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New district?
By Matt Pelkey
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Hoping to give Panther athletes a competitive step up, Rappahannock County High School principal Robyn Puryear has announced plans to pull the school’s football and basketball teams from the Bull Run District next year. All other sports teams at Rappahannock high school will continue to eompete in the district, she said.
Puryear sent an e-mail on Feb. 19 notifying school officials in the Bull Run District of the decision.
She said in a phone interview that the high school football and basketball teams would play independently against smaller area schools. She said it was too early to name what schools those would be, though some in the Delaney Athletic Conference, which is home to Wakefield Country Day School and other small private schools, might be candidates.
“We re trying to regroup and retrain, make sure our students have what they need to feel competitive and successful,” Puryear said.
With 335 students in grades 9-12, Rappahannock is by far the smallest school in the Bull Run District. The next smallest, Manassas Park, has nearly twice as many students.
And unlike other district schools, Rappahannock’s enrollment is dropping.
Puryear said Rappahannock’s size has put the school’s basketball and football teams — which require a large number of athletes — at a disadvantage. She said a review of the teams’ records oyer"the past seven years revealed losing season after losing season.
“We’re not giving our kids any experience in those sports,” she said. “They’re not getting any experience winning.”
Rappahannock’s varsity football team went 2-8 this past season. The varsity girls’ basket
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