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. History The NVSHL was created in response to a growing number of varsity-level teams in Northern Virginia. Until the inaugural 2001-02 season, teams from Northern Virginia competed in the similar Maryland Scholastic Hockey League. The inaugural season consisted of two conferences of 12 varsity and provisional varsity (Tier-I) teams each, as well as a junior varsity (Tier-II) league. Since that season, the league has expanded to include 22 varsity, five provisional varsity, and nine junior varsity teams in the 2005-06 season. The 2005-2006 season saw the change of Tier-II to Junior Varsity to more closely reflect the standard of traditional high school sports. Additionally, the league attempts to structure the divisions within the Varsity classification to closely reflect the "Districts" used by the Virginia High School League. NVSHL teams are not officially recognized as varsity school sports by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Only one team, Osbourn High School, has been officially recognized by its local school board, Manassas City Public Schools. In 2012, the NVSHL introduced the middle school division to provide younger players with an opportunity to play in the NVSHL. Teams Teams are divided into three levels: varsity, provisional varsity, and junior varsity. Varsity teams are further divided into five divisions. Four of these divisions include only varsity teams composed of players from a single school,