VHSL to Form New District

[Bulldog 82 11]

I just heard on the news that the VHSL is recommending a new district be formed to include, Patrick Henry, William Fleming, Magna Vista, Bassett and Franklin Co.. I'm not sure where GW Danville, Halifax will end up. The only teams that would be left in the Piedmont Dist. are Martinsville, Patrick Co. and Tunstall and you really can't have a district with 3 teams. Interesting to say the least.

[redtiger 1,742]

A sign that a MAJOR shift is comming in the A/AA ranks?

Edited November 29, 2011 by redtiger

[EH31 2,533]

I just heard on the news that the VHSL is recommending a new district be formed to include, Patrick Henry, William Fleming, Magna Vista, Bassett and Franklin Co.. I'm not sure where GW Danville, Halifax will end up. The only teams that would be left in the Piedmont Dist. are Martinsville, Patrick Co. and Tunstall and you really can't have a district with 3 teams. Interesting to say the least.

if the majority of the SWD teams drop then Carroll should end up in the Piedmont imo

[hoard 18]

Looks like it's going to be a combination AA/AAA district.

 

If Halifax and GW aren't thrown into this district, pretty much the only other option is the Seminole.

 

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-district-shakeup-20111129,0,7496304.story

[Bulldog 82 11]

The Seminole would be a good fit for GW Danville and Halifax. If this plan is adopted then I hope Gretna, Chatham and Dan River are brought back to the Piedmont Dist..

[Lance 228]

the VHSL is making a mess of everything these days....they cant just keep anything simple and making sense.

[tjhokies 47]

Why not do like they had once talked,

0-400 A

400-800 AA

800-1200 AAA

1200-1600 4-A

1600+ 5A

 

Looks like this would fix everything??

[deuceswild 15]

Why not do like they had once talked,

0-400 A

400-800 AA

800-1200 AAA

1200-1600 4-A

1600+ 5A

 

Looks like this would fix everything??

 

Because if you've ever placed those schools on a map of Virginia, it doesn't work out so well.

[hoard 18]

Because if you've ever placed those schools on a map of Virginia, it doesn't work out so well.

 

Agreed....even with a four-class system you end up with a lot of schools on an island, so to speak.

[player99 10]

I don't know why they just don't do away with Districts. That way schools could play others that are on an equal talent level. For instance, now that Graham seems to be on the up swing what good is it doing them to play Bland who went 2-8 or Narrows 0-10 when they can add another school like Abingdon and get more points off a loss than they get for a win vs. Bland or Narrows.

[VHSLhelper 571]

districts give the ADs guaranteed games... less headaches in filling out schedules.

 

And you won't get more pts from from a loss to Abingdon than a win over Bland... you have to play Richlands for that to happen.

 

win vs. 1-9 A = 12 + 4 + 2 = 18

loss vs 9-1 AA = 0 + 8 + 9 = 17

Edited November 30, 2011 by VHSLhelper

[deuceswild 15]

Hey Helper, not knocking your extremely hard work over there on angelfire, but have you ever considered...upgrading? To tumblr or blogspot?

 

Eliminates popups and makes your text less plain. What you do is already great, just thought maybe you could sex it up a bit.

 

:)

[VHSLhelper 571]

nope... if I were more serious about it, maybe. But I'm not... yet.

[deuceswild 15]

nope... if I were more serious about it, maybe. But I'm not... yet.

 

Could be a way to get more people serious about you. ;)

[hoard 18]

districts give the ADs guaranteed games... less headaches in filling out schedules.

 

Bluefield football, anyone?

[rhs82 28]

I heard the VHSL commitee was soppose to meet today and were going to talk about redistricting all teams and about moving Richlands and Tazewell down to single A. Has anyone else heard this or anything about this?

[swvacsas2 15]

Cannot see why the VHSL would create small districts.The entire purpose should be- as VHSL Helper has pointed out- to ensure guaranteed games. A small district defeats that purpose. New districts should have six to nine teams to be effective. This latest proposal is no doubt being put together to placate the Roanoke City schools. It is ironic that this has come about due to Roanoke's decision back in 1975 to close Jefferson and go from three to two high schools. You can have too big a district- in the sixties the Lonesome Pine and New River were large enough to allow an entire season schedule to be played within the district.

[Bulldog 82 11]

Under the current VHSL plan the Piedmont Dist. would have 5 teams: Martinsville, Patrick Co., Tunstall, GW Danville and Halifax Co.. I'm sure GW Danville will dominate in football. Roanoke Times article: http://www.roanoke.com/sports/breaking/wb/301746 I think Magna Vista, Bassett, Franklin Co., Halifax and GW Danville should form a district. Form another district with Martinsville, Tunstall, Patrick Co., Chatham, Gretna and Dan River. This current plan needs some major tweaking.

Edited November 30, 2011 by xdog

[Lance 228]

nope... if I were more serious about it, maybe. But I'm not... yet.

 

sent you a PM

[hoard 18]

This is beyond stupid.

 

I can halfway understand moving two larger AA schools Magna Vista and Bassett into a district with Fleming, FC and PH. Even though all you're really doing is alleviating travel for Fleming and PH while adding travel for MV and Bassett.

 

But then, lets follow that up with moving two large schools--GW Danville and Halifax (still AAA)--into a district with three small schools--Martinsville, Tunstall and Patrick County??? You're taking two schools out of a district that are a half-hour from the other league members--and replacing them with two much larger schools that are further away?

 

I'll bet all the current Piedmont members are going to fight this tooth and nail. There's nothing they can really do if GW has AA numbers and simply wants to move to the Piedmont, but this new proposal is a different issue.

 

In the end, it's not giving the Roanoke City schools what they really want--to be in a district with the Roanoke County schools. If the VHSL is going to allow combo districts, then why not put all Roanoke area teams in the same league. Especially considering that we may end up with a River Ridge with Blacksburg, Cburg, Pulaski, Carroll and possibly Abingdon.

 

Which brings up another issue...if the VHSL allows a combo district in the Roanoke Valley, Abingdon has a case for them allowing the same in SWVA.

[hoard 18]

IMO the most informative piece on the subject so far. It does mention that Halifax is projected to have AA numbers soon......

 

***

 

 

Realignment proposal places Franklin County in a new combination district

Monday, November 28, 2011

 

By STEVEN MARSH - Sports Editor

 

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- If a proposal passed by the Virginia High School League's (VHSL) Realignment and Reclassification committee is approved this spring, Franklin County will be placed in a new athletic district starting with the 2013-14 academic year.

 

 

Under the proposal, FCHS, a charter member of the Group AAA Western Valley District, would be placed in a as-yet-to-be-named combination district with WVD members Patrick Henry and William Fleming and Group AA Piedmont District schools Bassett and Magna Vista.

 

The committee, which is in charge of realigning Virginia's public high schools into one of three classifications (Group AAA, AA and A) every two years, has placed current WVD schools George Washington-Danville and Halifax County in a new Group AA Piedmont District with Patrick County, Martinsville and Tunstall.

 

FCHS Athletic Director T.J. Shepardson, who was in attendance at Tuesday's meeting, said a first proposal presented by the R&R committee's Northwest Region representative had William Fleming moving to the Group AA Blue Ridge District with FCHS and PH joining a combination district with current Group AA River Ridge District members (Cave Spring, Hidden Valley, Salem etc.)

 

But proposal never got a second and no vote was taken on it, Shephardson said.

 

"Cave Spring's principal who represents Region IV on the committee, was not in favor of that,' Shephardson said. "The Group AA representatives said a combination district was fine, but they put us, PH and Fleming in with Bassett and Magna Vista.'

 

Based on the enrollment numbers projected for the 2013-14, Halifax County would meet the VHSL's requirements for Group AA, Shephardson said, who added that Martinsville could drop to Group A because its projected enrollment would put the school in that classification.

 

Should Martinsville drop to Group A, a likely home would be the Dogwood District, one in which Chatham, Dan River, Gretna, William Campbell and Altavista reside.

 

Based on current enrollment, Danville meets the requirements for Group AA, while William Fleming is just above the dividing line. Halifax County, PH and FCHS are Group AAA size.

 

Modifications and appeals to the realignment plan are the next steps in late winter/early spring The VHSL's Executive Committee has the final say.

 

"If Martinsville goes down to Group A and if Halifax's numbers are accurate, things could be different. If Bassett and Magna Vista chose to appeal -- and I think they will -- things could be different,' Shephardson said. "The premise behind putting Magna Vista and Bassett with us is the U.S. 220 corridor.

 

In the proposed combination district, FCHS, PH, William Fleming, Bassett and Magna Vista would play during the regular season.

 

Once regional postseason begins, FCHS, PH and William Fleming would return to the Northwest Region, while Bassett and Magna Vista would most likely play in Region IV.

 

"There are a lot of question marks out on the table. It didn't hurt us, things could have been worse,' Shephardson said. "It didn't affect the scheduling that much. It may end up that we won't play Halifax and GW in some sports after we've had relationships with them for years.'

 

A combination district should alleviate multiple-hour travel for regular-season games which is a problem that each of the WVD schools has faced for years.

 

Combination districts involving Group A and AA schools have been formed in the past.

 

Oddly enough, the WVD was created by the R&R committee because of the break-up of the old Group AAA Western and Roanoke Valley districts.

 

Charter members of the WVD were FCHS, PH, Cave Spring, E.C. Glass, GW Danville and Halifax County.

 

Cave Spring dropped to Group AA when Hidden Valley High School opened.

 

Later, William Fleming moved from Group AA to Group AAA, while Glass dropped from Group AAA to Group AA.

 

"For now, this is what it is. We'll see how the appeals go through,' Shephardson said. "We didn't lose, but we didn't gain anything either. If it stays this way, we haven't got into how you advance in the playoffs or how (our athletes) will get individual recognitions. That's way ahead of us.'

[great_state 12]

IMO the most informative piece on the subject so far. It does mention that Halifax is projected to have AA numbers soon......

 

2nd that. Very good article with details not provided elsewhere.

 

FCHS Athletic Director T.J. Shepardson, who was in attendance at Tuesday's meeting, said a first proposal presented by the R&R committee's Northwest Region representative had William Fleming moving to the Group AA Blue Ridge District with FCHS and PH joining a combination district with current Group AA River Ridge District members (Cave Spring, Hidden Valley, Salem etc.)

 

But proposal never got a second and no vote was taken on it, Shephardson said.

 

"Cave Spring's principal who represents Region IV on the committee, was not in favor of that,' Shephardson said. "The Group AA representatives said a combination district was fine, but they put us, PH and Fleming in with Bassett and Magna Vista.'

 

Those paragraphs are pretty telling, in my opinion. Roanoke County says "we sympathize with the Roanoke City schools and Franklin County, BUT not enough to let them play in our district. Let's put them in a district with schools not on the Reclassification & Redistricting committee that are an hour away."

 

I hope MV and Bassett (and the rest of the Piedmont) appeal this until the cows come home. IF GW and Halifax are going to the Piedmont with Martinsville, Tunstall and Patrick County as AA schools, then why not just leave Magna Vista and Bassett there as well for a 7-team district??

[redtiger 1,742]

Travel has become the primary issue. IMO the only way to completly solve the issue is split districts, they are inevitable. And imo as long as you dont have AAAs playing w/ really small AAs or AAs playing w/ really small As then its not really an issue.

 

 

Why is the Split district issue such an issue?

Edited November 30, 2011 by redtiger

[ISOaPBR 15]

link to VHSL classification breakdown...

http://www.vhsl.org/files/rr-2013-14-2014-15-initial-plan.pdf

[RichlandsAlum 678]

Travel has become the primary issue. IMO the only way to completly solve the issue is split districts, they are inevitable. And imo as long as you dont have AAAs playing w/ really small AAs or AAs playing w/ really small As then its not really an issue.

 

 

Why is the Split district issue such an issue?

 

Just a hunch on my part, but I think it's because of the automatic qualifier status for district champions with regard to the state playoff system. Under the same assumptions that drive the overall classification systems, smaller schools would be at a disadvantage in terms of competing for the district championship and claiming "automatic qualifier" status.

 

Given the way that the playoff field has been expanded to ridiculous proportions, this concern isn't nearly as practical as it used to be.

 

IMO, the institutionalization of districts needs to be preserved in Virginia for scheduling convenience. We can look to West Virginia to observe the horrors of scheduling in a vacuum where membership in a conference/district is not mandatory. But the overall administration of the state playoff system should be more merit-based than it is. In that regard, West Virginia's system actually seems to be superior to ours.

 

This kind of hybrid seems to make sense. But because it is somewhat logical, I'll expect the VHSL to boot it.