Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506210024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
If one plan is adopted, it will be a shocker.
Under that plan, VHSL executive director Ken Tilley says, the organization would take its 282 member schools and divide them by three on the basis of enrollment in grades 9-11 in March. The top 94 schools in enrollment would play in Group AAA, the next 94 in Group AA and the other 94 in Group A.
There's a kicker. Smaller schools wishing to play in a higher classification might not be allowed to do so.
``You'd be going against the wills of the schools, but it might be best for the state overall'' not to play out of classification, Tilley says.
Tilley has divided the 282 schools and says it looks good on paper.
He won't divulge where that would put specific schools, but a source with knowledge of the plan says Group AAA starts with Woodbridge, the state's biggest school, and goes to Brooke Point at 1,005 students in grades 9-11. All Roanoke Valley District schools would remain in Group AAA.
Group AA would start with Huguenot at 948 and run through Arcadia. All Blue Ridge and New River district schools would be Group AA. I.C. Norcom, Fauquier, Lee-Davis and Highland Springs, all strong Group AAA schools, would be in Group AA.
Group A would begin with Central Woodstock and include the rest of the schools. Piedmont District members Dan River, Fieldale-Collinsville and Laurel Park are Group A in size under the plan.
``It's possible to arrive at good districts, it gives good balance and if you assign the schools where districts are small enough to cross-schedule, you can maintain rivalries,'' Tilley says.
If Tilley's plan is adopted, look for four Roanoke-area Blue Ridge District schools - Northside, William Byrd, Salem and Lord Botetourt - to join Blacksburg and Christiansburg in forming a district in Region IV. Alleghany and Rockbridge County likely would be shifted elsewhere, possibly into Region II as members of the Valley District.
Tilley emphasizes no decision has been made. He says other plans still under consideration would allow schools that want to play in a higher classification to do so while balancing Group AA without touching the other two classifications. Again, some or all of the Blue Ridge District schools likely would be shifted to Region IV.
A third plan would be to play the numbers game and decide on new starting points for each classification.
A fourth option is to look at the state geographically in terms of the eight superintendent regions. This plan may not receive much consideration because it also would require a reorganization of district and tournament competition.
I'm betting on the plan that splits the state's schools into three equal groups and doesn't allow schools to play in a higher classification. It makes the most sense.
GYM SIZE: There's no question about Northside getting a new gym. The size of the new building is another matter.
A couple of weeks ago, one Roanoke County official said the gym might seat 1,800 to 2,000. He contended anything bigger would be too expensive for the county to build.
This is precisely the type of thinking that was prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s, when the present high school gyms were built in the Roanoke Valley. In those days, no one looked to the future and felt gyms seating 800 to 1,500 would be adequate. Those gyms were too small by 1970.
If the new gym at Northside doesn't seat at least 3,000, it also will be too small. Henry County schools have the right idea. They built two schools - Bassett and Magna Vista - with gyms seating 3,000.
While those two gyms rarely are filled for regular-season games, they are big enough for regional and district tournaments and won't be obsolete for another 10 to 20 years, something Roanoke County officials should consider before building any gym that seats 2,000 or fewer spectators.
They need only remember that Roanoke College's Bast Center, which seats about 2,000, was too small for this year's Region III boys' basketball championship.
ONE OR TWO SCHOOLS: In the Cave Spring district, the debate is whether to have two Group AA-sized schools or one Group AAA school. Many parents have expressed a desire to have the larger school, thinking that would be better for athletics.
It shows what parents know. Roanoke Valley District schools, among the smallest in Group AAA, are finding it more difficult to compete on a statewide and regional basis.
Also, there is more money to be made on the Group AA level. Group AAA schools have had trouble scheduling games and visiting teams from the Western District, the closest Group AAA league to the Roanoke Valley, bring few fans.
Two Cave Spring schools would have natural Group AA rivalries with William Byrd, Northside, Salem and Lord Botetourt, plus they likely would be more competitive in basketball and football.
People only want to remain in Group AAA as a matter of pride, not practicality. In this case, smaller is better. Ask Salem and Northside, which have prospered since dropping from the Roanoke Valley District to the Blue Ridge District.
POWER SHIFT: The balance of power in Region III has shifted to the Seminole District. During the past school year, the district won nine of 16 Region III team championships.
The Blue Ridge District took the other seven, leaving the Piedmont District without a team title, possibly for the first time. William Campbell, the region's smallest school in enrollment, won two championships, but William Byrd was the best overall, with four titles. Salem, Brookville and Appomattox County were the only other schools with more than one crown.
EXPENSIVE FOE: Richlands' football team has gone Pulaski County a little better in paying to bring in a season-opening opponent. The Blue Tornado will entertain Providence High School, a Catholic school from Clarksville, Ind., and will pay the visitors $5,500.
Pulaski County pays Anacostia, a Washington, D.C., school, $4,500 plus a meal to play in Dublin each fall. The trips from Washington to Dublin and from Clarksville to Richlands are about the same length.
One Richlands official, describing the Blue Tornado's 1995 opener said, ``We're playing a Catholic school from Indiana in football and it's not Notre Dame.''
by CNB