Blue Ridge District
The AA Blue Ridge District is a district in the Region III of the Virginia High School League. The district is named for the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are nearby all of the schools.
From the late 1980s through the early 2000s, the district steadily grew as four schools dropped in classification from the former AAA Roanoke Valley District. Two schools entered after the AA New River Valley District disbanded when other schools dropped in classification to Group A. For the 2002-2003 school year, the student body of Group AAA Cave Spring High School in Roanoke County was split into two Group AA sized schools with the opening of Hidden Valley High School. These two new schools gave the district eleven members that year except in football, where Cave Spring remained in AAA and Hidden Valley did not play a full schedule.
The district was split for the 2003-2004 school year. The name Blue Ridge District remained with this group of schools because Alleghany, Lord Botetourt, and William Byrd had the longest tenures in the district. The other group of six schools formed the AA River Ridge District. The Blue Ridge District only had four members starting in the 2007-2008 school year when William Fleming returned to Group AAA, but it grew to five members starting in the 2009-2010 school year when former member Staunton River returned from the AA Seminole District and to six members in the 2010-2011 school year when former member Rockbridge County returned from the AA Southern Valley District.
The Blue Ridge District will be preserved in the 2013-2014 VSHL reclassification. William Fleming will also return to the district from the AAA Western Valley District. The district will include schools from classifications 3A and 4A. Each school will compete only against members of the same classification in post-season play.[1]
Current member schools
- Alleghany High School Mountaineers of Covington, VA
- Lord Botetourt High School Cavaliers of Daleville, VA
- Northside High School Vikings of Roanoke, VA
- Rockbridge County High School, Wildcats of Lexington, VA
- Staunton River High School Golden Eagles of Moneta, VA
- William Byrd High School Terriers of Vinton, VA
- William Fleming High School Colonels of Roanoke, VA
Former member schools with current affiliations
- Blacksburg High School, Blacksburg, Virginia River Ridge District
- Cave Spring High School, Roanoke, Virginia River Ridge District
- Christiansburg High School, Christiansburg, Virginia River Ridge District
- Covington High School, Covington, Virginia Pioneer District
- Glenvar High School, Salem, Virginia Three Rivers District
- Hidden Valley High School, Roanoke, Virginia River Ridge District
- James River High School, Buchanan, Virginia Pioneer District
- Liberty High School, Bedford, Virginia Seminole District
- Pulaski County High School, Dublin, Virginia River Ridge District
- Salem High School, Salem, Virginia River Ridge District