Bluebird 17 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 Here is in idea that they used in Alaska that I think would work out in the small towns in virginia. That is combining the schools for football only and not consolidating the schools. And example have Virginia High and John Battle High Co Op their schools together just for football and no other sports. That would mean they would be division 3 or 4 for football. Schools like Bland High could do this with another school I just do no know what school is closest to them. https://www.maxpreps.com/ak/juneau/juneau-douglas-thunder-mountain-huskies/football/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 Hasn’t a version of this already been done in Virginia? Bland and Rocky Gap combined for football only back in the 90’s and 00’s. I believe Hillsville and Woodlawn combined for football way back in the 50’s and 60’s before Carroll County opened in 1969/1970. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityofRaven 2,443 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 Whitewood and Council did that in the 90's. JDHoss and Liam McPoyle 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH31 2,517 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 1 hour ago, sixcat said: Hasn’t a version of this already been done in Virginia? Bland and Rocky Gap combined for football only back in the 90’s and 00’s. I believe Hillsville and Woodlawn combined for football way back in the 50’s and 60’s before Carroll County opened in 1969/1970. When did Bland County start combining for all sports? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityofRaven 2,443 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 24 minutes ago, EH31 said: When did Bland County start combining for all sports? Pretty sure they just closed Rocky Gap altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted March 11, 2023 12 hours ago, cityofRaven said: Pretty sure they just closed Rocky Gap altogether. They didn’t for the first 20 o so years. My brother (class of 98) played against Bland and Rocky Gap in baseball and basketball but played the combined Bland County in football. I’m not sure when Rocky Gap closed and combined to form Bland County but it wasn’t until sometime in the 00’s. Rick “Cotton” Donathin coached basketball at Rocky Gap for over 20 years. I grew up with his kids in Fries. cityofRaven 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridiron60 2,554 Report Share Posted March 11, 2023 15 hours ago, cityofRaven said: Pretty sure they just closed Rocky Gap altogether. I was thinking when they consolidated too. Jerry Scott who covers their sports for local paper would probably know for sure. cityofRaven 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted March 11, 2023 Newspaper article from the debates surrounding consolidation from 2013. https://www.bdtonline.com/news/local_news/bland-debates-school-merger/article_172c446b-fe72-557a-b917-eda114201624.html Link to a 2011 thread from this board referencing two high schools in Bland County playing under one county-wide team. I’m the 1990’s (possibly into the early 00’s) Bland and Rocky Gap only combined for football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH31 2,517 Report Share Posted March 12, 2023 On 3/11/2023 at 12:24 PM, sixcat said: Newspaper article from the debates surrounding consolidation from 2013. https://www.bdtonline.com/news/local_news/bland-debates-school-merger/article_172c446b-fe72-557a-b917-eda114201624.html Link to a 2011 thread from this board referencing two high schools in Bland County playing under one county-wide team. I’m the 1990’s (possibly into the early 00’s) Bland and Rocky Gap only combined for football. They combined for all sports too, years before consolidation. Their basketball teams would alternate each home game between Rocky Gap High & Bland High. It had to be sometime in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted March 12, 2023 That’s what I’m saying. They combined for football in 1993 when they resurrected the program. All other sports sometime after my brother graduated in 1998. The schools didn’t actually consolidate until around 2014. I know for a fact, Rocky Gap and Bland each had basketball and baseball teams in 1998. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH31 2,517 Report Share Posted March 12, 2023 31 minutes ago, sixcat said: That’s what I’m saying. They combined for football in 1993 when they resurrected the program. All other sports sometime after my brother graduated in 1998. The schools didn’t actually consolidate until around 2014. I know for a fact, Rocky Gap and Bland each had basketball and baseball teams in 1998. Right. I would like to know what year they did for all sports or if it was staggered. I know by at least 2003 their basketball teams were combined. In 2007 we played Bland County in Bland’s gym in the regular season and in the district tournament they hosted us at Rocky Gap’s gym. I always thought that was neat. sixcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717 Report Share Posted March 12, 2023 The old Bland High gym (Bland, VA, not the building at Rocky Gap), but at the old Bland High gym, it would be rocking in the late 80s. People freakin packed like sardines and just off the chart noise backing some outstanding basketball teams with guys like Patrick Smith. I watched em play a very solid Richlands team (I think the Richlands coach was Tom Rife even) and Bland shredded em. The old Bland High supported some wickedly good teams in the 60s, as did Rocky Gap.....as in....state championship good. I know they haven't been really good for a while, but Bland County has a whole lot of basketball DNA in its blood and history, and I've always been surprised the current Bland County hasn't been better in Hoops the last 15 or so years. I guess times have changed, but years ago, believe it or not, Bland was a basketball loving county. sixcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted March 12, 2023 1 hour ago, EH31 said: Right. I would like to know what year they did for all sports or if it was staggered. I know by at least 2003 their basketball teams were combined. In 2007 we played Bland County in Bland’s gym in the regular season and in the district tournament they hosted us at Rocky Gap’s gym. I always thought that was neat. I’ve texted back and forth with my brother. We’re pretty sure (but not certain) Rocky Gap was still playing basketball in 2000 when Jamie Butler broke Grayson’s career scoring record. I’ll ask some of the old-school coaches when I see them this week. I almost always see a dozen or more of them from Carroll, Grayson and Galax at the golf course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted March 12, 2023 17 minutes ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said: The old Bland High gym (Bland, VA, not the building at Rocky Gap), but at the old Bland High gym, it would be rocking in the late 80s. People freakin packed like sardines and just off the chart noise backing some outstanding basketball teams with guys like Patrick Smith. I watched em play a very solid Richlands team (I think the Richlands coach was Tom Rife even) and Bland shredded em. The old Bland High supported some wickedly good teams in the 60s, as did Rocky Gap.....as in....state championship good. I know they haven't been really good for a while, but Bland County has a whole lot of basketball DNA in its blood and history, and I've always been surprised the current Bland County hasn't been better in Hoops the last 15 or so years. I guess times have changed, but years ago, believe it or not, Bland was a basketball loving county. My brother and I have talked about his high school years often. Grayson reached the state tournament three times in a four year span. Had Bland and Rocky Gap been combined at that time, they could have legitimately been state contenders. Bland had a lot of size but no ball handlers or really anyone that could shoot from range. Bland had a talented center named Heath Puckett that went a solid 6’-6” and 250 pounds. He started for 4-years at Roanoke College. I believe Puckett was the nephew of Joe Stiltner. Rocky Gap was loaded with guards that could shoot it from anywhere in the gym but no size. RG’s gym felt like playing in an elementary school cafeteria. BandanaVTDavis4321 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtiger 1,740 Report Share Posted March 12, 2023 2 hours ago, sixcat said: We’re pretty sure (but not certain) Rocky Gap was still playing basketball in 2000 When I was in school(that time period) I remember looking at the Regional Rankings for football and seeing "Bland/Rocky Gap" listed, which would infer they were still operating as seperate schools and probably seperate in other sports sixcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird 17 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2023 I looked at foursessonsfootball.com and it has Bland football from 1992 till now. There is nothing about Rocky Gap in foursessonsfootball.com. That has to be a great and friendly rivalry between those two schools if and whenever they played against each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SXSW 557 Report Share Posted March 13, 2023 Rye Cove and Twin Springs would be a nice thing for them if they could stand each other! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu_bean 1,058 Report Share Posted March 13, 2023 13 hours ago, Bluebird said: I looked at foursessonsfootball.com and it has Bland football from 1992 till now. There is nothing about Rocky Gap in foursessonsfootball.com. That has to be a great and friendly rivalry between those two schools if and whenever they played against each other. Football was consolidated for a while but I use to have a coworker that was Bland class of 98 and he was a Rocket on the basketball team. If I remember right it was early 00's when all sports consolidated sixcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PV8 8 Report Share Posted March 13, 2023 1 hour ago, SXSW said: Rye Cove and Twin Springs would be a nice thing for them if they could stand each other! If Powell Valley and Appalachia can do it, I feel that they could too. Big question is, who would get the head coaching positions of each sport? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1inStripes 932 Report Share Posted March 13, 2023 2 hours ago, SXSW said: Rye Cove and Twin Springs would be a nice thing for them if they could stand each other! It isnt as crazy as some people make it out to be, or use to be rivalry wise although it seems to be building back some since COVID I guess. The hardest part is thats the two furthest points of the county away from one another to try and combine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityofRaven 2,443 Report Share Posted March 13, 2023 All the wrestlers in Buchanan County have been going to Grundy for years. If it can work there, it can work anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam McPoyle 1,863 Report Share Posted March 13, 2023 It wasn't exactly a team co-op, but I recall the inspiring story about the only wrestler in Rye Cove history. The Eagles, nor any other school in Scott Co, fielded a wrestling team. VHSL gave his dad permission to be his coach and allowed him to practice each day with Powell Valley. After placing at States his sophomore and junior seasons, he won the 2011 Group A State Championship in his weight class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717 Report Share Posted March 13, 2023 7 hours ago, PV8 said: If Powell Valley and Appalachia can do it, I feel that they could too. Big question is, who would get the head coaching positions of each sport? Someone from Gate City obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke2015 451 Report Share Posted March 14, 2023 22 hours ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said: Someone from Gate City obviously. Definitely for football Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearsFan88 117 Report Share Posted March 25, 2023 On 3/13/2023 at 7:54 AM, SXSW said: Rye Cove and Twin Springs would be a nice thing for them if they could stand each other! Yeah Rye Cove and Twin Springs would make it through. They’d be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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