Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508230055
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Just when it appeared that the Blue Ridge District was headed to Region IV, it was pulled back to Region III by the Virginia High School League Redistricting and Reclassification Committee Tuesday.
The committee met to decide between two proposals - Plan I that would not allow schools to play up in classification and Plan II that would allow teams to compete in higher levels. The committee picked Plan II, which will be taken to the VHSL Executive Committee that meets next month.
In naming Plan II as the alignment it is proposing the VHSL adopt, the committee came up with a few modifications. The most surprising change came in the Group AA package where the committee reverted to a plan that was discussed by the two regions in their first meeting last summer.
In both plans, an eight-team Blue Ridge District (Alleghany, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Lord Botetourt, Northside, Rockbridge County, Salem and William Byrd) was set to join Region IV. The committee, though, moved this eight-team district back to Region III.
It also proposed the Piedmont District (Bassett, Fieldale-Collinsville, Laurel Park, Magna Vista, Martinsville and Patrick County) go from Region III to Region IV and be joined by Carroll County in one seven-team league.
Region III will now have a seven-team Seminole District with Buckingham County moving to Group A and Nelson County going to Region II, a new six-team district of Altavista, Chatham, Dan River, Gretna, Tunstall and William Campbell and the eight-team Blue Ridge District.
Now, schools in Region III won't have to travel much more than 50 miles for most regional events and the Group AA schools will have plenty of teams to set non-district schedules.
``There was some history to this,'' said VHSL Executive Director Ken Tilley. ``I like what the committee came up with. They did an excellent job taking into consideration the desires of the membership.''
Leaving the Blue Ridge District in Region III with Blacksburg and Christiansburg joining the league should soothe the feelings of far Southwest Virginia, which objected to that alignment in Region IV.
It also helps alleviate some travel concerns that Carroll County, Alleghany and Rockbridge County would have faced. While Piedmont District schools might be surprised, they originally volunteered to move to Region IV last summer.
Most of the other changes in Plan II had little to do with Timesland schools except to move Parry McCluer back into Group A Region C as a member of the Pioneer District. Glenvar remains in the Group A Three Rivers District while the Group AAA Northwest Region involving the Roanoke Valley District will stay the same.
Tilley says that schools may file a request to amend the plan. ``The request must be in by Sept.6 with the reasons why the plan should be amended,'' said Tilley. ``Then we'll take it to the executive committee to adopt plans with or without the amendments.''
by CNB