Region D travel times

[SFUWO]

Liberty to Salem 2h 54m
Sherando to Glass 2h 32m

If Salem wins Millbrook or Handley have 2h 40m trip.
I understand these trips in states but it's crazy for regions

 

[BleedingNavy]

I keep trying to convince posters that Northern Virginia has the most schools; therefore, they control the VHSL voting. The powers to be in region C got what they wanted and kicked the old and longstanding members to the curb. They only care about themselves. I could go on, but I would rather talk about football and not politics.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Any of those three teams facing Salem in the first two rounds will spend more time coming to the game than they'll spend playing it. Foolishness.

 

[SFUWO]

Handley to Danville would have been a 3h 48m drive

 

[Kilroy25]

Millbrook should be in Region C

 

[BleedingNavy]

In comparison these are the Region B drives:
EV to Dinwiddie 2:06
Courtland to Varina 1:05
Hanover to King George :53
Powhatan to Huguenot :26

Anywhere from the Battlefield to Dinwiddie is over 1.5 hours, but nothing crazy like the schools in D.

 

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

Nothing wrong with these travel times. Stop complaining. Virginia isn't a perfect square and not every school is five minutes from one another. And this has nothing to do with the "Northern Virginia schools controlling the VHSL".

A solution would be to let the visiting team pick when they want to want to play. If they can handle the ride on Friday, then play Friday. If it's better for Saturday afternoon, then play then. At least don't do anything dumb like a couple of the Stafford County schools hosting games at 6:00PM this Friday in the heart of rush hour. Yes, the distance to Mountain View and Colonial Forge might be shorter in distance compared to other drives around the state, but it can still take an hour or 90 minutes with traffic to try to make a 6:00PM kick if you're coming from DC or over by Tysons.

But geographic outliers should not be coddled to. The structure of a tournament or a season schedule should not be compromised because a handful of teams aren't *only* 30 minutes down the road. The VHSL needs to stop making decisions that affect everyone just because Franklin County and Halifax County are in the middle of nowhere ane because Patrick Henry and William Fleming are the last big schools as you head into Southwest Virginia. Apparently the integrity of a bracket or a proper playoff structure means little to some people.

And I never hear anything about those in deep Southwest Virginia having to go only 30 miles for a game, but because they have to go over the river and through the woods, that can easily turn into an hour trip or longer.

Another solution would be to drop down to four or maybe even five classes where the geography worshippers would have a better chance at being paired with other schools that are within 90 minutes of each other. The flip side is that you might have a better chance at going on the road for two or three hours due to the larger opponent pool. Be careful what you wish for.

Or maybe you can push your schools to cease their affiliation with the VHSL, play a two game season by playing two teams within 20 minutes of your school, and call it a day. That's to appease the pro-shorter season and anti-travel crowd.

Just remember that there are teams, schools, and fans in other states starting their playoffs this week with some having substantially longer road trips. You won't hear them complaining because they know and respect that winning a state championship should be tough and if you have to go on the road, then that is part of the process.

Otherwise, it's playoff season. You're going to play teams from all over the state no matter the format. Deal with it.

 

[SFUWO]

Nothing wrong with these travel times. Stop complaining. Virginia isn't a perfect square and not every school is five minutes from one another. And this has nothing to do with the "Northern Virginia schools controlling the VHSL".

A solution would be to let the visiting team pick when they want to want to play. If they can handle the ride on Friday, then play Friday. If it's better for Saturday afternoon, then play then. At least don't do anything dumb like a couple of the Stafford County schools hosting games at 6:00PM this Friday in the heart of rush hour. Yes, the distance to Mountain View and Colonial Forge might be shorter in distance compared to other drives around the state, but it can still take an hour or 90 minutes with traffic to try to make a 6:00PM kick if you're coming from DC or over by Tysons.

But geographic outliers should not be coddled to. The structure of a tournament or a season schedule should not be compromised because a handful of teams aren't *only* 30 minutes down the road. The VHSL needs to stop making decisions that affect everyone just because Franklin County and Halifax County are in the middle of nowhere ane because Patrick Henry and William Fleming are the last big schools as you head into Southwest Virginia. Apparently the integrity of a bracket or a proper playoff structure means little to some people.

And I never hear anything about those in deep Southwest Virginia having to go only 30 miles for a game, but because they have to go over the river and through the woods, that can easily turn into an hour trip or longer.

Another solution would be to drop down to four or maybe even five classes where the geography worshippers would have a better chance at being paired with other schools that are within 90 minutes of each other. The flip side is that you might have a better chance at going on the road for two or three hours due to the larger opponent pool. Be careful what you wish for.

Or maybe you can push your schools to cease their affiliation with the VHSL, play a two game season by playing two teams within 20 minutes of your school, and call it a day. That's to appease the pro-shorter season and anti-travel crowd.

Just remember that there are teams, schools, and fans in other states starting their playoffs this week with some having substantially longer road trips. You won't hear them complaining because they know and respect that winning a state championship should be tough and if you have to go on the road, then that is part of the process.

Otherwise, it's playoff season. You're going to play teams from all over the state no matter the format. Deal with it.

Umm not complaining. Just pointing out that Region D has teams about 4 hours apart.
This also doesn't effect me because my team is staying home until they lose or go to State Semis. Historically most teams in a region are within 2 hrs. District teams are 30-60 minutes away. I personally like playing new teams and not the same ones every yr.
I liked the playoffs better in 2014 and 15. No regions and you were ranked 1-16.
The problem with region D isn't with football. Spring sports and the cost of travel. I can only imagine how strained some schools athletic budgets are.

 

[BleedingNavy]

I wasnt complaining at all @Virginia HS Football Fan. During the regular season the Dinwiddie fans and team have traveled to Salem, James Monroe, GW Danville, Lynchburg and Ohio in the past four or five years. Hell we even go to VA Beach and Lynchburg to scrimmage. We don't gripe we want the challenge. The key is it's our choice. Putting the Northwestern teams back in Region D makes no since at all. Maybe you have ignored this, but that part of the current region C has been manipulating things since before realignment in 2013 and it's getting old. I played and coached football, wrestling, and baseball in the old Northwest Region and it sucked. We couldn't stay over night, we had to leave school before noon and ride 3 hours to get to a game and after playing a said game ride a bus for 3 more hours finally getting to bed after midnight. For teams playing baseball, soccer, and basketball they had to get up and go to school the next morning.

I generally enjoy your posts, but I think you are missing a few very important factors. I will not go into particulars, but please answer one question. Who in the world is going drive the busses to all of these long away games? Most school systems can't find enough bus drivers to pick up students for school. This is not the pros, there is no revenue sharing and requiring teams to charter busses for numerous playoff games is just stupid. As fans it means nothing until someone ask us to foot the bill. We have several teams/groups in Dinwiddie who fund, feed, and complete task the school can't. Do you have any idea how much it cost us to travel to GW Danville, not to mention Ohio. It's hs football and I love it. If we keep allowing the NOVA schools to push their money doesn't matter, AAU type agenda it is going to go away.

 

[tommythecpa]

Four hour trips were the norm in the Northwest region. in 1974 we left GW at 9:30 on a Thursday and came back Saturday for a Friday night regional championship game,

 

[MaroonDude]

I just hope the Salem fans show some respect.................................

 

[BleedingNavy]

Four hour trips were the norm in the Northwest region. in 1974 we left GW at 9:30 on a Thursday and came back Saturday for a Friday night regional championship game,

Yes sir @tommythecpa and as I said earlier in the 80's too. It still sucked. I remember going to a regional baseball game at Garfield, getting stuck in traffic and barely making it to the game. We didn't stay over night. The Roanoke School Board and PH booster club was cheap as hell back then. In 1982, me and another wrestler had to share a hotel room with our coaches Mike Sisler and Steve Oliver in VA Beach at the State Championships. Rode in old van that belonged to Coach Sisler. We drove down early on Friday morning, were allowed to stay Friday night and had to drive back Saturday evening. When I was coaching at PH we played Woodbridge and road a dang school bus to the game. Longest bus ride ever. 😂

 

[Kilroy25]

Doesn’t change the fact that Millbrook is 30 minutes from Tuscarora but in a diff region!! It’s just insane

 

[cutnjump]

Four hour trips were the norm in the Northwest region. in 1974 we left GW at 9:30 on a Thursday and came back Saturday for a Friday night regional championship game,

Those trips became a twice a year REGULAR SEASON occurrence in addition to playoff travel when the Roanoke schools split off to form the Roanoke Valley District. In order to get 10 games in AAA so as not to damage the ratings points GW would make a trip to NOVA or a trip to Tidewater every year. There were 2 schools in each area and you played one on the road and one at home, the next year the home/away schedules reversed. They were also forced into Piedmont North Carolina, a shorter trip. The complaint, in my opinion, was not about playoff travel but, about the way the burden of that travel got allocated when dividing regions and the seeming favoritism afforded to the largest public school divisions in the state at the time.. I cannot find it now but, Marshall Johnson once wrote a decent piece about the problem which was a fair and balanced look from a guy many considered at the time to be the foremost authority on Virginia high school football.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Yes sir @tommythecpa and as I said earlier in the 80's too. It still sucked. I remember going to a regional baseball game at Garfield, getting stuck in traffic and barely making it to the game. We didn't stay over night. The Roanoke School Board and PH booster club was cheap as hell back then. In 1982, me and another wrestler had to share a hotel room with our coaches Mike Sisler and Steve Oliver in VA Beach at the State Championships. Rode in old van that belonged to Coach Sisler. We drove down early on Friday morning, were allowed to stay Friday night and had to drive back Saturday evening. When I was coaching at PH we played Woodbridge and road a dang school bus to the game. Longest bus ride ever. 😂

Damn, you and Tommy are old!!! And…, BN, you are stretching the truth. They had not invented vans when you were wrestling. Maybe you meant a Conestoga wagon?

 

[VolNation85]

Nothing wrong with these travel times. Stop complaining. Virginia isn't a perfect square and not every school is five minutes from one another. And this has nothing to do with the "Northern Virginia schools controlling the VHSL".

A solution would be to let the visiting team pick when they want to want to play. If they can handle the ride on Friday, then play Friday. If it's better for Saturday afternoon, then play then. At least don't do anything dumb like a couple of the Stafford County schools hosting games at 6:00PM this Friday in the heart of rush hour. Yes, the distance to Mountain View and Colonial Forge might be shorter in distance compared to other drives around the state, but it can still take an hour or 90 minutes with traffic to try to make a 6:00PM kick if you're coming from DC or over by Tysons.

But geographic outliers should not be coddled to. The structure of a tournament or a season schedule should not be compromised because a handful of teams aren't *only* 30 minutes down the road. The VHSL needs to stop making decisions that affect everyone just because Franklin County and Halifax County are in the middle of nowhere ane because Patrick Henry and William Fleming are the last big schools as you head into Southwest Virginia. Apparently the integrity of a bracket or a proper playoff structure means little to some people.

And I never hear anything about those in deep Southwest Virginia having to go only 30 miles for a game, but because they have to go over the river and through the woods, that can easily turn into an hour trip or longer.

Another solution would be to drop down to four or maybe even five classes where the geography worshippers would have a better chance at being paired with other schools that are within 90 minutes of each other. The flip side is that you might have a better chance at going on the road for two or three hours due to the larger opponent pool. Be careful what you wish for.

Or maybe you can push your schools to cease their affiliation with the VHSL, play a two game season by playing two teams within 20 minutes of your school, and call it a day. That's to appease the pro-shorter season and anti-travel crowd.

Just remember that there are teams, schools, and fans in other states starting their playoffs this week with some having substantially longer road trips. You won't hear them complaining because they know and respect that winning a state championship should be tough and if you have to go on the road, then that is part of the process.

Otherwise, it's playoff season. You're going to play teams from all over the state no matter the format. Deal with it.

I agree that winning a state championship should be hard. I don't like the idea of the visiting team choosing when to play because that takes away part of the home field advantage. The higher seed earned the right to play at home so they should get the right to choose day and time as well, within reason of course.

 

[BleedingNavy]

At least we had fire when I was in high school @DinwiddieProud, you played tag with dinosaurs for fun.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I agree that winning a state championship should be hard. I don't like the idea of the visiting team choosing when to play because that takes away part of the home field advantage. The higher seed earned the right to play at home so they should get the right to choose day and time as well, within reason of course.

I agree 100%. When you “earned“ the home field advantage, your opponent has to realize that, within the rules, you play at their discretion. That is why I detest the idea of moving a game from the rightfully earned home field. Many dismiss the home field advantage. And I guess at some schools it’s irrelevant, but at Dinwiddie it’s huge.

 

[VolNation85]

I agree 100%. When you “earned“ the home field advantage, your opponent has to realize that, within the rules, you play at their discretion. That is why I detest the idea of moving a game from the rightfully earned home field. Many dismiss the home field advantage. And I guess at some schools it’s irrelevant, but at Dinwiddie it’s huge.

No doubt! Home field advantage means more certain places for sure. A few places that come to mind that I have experienced as either a player, coach, or fan are Salem, Giles, Dinwiddie, Brookville, JF, Oscar Smith, and Appomattox, to name a few

 

[BleedingNavy]

Agreed. If you say that about Dinwiddie you have never played there. Our home playoff record (23-5) speaks for itself. Since 2007 (15 years of playoff appearances) we have only lost at home in playoffs to PH-Ashland (1st round), Phoebus 2010 (state semi), Hopewell 2012 (1st round), Louisa 2017 (region final), and PH-Ashland 2021 (second round). We did lose to Eastern View in 2018 at Huguenot HS (region final).

 

[DinwiddieProud]

No doubt! Home field advantage means more certain places for sure. A few places that come to mind that I have experienced as either a player, coach, or fan are Salem, Giles, Dinwiddie, Brookville, JF, Oscar Smith, and Appomattox, to name a few

Though I’ve never been there for a game, I would add Louisa to your list.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Got bored and looked up Salem's record just because I've never really viewed Salem as having a dominating home field advantage just rather that they play well regardless of where the game is and they just win a lot so home field doesn't "do" much so I thought I'd see what the stats actually say.

Willis White:

Home: 20-5 (.800)
Away: 15-7 (.681)

Steve Magenbauer:

Home: 23-5 (.821)
Away: 13-5 (.722)

Don Holter:

Home: 10-2 (.833)
Away: 2-1 (.667)

Totals:

Home: 53-12 (.815)
Away: 30-13 (.697)

Conclusion: A minor home field advantage for Salem but given who is played where, Salem's road record is arguably far more impressive since it has typically come against a far higher quality of team e.g. a full third of the road wins are state title wins.

 

[BleedingNavy]

I didn't count neutral sites or playoffs before Mills arrival. We lost the final in 2000 and a few Region finals before that. Back then there was no "Navy Nation" or huge crowds. EC Glass used to pound us.

 

[tommythecpa]

Damn, you and Tommy are old!!! And…, BN, you are stretching the truth. They had not invented vans when you were wrestling. Maybe you meant a Conestoga wagon?

My mom taught in a one room school house in Boones Mill in the early 50s. She is going strong at 95.

 

[VolNation85]

Though I’ve never been there for a game, I would add Louisa to your list.

Absolutely! I don't know how I forgot The Lion's Den! I was there for the Salem-Louisa playoff game last season doing some scouting. It was crazy! One of the best playoff environments I've seen and it was just a second round game!

 

[DinwiddieProud]

My mom taught in a one room school house in Boones Mill in the early 50s. She is going strong at 95.

That’s fantastic Tommy. I hope she stays healthy for many more years.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

I’d love to go watch GW/JF on Friday. I don’t mind the dive, I just need the GW staff to promise me that they’re going to run the damn ball 😤!

 

[wikki]

I agree 100%. When you “earned“ the home field advantage, your opponent has to realize that, within the rules, you play at their discretion. That is why I detest the idea of moving a game from the rightfully earned home field. Many dismiss the home field advantage. And I guess at some schools it’s irrelevant, but at Dinwiddie it’s huge.

Im a firm believer of home field, especially if you have a great fan base

I’d love to go watch GW/JF on Friday. I don’t mind the dive, I just need the GW staff to promise me that they’re going to run the damn ball

I’d love to go watch GW/JF on Friday. I don’t mind the dive, I just need the GW staff to promise me that they’re going to run the damn ball 😤!

Just be prepared to sit on concrete. Not comfortable at all.

 

[VolNation85]

I’d love to go watch GW/JF on Friday. I don’t mind the dive, I just need the GW staff to promise me that they’re going to run the damn ball 😤!

I don't think that game will be very competitive. JF is legit! It will be difficult for anyone to run the ball on them. They held Gideon Davidson in check in the first half. He just ended up being too difficult to keep in check for 4 quarters. Not taking anything away from your Eagles but they don't have anyone anywhere near Davidson's level or the level of the LCA OL. JF-Glass Part 2 in round 2 might be a better game.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

I don't think that game will be very competitive. JF is legit! It will be difficult for anyone to run the ball on them. They held Gideon Davidson in check in the first half. He just ended up being too difficult to keep in check for 4 quarters. Not taking anything away from your Eagles but they don't have anyone anywhere near Davidson's level or the level of the LCA OL. JF-Glass Part 2 in round 2 might be a better game.

Yessir, I agree 100%. GW should’ve been an I-Formation team this year. Just don’t have the athletes or playmakers on the perimeter like they’ve had in the past to throw the football against good teams. Glenn, Mabin and Bridges are a good enough RB trio to win 8 games this year. GW actually played Glass really really good.

 

[wolverinedad2018]

Umm not complaining. Just pointing out that Region D has teams about 4 hours apart.
This also doesn't effect me because my team is staying home until they lose or go to State Semis. Historically most teams in a region are within 2 hrs. District teams are 30-60 minutes away. I personally like playing new teams and not the same ones every yr.
I liked the playoffs better in 2014 and 15. No regions and you were ranked 1-16.
The problem with region D isn't with football. Spring sports and the cost of travel. I can only imagine how strained some schools athletic budgets are.

What's your team? Don't think I ever heard you mention it.

 

[SFUWO]

What's your team? Don't think I ever heard you mention it.

Salem. Remember a couple really good games vs your Wolverines. Our old highschool was Andrew Lewis Wolverines

 

[wolverinedad2018]

Salem. Remember a couple really good games vs your Wolverines. Our old highschool was Andrew Lewis Wolverines

I played for the Newfield Wolverines in 1982-83. Funny thing was in little league I played for the Mustangs as did my son (He won 2 Little League Championships and a High School one, I didn't win a game on the Mustangs and played .500 ball in HS). We also played the same position (Right Guard) until they shifted him to Center his Junior year. He graduated 6'0" 260lbs and I was 5'9" 185lbs. High School football has changed.