New York Times's Take On Virginia Football

In the Washington metropolitan area, where new high schools open pretty much every year, spinning off from each other like 70s sitcoms, it might be difficult to grasp that schools elsewhere are shutting down or consolidating, including right here in Virginia.

The New York Times has a story today about six high schools in Wise County, in southwest Virginia, that might combine to form three new schools.

Schools that were once rivals, such as Appalachia and Powell Valley, would consolidate. Anyone who has grown up in a small town knows that such mergers are often not considered progress by the townsfolk.

"They would kill this community with consolidation,” one Appalachia coach said.

“I don’t think there would be a problem with the kids,” said a Powell Valley coach. “It’s the adults I’m worried about.”

It's a story well worth reading because it underscores that, generally speaking, the smaller the community, the bigger the deal that high school sports are in how that community defines itself.