News: Loudoun County Public Schools FAQ on the Virginia High School League Transfer Rule in Light of County's New Open Enrollment Policy

(Feb. 13, 2013) - The Loudoun County Public Schools have put out a FAQ on the VHSL transfer rules in light of the county shifting to "school choice" for those students that which to transfer from their attendance boundary high school to another high school within the county that is not at capacity.

The upshot: rising 9th graders can pick another school if they wish and play right away as the VHSL considers your first school as a freshman to be your "home school". For those already in high school transferring for any reason, they would have to sit out a year of athletic before becoming eligible. The exception would be for those who request a waiver from the county but waivers will not be granted for athletic or activity reasons.

In the end, local athletic directors may have a nightmare on their hands next year trying to make sure all their athletes are properly eligible and prevent any forfeits due to illegal participation:

FAQ’S ON VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE (VHSL) TRANSFER RULE

 

1. If I am a currently enrolled high school student and voluntarily choose to attend a high school under the special permission provision of School Board Policy §8-20 (School Assignment) different from my home school, will I remain eligible for VHSL athletics?

News: Loudoun County School Board "School Choice" Vote Won't Allow Athletes to Transfer to Play if VHSL Has Say

(Jan. 23, 2013) - Very quietly last night the Loudoun County School Board passed a "School Choice" measure that upon first glance could have an impact on athletics in Loudoun as early as the fall season. In a split vote the board approved open enrollment that allows students to transfer to any public school in the county that has available space with no reason needed for the transfer.

Obviously some families might want to take advantage of this rule to get their children into athletic programs of their choice not in their home attendance zone.

The Virginia High School League, however, has a Transfer Rule for public high school athletics that prohibits the transfer of students from one school to another specifically for athletic reasons. So any athletes trying to take advantage of the new Loudoun rules may find themselves on the sidelines.

News: VHSL Details Six Classification Playoff Configuration for Each Sport

(Aug. 27, 2012) - The Virginia High School League is nearing a complete overhaul of how public high school playoffs work in the state with a move to a six classification system for almost all sports. The proposed changes will result in an "all in" playoff system where schools advance to a conference level to start their road towards a state championship.

Here is a look at specifics on how playoffs would work for different sports:


Six Classification Playoff Configuration by Sport – 8/2/12
The default for all championships shall be:
• “All in” for each conference.
• Conference champion and runner‐up advance to regional play.
• Top two teams in regional play advance to state play.

Football: VHSL Updates Tie-Breaking Procedure

(Oct. 17, 2011) - Ever wonder about what exactly the rules are when two football teams are tied at the end of regulation? Well, the Virginia High School League has recently updated its tie-breaking procedure.

The VHSL Legislative Council has adopted the following procedure to be used to resolve ties in all VHSL football games. Please review and retain in the event your school is involved in the football playoff series. This method is also included in the National Federation Football Rule Book under the heading "Resolving Tied Games." For interpretations of this procedure see rule book. If any VHSL game ends in a tie, the tie shall be resolved by the following procedure:

Golf: Virginia High School League to Host Zone Qualifies for Girls Open State Championship

(Oct. 4, 2011) - The Virginia High School League conducts an annual girls golf open state championship, which will be held Oct. 24-25 this year. The zone qualifiers for this year are as follows:

Northern Zone - comprised of the Northern Region member schools. Tuesday, October 18, Twin Lakes/Oaks Course, Clifton, Aaron Helmick, West Potomac, HS, abhelmick@fcps.edu. More information will be provided in the coming weeks.

News: Virginia High School League Executive Committee Amends Out-of-Season Practice Rule

Charlottesville (Sept. 21, 2011) - The Virginia High School League Executive Committee amended, as emergency legislation effective immediately for all VHSL member schools, the out-of-season practice rule by a vote of 22-1-2 at today’s Executive Committee meeting.

The amendment is as follows:

27-8-1 – Out-of-Season Practice Rule (note: revisions are underlined)

All VHSL member school sponsored athletic teams are restricted from any organized activities during designated “dead periods.” Out-of-season dead periods shall be 10-day periods beginning with the first permissible practice date of a sports season as published in the VHSL Calendar. A summer “dead period” for all athletic teams shall be week 1 of the NFHS standardized calendar.

During the dead periods, no coaching, observing or contact between a coach(s) or player(s) may occur in the VHSL member school sponsored sport team or activity involved. There may be no VHSL member school sponsored practice, open facilities, weight training/conditioning, out of season league(s) or member schools sponsored clinic/camps. Outside of the dead periods, all VHSL member school sponsored activities may occur on any day except Sundays. Schools, districts and/or regions may impose more restrictive guidelines. VHSL catastrophic insurance is not applicable to any out-of-season activities.

News: VHSL Executive Committee Agenda Includes Heritage and Loudoun Valley Appeal to Move Down from Division 4 to Division 3

(Sept. 8, 2011) - The Virginia High School League will hold its first executive committee meeting of the year on Sept. 20 in Charlottesville and among the agenda items is an appeal by Heritage and Loudoun Valley high schools to be classified as Division 3 instead of Division 4 for this school year.

The move down in classification could significantly impact both the football and basketball playoff odds of both schools. Classifications were set up in the spring when both Heritage and Loudoun Valley still had very large senior classes comprised of students that did not make the move to new schools, Woodgrove in Purcellville and Tuscarora in Leesburg. Complete agenda for the meeting!

Currently for AA, football and basketball are the only sports that divide the playoffs between Division 3 and Division 4 -- crowning two state champions in the the AA classification.