Virginia Moving to 6-Class System, Awarding 58 More State Titles

http://www.tricities.com/sports/article_c9124a7c-e9df-11e2-9526-0019bb30f31a.html

“And this is the best birthday present I’ve ever had,” Lawson said at the time.

Hollywood couldn’t dream up a more indelible scene of glory in high school sports – and the moment certainly hasn’t faded from the mind of Eastside principal Dante Lee.

“There’s nothing that can change a school more than winning a state championship,” said Lee, whose school claimed the softball title in its first year of existence following the consolidation of Coeburn and St. Paul. “It’s unbelievable. It’s an event-changer for the school.”

State titles – and the accompanying joy and pride – will be spread a little wider across the commonwealth this school year.

In the biggest revamp of the VHSL since a three-tiered classification system and statewide football playoffs were instituted in 1970, the governing body will award 58 more state titles in 2013-14 than last year under a new six-class setup.

Lee, the chairman of the VHSL executive committee that voted to explore additional classes in late 2011, said the crux of new system is more fairness, more fun.

“People can say it’s a little watered down if they want,” Lee said, “but win [a state title] and see if the school says it’s watered down.”

First, the nuts-and-bolts basics.

The new system, as has been the VHSL’s custom, is in place for two years after which it can be tweaked, or, although unlikely, completely revamped once again.

“Everything’s experimental in the beginning,” Lee said.

Under the previous setup, the biggest schools in the state competed at the AAA level, the middle tier at AA and the smallest at A, a similar arrangement to the system still in place in Tennessee.

Out are the repeating letters, replaced in favor of number-letter combos. The state’s biggest behemoths will now be known as 6A schools, moving on down to 5A, 4A, 3A and finally 2A and 1A on the small side, where every school in far Southwest Virginia – with the exception of 3A Abingdon – is slotted.

Gone as well are the familiar four regions at each classification, halved instead to just two at each of the six new levels – a “North” and “South” region for 6A, 5A and 4A and an “East” and “West” for 3A, 2A and 1A.

The change from four regions to two significantly does away with state quarterfinals, making the semifinal the first postseason round governed by the VHSL at the state level.

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