National District (VHSL)

Last updated

The National District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools from eastern Fairfax County.

Contents

The National District was founded in 1993 as part of an attempted realignment of the Northern Region. The charter members of the district were Edison, Mount Vernon, Justice, Wakefield, Washington-Liberty, West Potomac, and Yorktown High Schools.

Currently all eight of the member high schools compete at the 6A level in VHSL. However, in the past five of the eight high schools were classified as 5A high schools. With the 2013 post-season conference realignment, the 5A schools are a part of the post-season conference 13 and the 6A schools reside in conference 6, with Liberty District high schools. This process has been deemed very confusing due to the inter-twinning of regular season districts and post-season conferences. Generally speaking, the regular season conferences have been kept together for local purposes while the post-season conferences were put together for school population matters.

Membership changes

Most of the National District schools have stayed intact since its founding. In 1996, West Potomac moved from the National to the Patriot and Falls Church was added from the Liberty District. From 2003 to 2005, Jefferson moved from the Concorde to the National only for football, where the Colonials clinched a Division 5 playoff berth in 2004.

Loudoun Valley of Purcellville was added in 2005 as a full member for football, but as a part-time member in other sports by participating only in post season district tournaments, because it was located about 50 miles or more west of the National District schools. In sports other than football, Valley played an independent schedule, usually against schools in the AA Dulles District. In 2007, Loudoun Valley was moved to the Northwest Region which was regarded as a welcomed move to the National District's members.

Hayfield joined the National in 2009, as its population was cut nearly in half by the opening of South County in 2005 making it a struggle for the Hawks to compete with schools in the Patriot District whose student bodies were nearly double.

Starting with the 2015–16 school year, the National District will have the same membership as Capitol Conference 13.(2) The number of schools in the National District will reduce from eight to seven. Mt. Vernon, which has been reclassified as a 6A size school starting with the 2015–16 season, and Hayfield, already a 6A, moves to the Patriot District/Conference 7. Arlington County high schools Washington-Liberty and Yorktown, who were already 6A in size since the 2013–14 school year, will shift from the National to the Liberty District/Conference 6 to join those 6A size schools. Moving from the Liberty to the National will be George C. Marshall and Thomas Jefferson. John R. Lewis comes to the National/Capitol from the Patriot. All those schools are 5A in size. The new district changes means all the schools in the former Northern Region under the three classification setup will now have all 6A and 5A schools grouped in the same districts as their conference assignments with the new six classification arrangement.

As of July 1, 2021, the National District would consolidate with the remaining Gunston District members, and continue to bear the National District name moving forward, thus ending the 2nd incarnation of the Gunston District.

Membership History

Current members

Former Members

2021-2022 district champions

State champions since 2004

Virginia State Championships
YearSport/CompetitionSchool
2004AAA ForensicsEdison
2005AAA DebateEdison
2006AAA DebateYorktown
2006AAA Girls Swimming and DivingYorktown
2007AAA Girls Swimming and DivingYorktown
2007AAA DebateYorktown
2008AAA DebateYorktown
2009AAA ForensicsWest Springfield
2009AAA DebateWest Springfield
2010AAA ForensicsYorktown
2013AAA Swim & DiveFalls Church

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfax County, Virginia</span> County in Virginia, United States

Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 census, it is the most populous county in Virginia, the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan area, and the most populous location in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. The county seat is Fairfax; however, because it is an independent city under Virginia law, the city of Fairfax is not part of the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purcellville, Virginia</span> Town in Virginia, US

Purcellville is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia. The population was 8,929 according to the 2020 census. Purcellville is the major population center for Western Loudoun and the Loudoun Valley. Many of the older structures remaining in Purcellville reflect the Victorian architecture popular during the early twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfax County Public Schools</span> School division in Virginia, U.S.

The Fairfax County Public Schools system (FCPS) is a school division in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It is a branch of the Fairfax County government, which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. FCPS's headquarters is located near Falls Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia High School League</span> High school sports association in the United States

The Virginia High School League (VHSL) is the principal sanctioning organization for interscholastic athletic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VHSL first sponsored debate and also continues to sponsor state championships in several academic activities.

The AA Northwestern District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes Frederick County and Warren County. The Northwestern District member schools compete in Region II with the schools from the AA Dulles District, AA Jefferson District, and AA Evergreen District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLean High School</span> Public secondary school in McLean, Fairfax, Virginia, United States

McLean High School is a public high school within the Fairfax County Public Schools in McLean, Virginia, United States. In 2024, U.S. News & World Report rated McLean the 218th-best U.S. public high school, and fifth-best in Virginia.

The Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League (NVSHL) is a non-affiliated high school and middle school ice hockey league comprising teams from the Northern Virginia Area including Fairfax County, Prince William County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, Stafford County, Fauquier County, and the cities of Manassas and Alexandria. The NVSHL staff and board of directors includes a combination of coaches, parents, team representatives, referee, and rink supervisors. There are also many members who are not affiliated with and particular team or organization. The current league executive director is Grey Bullen, and its assistant executive director is Jeff Nygaard. Bullen joined the league after Bud Sterling served the same capacity for the previous two seasons. Prior to that, the league was headed by Nygaard, who brought the league from being a part of the MSHL to its own entity, the NVSHL. Teams play a ten-game regular season, followed by a multi-round single elimination playoff tournament to determine the league champion. In the end, the league winner will have played either 13 or 14 games, depending on whether they received a bye in the first round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George C. Marshall High School</span> Public secondary school in Falls Church, Virginia, Fairfax, Virginia, United States

George C. Marshall High School is a public school in Falls Church, Virginia. Named for General George C. Marshall, it opened in 1962 and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). It is ranked #245 in the nation for public schools and has received a gold award for Best High Schools from the U.S. News & World Report 2020. It is ranked 4th in Virginia and 4th in Fairfax County. George C. Marshall High School is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's Standards of Learning tests.

The 4A Dulles District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools from Northern Virginia, with all of its full-time members from Loudoun County. 4A is the third largest enrollment class of the Virginia High School League and is typically very competitive in Virginia high school sports.

The Liberty District is a high school district in the state of Virginia that includes schools from Northern Virginia.

The AAA Northern Region was one of the four AAA regions in the Virginia High School League. It was made up of four districts: the AAA Concorde District, the AAA Liberty District, the AAA National District, and the AAA Patriot District. Group AAA is the largest enrollment class for VHSL schools, and typically AAA is the most competitive level. In 2013, the three classification format was eliminated in favor of a six classification system. Accordingly, the Northern Region was eliminated, while the districts were retained for regular season competition.

The Concorde District is a high school district in the state of Virginia that includes public schools from Fairfax County. It is widely regarded as one of the most competitive districts in the Virginia High School League (VHSL).

The Cedar Run District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools stretching from Prince William County.

The Group 6A North Region was a division of the Virginia High School League. Along with the 6A South Region, it consisted of the largest high schools in Virginia. The region was formed in 2013 when the VHSL adopted a six classification format and eliminated the previous three classification system. It is a successor to the AAA Northern Region. The conference system was scrapped prior to the 2017–18 academic year, reverting the previous district. Regions were also renamed, with schools in the 6A North Region distributed into Group 6A Regions C& D.

The Group 4A North Region is a division of the Virginia High School League. The region was formed in 2013 when the VHSL adopted a six classification format and eliminated the previous three classification system. For the purpose of regular season competition, schools may compete within districts that existed prior to 2013. The division is composed of 28 schools separated into four conferences 21A, 21B, 22,23, and 24. This format is mainly for regular season competition and schools are not limited to these classifications.

The Group 5A North Region is a division of the Virginia High School League. The region was formed in 2013 when the VHSL adopted a six classification format and eliminated the previous three classification system. For the purpose of regular season competition, schools compete within districts that existed prior to 2013, while post-season competition will be organized within four conferences that make up each region. It is a successor to the AAA Northern Region.

The Gunston District was a high school sports district in Northern Virginia that competed in the Virginia High School League. The schools were mostly from the Alexandria area.

The Potomac District is a high school conference in the United States Virginia High School League that is made up of mostly schools from Loudoun County that have a high enrollment capacity.

References