VHSL Yeah or Nay

[intrinsicreward]

What do you all think of the VHSL as an organization itself? They are a small private organization under the political control/watchdog of the schools (represented by the principals) who vote on the VHSL policies/rules. They get all the money from the benefit games and all the playoff games from every sport to fund their organization...... which is a ton to do what they do. This seems to "drive" a most of the decisions they have made over the years with the new classifications systems for example. The ticket prices seem to almost double from the regular season prices just to name one decision they've made which looks more like greed than it does good business sense or fairness. The top executives seem to have very high salaries compared especially with those in education. The rules and regulations seem to be harshly enforced by them at times but at other times they do nothing in the face of flagrant violations by what seems to be favored schools. Boy could I ever give some examples of this here but I digress! When you call them on this contradiction they say they are not an "enforcement" organization and that they leave it up to the schools to "police" themselves. At the same time they don't have a problem fining schools for the myriad of small infractions of any of the hundreds of rules in the handbook. The VHSL handbook, which gets bigger and more complex every year, is much like reading IRS code. The wording is ambiguous and "muddy" and many of the rules can be interpreted several different ways just like with IRS tax law. Even when you call them for an explanation you may very well get a different answer depending on who you are talking to. This is extremely frustrating if you are a coach or an AD trying to follow and live what has become the "Bible" of high school sports in Virginia.

I think the high schools can do much better. Are there any VHSL defenders out there? I'd especially like to here from your perspective.

 

[obguthr]

I completely disagree. VHSL does an outstanding job of providing structure, support, and guidance for ALL high school sports. There are over 300 member schools participating in a few dozen sports and activities. A fairly compensated adminstration is needed to manage all of that. $10 tickets for football playoffs is quite reasonable. I've seen some thrilling championships over the years and they were easily worth the ticket price.

I don't agree with everything they do. I'd rather see a 4 tier system instead of 6. I'd prefer that there only be 16 playoff qualifiers in football per class and I don't like mixed class districts. However, in general, VHSL does a great job. Their decentralized decision making is not an abrogation of their responsibilities, it's what empowers principals and ADs to have a say in policies that directly affect them and their student athletes.

 

[intrinsicreward]

Obguthr...you make some good points on what they do well but you also contradict yourself. You say you completely disagree with my post but then say you don't agree with everything they do on the playoff system which was the first thing I pointed out that was wrong.

Also..decentralizing the decision on enforcement doesn't seem empowering..more like arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement. If that is the case the whole VHSL handbook of rules is meaningless. One school will let the student athletes or coaches get away with about anything while another strictly follows the rules. I would be ok with that if VHSL didn't enforce ANY rules and totally left it up to the schools themselves to decide but they don't.

 

[obguthr]

I think we agree that the R&R plan isn't what either of us would want, but I disagree with the assertion that it was driven by money. It isn't a horrible plan, just not what I would have done.

As for inconsistent rules enforcement, I haven't heard many instances of that, so I've assumed it isn't a problem. I'd love to hear some examples. I certainly haven't heard of schools being fined. I'm not an insider and have no affiliation with any of the schools. I'm just a fan.

 

[dringtuoti]

Vhsl will only investigate if the school itself reports something or another school reports a suspected violation. It is possible to not like certain items that any group makes but still support the overall entity. The vhsl lost money the past two years for several reasons such as the lca lawsuit, eliminating rounds of state playoff competition by trying to give regions more say so and money, and also the terrible weather among other items. Vhsl several nonrevenue events outside of athletics which are extremely expensive to put on. They have their issues for sure but for the most part do a solid job. The rule book gets bigger every year because people find ways to try to beat the system each year.

 

[VaPrepsRod]

Vhsl will only investigate if the school itself reports something or another school reports a suspected violation.

I could be wrong, but I don't think that the VHSL does any investigation. They only hear the appeals.

 

[intrinsicreward]

The VHSL does have a tough job to do trying to keep 300 plus schools happy and they do some things well..no disagreement there. My disappointment with the VHSL as an organization mostly revolve around the enforcement side of the rules or lack thereof.

 

[dringtuoti]

I know they have called schools, asked questions in certain situations, and heard appeals. Maybe investigate isn't the right word - I don't think they have Colombo or my favorite Lenny Brisco working for them.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

I agree with the first post in this thread. VHSL is a very poorly run outfit.

 

[Xcross]

I think the ticket prices should stay the same except for the Gretna tickets . They should be 5 cents , then maybe they could get some fans back !

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Gretna is a lot like many schools, a lot of fair weather and bandwagon fans .