This past weekend really showed me just how far behind Virginia has fallen when it comes to high school football, and honestly, it’s sad. The VHSL is not doing its student-athletes justice the way other states are.
Look at what happened this weekend. North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia and other states had teams involved in HUGE games against quality competition. Great high school football was being played all over my television, with programs willing to step outside their comfort zones and test themselves against some of the best teams around.
Then I look at Virginia.
The VHSL has more than 350 schools, yet somehow it feels like we’ve watched the same 10–15 programs seriously contend for state championships for the past 10+ years.
A big part of the problem is scheduling. Too many athletic directors and programs seem afraid to step outside the box and schedule REAL competition. If some of Virginia’s best programs could play each other every week until the playoffs, I honestly believe they would — because the best teams want to find out who the best really is (ex Highland Springs, Varina, Dinwiddie, Maury, Stone Bridge, Madison)
Meanwhile, ALOT of other programs would rather schedule Jamestown or John Marshall 10 times. No offense to either schools, but something has to change.
And this new playoff format isn’t helping. Allowing almost everybody into the playoffs regardless of record rewards mediocrity instead of making teams EARN something. When did high school sports become about participation trophies?
The old system definitely had its flaws, but it was LIGHT-YEARS better than this. District championships actually meant something. Teams had something meaningful to work toward during the regular season. Rivalries mattered. School pride mattered.
You also didn’t see nearly as much transferring because kids took pride in representing THEIR school and THEIR community.
Virginia has plenty of talented players, coaches and programs. The talent is here. But outside of the top 10–15 programs, high school football in this state has become stagnant.
Virginia football needs stronger competition. Better scheduling. Meaningful regular-season games. A playoff system that rewards winning. And more opportunities for our student-athletes to compete on bigger stages.
The VHSL is in DIRE need of change, Virginia has too much football talent for the standard to be this low
Look at what happened this weekend. North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia and other states had teams involved in HUGE games against quality competition. Great high school football was being played all over my television, with programs willing to step outside their comfort zones and test themselves against some of the best teams around.
Then I look at Virginia.
The VHSL has more than 350 schools, yet somehow it feels like we’ve watched the same 10–15 programs seriously contend for state championships for the past 10+ years.
A big part of the problem is scheduling. Too many athletic directors and programs seem afraid to step outside the box and schedule REAL competition. If some of Virginia’s best programs could play each other every week until the playoffs, I honestly believe they would — because the best teams want to find out who the best really is (ex Highland Springs, Varina, Dinwiddie, Maury, Stone Bridge, Madison)
Meanwhile, ALOT of other programs would rather schedule Jamestown or John Marshall 10 times. No offense to either schools, but something has to change.
And this new playoff format isn’t helping. Allowing almost everybody into the playoffs regardless of record rewards mediocrity instead of making teams EARN something. When did high school sports become about participation trophies?
The old system definitely had its flaws, but it was LIGHT-YEARS better than this. District championships actually meant something. Teams had something meaningful to work toward during the regular season. Rivalries mattered. School pride mattered.
You also didn’t see nearly as much transferring because kids took pride in representing THEIR school and THEIR community.
Virginia has plenty of talented players, coaches and programs. The talent is here. But outside of the top 10–15 programs, high school football in this state has become stagnant.
Virginia football needs stronger competition. Better scheduling. Meaningful regular-season games. A playoff system that rewards winning. And more opportunities for our student-athletes to compete on bigger stages.
The VHSL is in DIRE need of change, Virginia has too much football talent for the standard to be this low
