games were completed.

They use Hudl Focus instead of NFHS.  Cost is usually about $8-$10 per game, depending on the school.  Some schools have monthly and yearly subscription options as well.  Film quality is 10x better than NFHS.

https://fan.hudl.com/United-States/VA/Narrows/organization/19040/Narrows-High-School/watch?s=U2NoZWR1bGVFbnRyeTIyOTUzNjU0

The HS transfer portal is likely next, and would make a much bigger impact in this area than NIL, in my opinion.  A few states have already adopted, including our neighbors in WV.

https://www.wdtv.com/2023/02/01/bill-will-allow-high-school-athlete-transfer-without-sitting-out-year/

The transfer part of the JM issue isn't an easy fix, outside of changing the rule.  Add to that an open enrollment school division, and it becomes close to impossible.  Could make it an automatic 365 days for anyone that moves in or transfers.  That could deter the transfers if they know they are sitting for 365 upon arrival, but it also turns into a double edged sword with a military family for example. 

The more exceptions you add, the more ways around the rule.  Some schools look the other way on a lot of things regarding VHSL rules but at the end of the day, the VHSL has to take the school system at their word.  They don't have the staff to do it any other way.  Less than twenty people on staff to monitor over 300 schools, 17 sports (not counting boys/girls teams or JV/ freshmen levels) and 9 academic activities.  

Bottom line is something like this was bound to happen with the direction that fan behavior has been trending over the last couple of years.  Treatment of coaches, and officials, by fans is worse now than it has ever been in the history of hs sports.  Say whatever you want with no consequences.  Hate that it happened, and yes more is expected from school employees. But are we really surprised? HS coaches in our state are paid less than a cook at McDonald's, for a year's worth of work....plus all the ridicule that comes from fans, like last night.

Most likely based on location, and maybe the chance to play sooner.  I'd also be willing to bet that Emory completed more passes than Army attempted.

1 hour ago, Observer said:

Not seeing Beavers on that list nor has he posted anything to social media.

https://twitter.com/EHCFootball/status/1620900492942643200?t=M69-7uEQ65bV5OyCypCRmA&s=19

Connor Roberts DL, Cannon Hill TE, and Brandon Beavers WR have all signed with the Wasps.  Link below shows most of the signees.

https://emoryhenry.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2022-23/NSD-2023

3 hours ago, tornado99 said:

I think Class 1 is hard capped, and the remaining are divided equally. Either way, it indicates frequent movements at the fringes.

Currently there is a hard cap for class 1, but there won't be moving forward with the next cycle that starts this fall.  Classes will be divided equally by 6, or as close to equal as they can get.  Not a great setup for true class 1 schools that have nowhere to go.  When schools consolidate, the only hope to keep the larger schools (Riverheads, Lebanon, etc) out of class 1 will be to hope that they keep adding schools up the state.

Five of the schools left in 1C (GW/GRAY) and 1D (PH/LEB/GRU) were division 2 just a few yrs ago....add in NAR, and 6 out of 8 are also former AA schools

It is going to be interesting to see how many appeals get approved for class 1.  Could be up to six appeals to be in class 1.  I don't think they'll approve them all

1 hour ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

I wish I could get a list of the appeals for schools that are/will appeal to play in a different classification.  It would interesting in my opinion on who will be requesting what.

Based on what I have heard recently, I feel confident that GW and Grayson will both appeal to play down in 1.  I believe Riverheads will do the same.

I also hear James River wants to come down to 1, but not too sure on the accuracy for this one.

As I said above, I think LCA wants to stay in class 3.  I say this only because I believe they are comfortable with the level of competition and the travel.

LCA will likely appeal to play up in 3A

Looks like the John Battle and Rural Retreat logos are stock letters from Richardson.  Not sure about Richlands, it may not be exactly like the Richardson letter

Home school gets 100% of the gate, unless other arrangements are made between the schools.  When regular season ends and playoffs begin, the regions get 65%, and the VHSL gets 35%, after expenses of course.  VHSL takes 100% of state games.

I believe the only way an 8th grader can play varsity in VA is if they turn 15 before August 1st....because they would not be eligible as a senior due to turning 19 before August 1st.  Obviously that would be a pretty rare circumstance.