With the new NIAA realignment that goes into effect this school year, Virgin Valley will no longer face Chaparral in football or Tech in non-football sports, like soccer, in the new 3A South Sunrise League.
After turning down a last-minute request by Tech to have all its sports remain in 3A, the NIAA Board of Control has finalized realignment for the upcoming school year.
The new realignment for all schools from the larger 4A all the way down to the smaller 1A will be in place for a two-year period through the 2019-20 school year.
Local schools Virgin Valley (3A) and Beaver Dam (1A) will remain in the same classifications, but several changes have been made to the sports landscape in the state.
The biggest change will involve football, which has been realigned separately from all other sports.
Virgin Valley will now compete in a new five-team Sunrise League for football that will include Moapa Valley, Boulder City, Sunrise Mountain and Rancho. The Sunset League will have six schools – Cheyenne, Del Sol Academy, Democracy Prep, Pahrump Valley, Valley and Western.
Del Sol Academy, which competed in the Sunrise last year, switched leagues with Sunrise Mountain, which had participated in the Sunset.
Gone are defending state 3A champion Desert Pines along with Chaparral and Mojave. All three of those schools have been moved up to 4A. Democracy Prep was bumped up from 2A while Rancho and Valley were dropped from 4A.
The 3A North will have 10 teams – Dayton, Elko, Fallon, Fernley, Lowry, North Valleys, South Tahoe, Sparks, Spring Creek and Truckee. The only change was North Valleys dropping down from 4A. The 3A North will remain the same for all sports.
The Sunrise and Sunset leagues will have a different look, however, for non-football sports.
Virgin Valley, Moapa Valley, Boulder City and Sunrise Mountain will be joined by Chaparral and Somerset-Sky Pointe in the Sunrise League with Rancho being moved back up to 4A.
On the Sunset side, Del Sol Academy, Democracy Prep, Pahrump Valley, Valley and Western will be joined by Mojave and Somerset-Losee with Cheyenne moving up to 4A.
Tech, which competed in the Sunrise League last year, was moved up to 4A in all sports along with Desert Pines of the Sunset League.
Beaver Dam, meanwhile, will compete in the seven-team 1A South for football. The Diamondbacks will be joined by Beatty, Green Valley Christian, Indian Springs, Pahranagat Valley, Sandy Valley and Spring Mountain.
For non-football sports, Liberty Baptist and Word of Life will join the league giving the 1A South nine schools for boys sports and eight for girls. Spring Mountain only competes in boys sports.
