2013 new reclassifications!

There would be no more regionals as we know them now. You could be playing a team from Northern Va in the first round of the playoffs in your classification.

Found these articles in the Free Lance Star Newspaper:

Article 1:VHSL Changes Vote Today

Article 2:Coaches Weign in on move to 6 classifications

Article 3:VHSL Playoffs

BASEBALL
Six state champions. Two teams from each conference advance to region. Two teams from each region advance to state.

VHSL Changes: Conference Alignment

6A–SOUTH
Conference 1: Bayside, Frank Cox, First Colonial, Landstown, Ocean Lakes, Tallwood, Granby
Conference 2: Bethel, Kecoughtan, Woodside, Grassfield, Oscar Smith, Western Branch
Conference 3: Varina, Thomas Dale, Cosby, James River, Franklin County, Patrick Henry
Conference 4: Gar–Field, C.D. Hylton, Colonial Forge, Riverbend, Stafford, Forest Park, Woodbridge

6A–NORTH
Conference 5: Centreville, Chantilly, Herndon, Oakton, James Robinson, Westfield
Conference 6: Fairfax, Langley, James Madison, McLean, South Lakes, Hayfield, Washington–Lee, Yorktown
Conference 7: Annandale, Lake Braddock, South County, West Potomac, West Springfield, T.C. Williams, W.T. Woodson
Conference 8: Battlefield, Stonewall Jackson-Manassas, Osbourn, Osbourn Park, Patriot

5A–SOUTH
Conference 9: Green Run, Kellam, Kempsville, Princess Anne, Salem, Maury, Norview
Conference 10: Gloucester, Hampton, Menchville, Warwick, Great Bridge, Hickory, Indian River
Conference 11: Atlee, Henrico, Highland Springs, Lee–Davis, Deep Run, Douglas Freeman, Mills Godwin, Hermitage, Patrick Henry
Conference 12: Matoaca, Meadowbrook, Prince George, L.C. Bird, Clover Hill, Manchester

5A–NORTH
Conference 13: Thomas Jefferson, George Marshall, Thomas Edison, Falls Church, Mount Vernon, JEB Stuart, Wakefield, R.E. Lee
Conference 14: Freedom–Loudoun County, Stone Bridge, Briar Woods, Broad Run, Potomac Falls, Tuscarora
Conference 15: Freedom–Prince William, Potomac, North Stafford, Brooke Point, Massaponax, Mountain View
Conference 16: Albemarle, Orange, Halifax

4A–SOUTH
Conference 17: Churchland, Lake Taylor, IC Norcom, B.T. Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Deep Creek
Conference 18: Denbigh, Heritage–Newport News, Phoebus, King’s Fork, Lakeland, Nansemond River
Conference 19: Grafton, Smithfield, Jamestown, Tabb, Powhatan
Conference 20: Hanover, Dinwiddie, J.R. Tucker, Midlothian, Monacan, Glen Allen

4A–NORTH
Conference 21: Sherando, Woodgrove, Millbrook, James Wood, Loudoun County, Dominion, Heritage–Loudoun County, Park View–Sterling
Conference 22: Caroline, Chancellor, Courtland, King George, Eastern View, Fauquier, Liberty–Bealton
Conference 23: Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Amherst County, Harrisonburg, Handley
Conference 24: E.C. Glass, Jefferson Forest, Pulaski County, Salem, George Washington, Carroll County, Bassett, William Fleming

3A–EAST
Conference 25: Colonial Heights, Lafayette, New Kent, Poquoson, York, Southampton, Park View–South Hill, Warhill
Conference 26: Armstrong, Petersburg, Hopewell, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Huguenot, George Wythe
Conference 27: James Monroe, Spotsylvania, Culpeper, Kettle Run, Manassas Park, Brentsville
Conference 28: Central–Woodstock, Warren County, Loudoun Valley, William Monroe, Skyline, John Champe

3A–WEST
Conference 29: Western Albemarle, Monticello, Spotswood, Stuarts Draft, Turner Ashby, Waynesboro, Fort Defiance, Broadway
Conference 30: Heritage–Lynchburg, Brookville, Rustburg, Liberty–Bedford, Tunstall
Conference 31: Alleghany, Lord Botetourt, Magna Vista, Northside, Rockbridge County, William Byrd, Staunton River
Conference 32: Blacksburg, Cave Spring, Christiansburg, Hidden Valley, Abingdon, Patrick County

2A–EAST
Conference 33: Arcadia, Nandua, King William, Windsor, Bruton, Maggie Walker
Conference 34: Brunswick, Greensville, Bluestone, Goochland, Nottoway, Prince Edward, Amelia County
Conference 35: Clarke County, Madison County, George Mason, Strasburg, Stonewall Jackson–Quicksburg, Luray, Page County
Conference 36: R.E. Lee–Staunton, Riverheads, Wilson Memorial, Buffalo Gap, East Rockingham, Nelson County

2A–WEST
Conference 37: Appomattox, Chatham, Dan River, Gretna, Buckingham, Randolph–Henry
Conference 38: James River–Buchanan, Floyd County, Giles, Glenvar, Martinsville
Conference 39: Grayson, Marion, Richlands, Tazewell, Graham, Grundy
Conference 40: John Battle, Gate City, Lebanon, Lee, Virginia, Central–Wise, Union

1A–EAST
Conference 41: Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, Chincoteague, Northampton, Franklin, Surry, Sussex
Conference 42: King & Queen, Mathews, Middlesex, West Point, Charles City, Chesterfield
Conference 43: Rappahannock County, Colonial Beach, Essex, Lancaster, Northumberland, Rappahannock, Washington & Lee
Conference 44: Altavista, William Campbell, Central–Lunenburg, Cumberland, Galileo Magnet, Highland, Parry McCluer

1A–WEST
Conference 45: Bath County, Bland/Rocky Gap, Covington, Craig County, Auburn, Eastern Montgomery, Radford, Narrows
Conference 46: Chilhowie, Patrick Henry–Glade Springs, Rural Retreat, George Wythe–Wytheville, Fort Chiswell, Galax
Conference 47: Council, Haysi, Honaker, Hurley, Twin Valley, Holston, Northwood
Conference 48: Castlewood, Eastside, Rye Cove, Twin Springs, Thomas Walker, J.I. Burton, Clintwood

Honestly, at some point I think some of these schools ought to consider whether they can effectively leave the VHSL.

I fully understand the need to do a better job of grouping schools by populations. But populations are going to change, often markedly in relatively short periods. You can only go so far with that. And when you set up teams to drive 3 hours each way to play games, while ignoring rivalries right in their back yards over maybe a few hundred students' worth, that's just stupid.

Just looking at the school for my area, James River of Midlothian, VHSL has them competing with Cosby (good) but not with Powhatan, Midlothian, Monacan, Deep Run or Freeman. But oh joy, you get to drive to Roanoke for games. That's at least 3 hours each way, and for what purpose?

The RTD reported today that Maggie Walker Governor's School, in the City of Richmond, will have to travel to the Eastern Shore for games. Whoever felt that was appropriate, in my opinion, should be fired. That plan demonstrates an absurd lack of judgment and a rigid application of some other set of goals ahead of what any player, parent or coach would want.

It appears that somehow a majority of votes has been put together for this mess. The minority need to come up with a Plan B that gives them some leverage to stop this before we get there.

Two teams from each conference advance to regions...so in conference 16, there are three teams. Two of them make regionals? Absurd.

The other thing that jumped out is what Midlo mentioned about the two Roanoke schools included with Richmond teams.

The one thing I do like is the creation of conference 26 for Richmond City schools plus Petersburg and Hopewell.

Otherwise, this is a disaster for most of the big schools. The AAA system worked mostly well...three major population centers in the state (Northern VA, Richmond, Tidewater) with a few outliers included (Halifax, GW-Danville, Franklin) made for a relative logical four region system.

At a time when school budgets are tight, I wonder how the increased travel will affect things

It is very typical for people to resist change. Usually I can look at something that has changed and put a positive perspective on it. I'm at a total loss with this. If someone sees anything in this alignment that resembles a step forward, please let me know.

Was their any consideration to the rising cost of fuel, opex budget cuts, and the students need to study?

Common sense is not so common (Voltaire).

do they have same district schedule or do they play the conference schedule twice?

The RTD article suggested that schools might remain in districts for purposes of regular season play, but that there would be no impact of districts on post-season situations. The thought there is that eventually the districts will cease to exist, as their reason for being may ultimately be hard to determine.

I would guess, in baseball at least, someone like James River would still line up regular season games with their closer opponents. Surely both sides would want that. But a lot of historic rivalries are about to get thrown in the trash due to lack of head-to-head post-season matchups.

One problem we may have is, does the VHSL proceed on a "one school, one vote" principle? Because that would mean that a school with 400 students would have the same voting weight as a school with 2,000 students. Which may explain the situation. If you're Patrick Henry in Roanoke, maybe you're sick and tired of having to travel all the time for games while others don't have to. But indulging them in a big get-even does nothing positive. They are still traveling, but now, everyone else is, too. How does making a bad problem worse help anyone?

Several questions:

1) Will the old District playoffs now be eliminated and replaced by Conference playoffs?
2) Will there be rotating scheduling in the North/South and East/West regions? Or will the geographically loacal conferences play an elimination round every year to determine the two represntatives to States?
3) At some point will this change the nature of districts in more populous areas in the state? Will schools want to move away from having 16 or 18 games of the 20 game allotment tied up playing traditional district opponents rather than playing privates or schools out of district? If so that could truly alter the regualr season to the point of being a 20 game exhibition/preseason as a prelude to a 6 or 7 game tournament at the end of the year. You might even see schools move to basketball style scheduling where they play a "national" schedule against schools from the eastern seaboard regularly.

Last season keewartson's team played several out of conference teams on Saturdays (one was 3 hours away and the other 2 hours. If you had to travel 3 hours each way, get there an hour ahead for warm up, play a 2+ hour game, and stop to eat, well....that pretty much eats up an entire day, much less try to get in several hours of instructional time. I wonder if there will be more Saturday games on the schedule? I know neighboring county schools and private schools do 2-hr trips regularly. 3+ hours seems a bit much.

So the big news in the sports page out here is that Franklin Co HS got moved to the Piedmont District after much complaining and appealing and so forth from the River Ridge District. According to the article schools do not have to play against teams that are so many levels below them, so FCHS is in a district where over half of the members can choose to avoid them. So that leaves them scrambling to fill a schedule and I guess all-district teams and tournaments are out the window. I don't get it.

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/highschool/wb/314297

The Piedmont will include Franklin County (2,167), Halifax County (1,663), George Washington (1,314), Bassett (1,212), Magna Vista (889), Tunstall (851) Patrick County (789) and Martinsville (657).

There may be all-district teams, at least for so long as people continue with districts. There would not be any post season play based on the current district/region setups, however; to my understanding, that all goes per the new regime.

I guess you could be in the running for all district and for all conference, and maybe you'd get both, or maybe you'd get one but not the other. Lots more certificates to pass around.

I am frankly amazed that this has passed. But then, I don't get Obamacare, either, so apparently I'm just not attuned to the psyche of the rest of the world these days.

Heard a couple things today that were interesting. One of the main reasons for this was so the VHSL could get the money for the conference tournaments instead of the regions taking home the money as it's been in the past. Obviously, no one at the VHSL would say that, but that's what coaches and AD's in the 804 are thinking. Also, the seeding for the conference tourneys will be based on points, ala football. So, a traditional rivalry like Dale vs. Dinwiddie or Dale vs PG will be no more. The game will still benefit Dinwiddie or PG, but it won't help Dale in any way. What a mess....

quote:

papelbon said...One of the main reasons for this was so the VHSL could get the money for the conference tournaments instead of the regions taking home the money as it's been in the past. Obviously, no one at the VHSL would say that, but that's what coaches and AD's in the 804 are thinking.

That would explain this mess. BTW...You guys have been moved to a tougher situation. Good luck with that.

Glad my son is out of high school.

They have killed the biggest rivalry in the Seminole District (Jefferson Forest vs. Brookville). Plus, those long bus rides are going to be a killer (and we thought going to Rustburg was bad).

It's my understanding that the new alignment is for regional and state playoffs only. Teams will have the ability to schedule games with whoever they want but not required to play the teams in their "new conference". I'm assuming that overall record or some type of point system will be used to determine which two teams in each conference advance to the regionals. So it seems like the local rivalries can stay in tact but won't have the district implications as before. I think the big issue will be scheduling games.

I'm assuming that overall record or some type of point system will be used to determine which two teams in each conference advance to the regionals. So it seems like the local rivalries can stay in tact but won't have the district implications as before.


So if they don't play the teams in their conference, how do they determine who comes out of the conference?

The points system is different from football. Here's what the VHSL website says for baseball

Teams will receive:
1. Seven points for each win
2. One point for each loss to a school one level above their classification.
3. Two points for each loss to a school two levels above their classification.
4. Three points for each loss to a school three levels above their classification.
5. Four points for each loss to a school four levels above their classification.
6. Five points for each loss to a school five levels above their classification.
The total number of points obtained will be divided by the total number of contests played to provide a power rating average for that team.

This is my understanding

The conferences will have a playoffs with every team qualifying so the regular season is for seeding to the conference tournament.

The top two teams from each conference advanced to the playoffs which is the same format as we have today except the Regionals will be the new state quarterfinal games.

The biggest difference is there are no more Regional tournaments like we know them today. They have been replaced by conference tournaments with every team qualifying for postseason play.

quote:

Originally posted by wgarlick:
The points system is different from football. Here's what the VHSL website says for baseball

Teams will receive:
1. Seven points for each win
2. One point for each loss to a school one level above their classification.
3. Two points for each loss to a school two levels above their classification.
4. Three points for each loss to a school three levels above their classification.
5. Four points for each loss to a school four levels above their classification.
6. Five points for each loss to a school five levels above their classification.
The total number of points obtained will be divided by the total number of contests played to provide a power rating average for that team.

My quick-trigger reaction to the above: I can get a lot of points a) if I win, or b) if I'm a small school and can lose a lot of games to 5A and 6A schools! Meanwhile there does not appear to be any point deductions for losses to classifications below your own.

If I'm a 6A school, it seems as though I can practically litter my schedule with a bunch of smaller schools, rack up wins, and carry a high power ranking. 4A schools seem to get the shaft in this system. They're too big to benefit from gaining major points due to loss. They are the ones most likely to play 5A & 6A schools, therefore getting only one or two points for most, if not all, of their losses. This is most likely to affect the Richmond and Tidewater area most, whereas Roanoke and other SW VA areas, have a very diverse mix of all classifications. They certainly seem to benefit the most due to the ability to schedule up and down the various classifications.

Screwy.

i wonder how they will work a 7 team playoff?

im thinking they will give the 1 seed a bye!