2014 VHSL Realignment

Prior to the 2013-2014 school year, and thus taking effect for Scholastic Bowl purposes beginning with the 2014 state championship series, the Virginia High School League will completely overhaul the structure of postseason play. Existing districts will no longer be the first level of state tournament qualification, instead being replaced by entirely new conferences. Existing regions will be replaced by northern and southern regions within each of six new classes, themselves replacing the current three-class system.

The format of the state Scholastic Bowl tournament will also change; instead of three eight-team double elimination tournaments, it will be six four-team round robin tournaments.

Maggie Walker and Thomas Jefferson (VA) will no longer be required (or allowed) to play in the highest class (which is now class 6), and will be put in their appropriate enrollment groups, which are the new class 2 and class 5 respectively. The new realignments pay little heed to geographic realities; thus, Maggie Walker, for instance, is now to play against teams such as Nandua (a school located on the Eastern Shore, and which Google Maps indicates is 159 miles and approximately 2 hours 41 minutes from metropolitan Richmond).