ABINGDON, Va. – Three leaders from the Virginia High School League came to far Southwest Virginia Wednesday night for an information and listening session.
The primary concerns from the public during the over two-hour meeting at Abingdon High School have been heard before.
Speakers from AHS and Virginia High were upset over the “advantages” enjoyed by the John Marshall boys basketball team from Richmond and the athletic program at Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg.
The major complaint among the crowd of roughly 40 dealt with “illegal” recruiting.
VHSL Executive Director Billy Haun said there have been no documented cases of wrongdoing by John Marshall and LCA and that complaints regarding successful VHSL programs are common.
“Just in this end of the state, I can name four of five programs in different sports where people say there is cheating,” Haun said. “Did anybody ever bring forth any evidence to prove that?”
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Nearly all the speakers were from Abingdon High School, with one from Virginia High.
Liberty Christian and Abingdon have met in the playoffs of various sports in recent years, while VHS lost 89-32 to John Marshall in the 2024 VHSL Class 2 boys basketball championship.
Along with transfers, specific complaints relating to John Marshall included ties with AAU basketball, the number of assistant coaches and the convincing manner in which they defeat opponents.
For Liberty Christian Academy, speakers pointed to gifted girls basketball players who have transferred from other states because of the LCA’s connection with Liberty University. Others found it unfair that LCA is the only private school allowed to compete against the 318 VHSL public schools.
Liberty Christian won its first-ever VHSL Class 3 girls basketball state title in 2024 after defeating Meridian 44-43 to finish off a 27-0 season.
Haun pointed to another thread to the story.
“Winning breeds winning,” Haun said. “Parents and kids sometimes want to change to change schools because school A is winning more than school B, and the parents are willing to move their residence so their kid can transfer.
“There is nothing illegal about that and every state deals with the same thing. We can’t tell parents where they can move to.”
Schools in Southwest Virginia have experienced a large number of transfers in recent years among a variety of sports. Haun pointed to a 2023 story in the Bristol Herald Courier as an example.
“The article was about five of six different girls who were going to play at different schools in the following year for girls basketball,” Haun said. “Did those parents move? I hope they did because that’s what you are supposed to do.
“We are a membership organization and we trust school leaders to do the right thing. (Transfers) happen. People like to win.”
Haun added that John Marshall officials have requested to compete at the VHSL Class 6 level.
The other VHSL officials in attendance Wednesday were assistant director for compliance Ty Gafford and assistant director for athletics Chris Robinson.
Additional topics addressed by speakers included a plea for powerlifting programs among VHSL schools, a shoving incident between a baseball coach and player last season at John Battle High School, and the high cost of concessions for the VHSL state basketball tournament at Virginia Commonwealth University.
All aspects of the League’s athletic and non-athletic programs were detailed during a lengthy slide presentation before public comments. The VHSL sanctions a total of 13 academic activities and 27 sports.
As for issues the VHSL has been facing in recent years, Haun and Robinson mentioned the increased turnover among game officials along with the high number of fights in football games and ejections in baseball.
“It’s always good to hear from the public,’’ said Haun, a former football coach at George Wythe and Richlands. “We hear from principals, officials and coaches, but we just don’t hear from the general public. This was a great opportunity for that.”
The VHSL plans to hold eight similar strategic planning meetings across Virginia in the coming weeks. Wednesday was the second stop on the tour.
agregory@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Greg_BHCSports | (276) 645-2544