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Northern Virginia Swim League
The Northern Virginia Swim League, or NVSL is one of the largest summer swim and dive leagues in the United States. Located in the Northern Virginia area of the United States and founded in 1956 the NVSL provides children, up to the age of 18, with the opportunity to compete in swim and dive meets for their local team. The NVSL currently consists of 102 teams making up 17 different divisions, six teams in each division. NVSL’s mission statement is “...to develop in the children participating in its program—a love for the sport, advanced aquatic skills, teamwork, and the principles of good sportsmanship."

NVSL Age Groups
Each team in the NVSL has members of all ages up to 18. In order to separate the swimmers to compete against their own age groups each team divides their teams by age. The first age group is all kids 6 years old or under (6&U), next is all kids 8 and under (8&U), then 9-10 year olds (9-10), 11-12 year olds (11-12), 13-14 year olds (13-14), and finally kids aged 15-18 make up the oldest swimmers of the team (15-18).

NVSL Swim Meets
The NVSL swim season is comprised of five "B Meets", five "A Meets", divisional relays, all-star relays, individual divisional, and individual all stars. B meets are considered to be developmental meets and are not scored, but the times still count for placement in A meets. A meets are composed of swimmers that the head coach selects and are ideally made up of the fastest three swimmers at that event. For each event there are three swimmers from each team and the scoring for A meets is 1st place receives 5 points, 2nd place receives 3 points, and third place receives 1 point. The swimmers who finish in 4th through 6th place do not receive any points. Swimmers can also participate in relays that are comprised of four different swimmers. There are two relay carnivals at the end of the season for the teams fastest relays to compete against other teams relays to try to earn a spot in all-star relays. Individual divisionals are where teams pick their fastest two swimmers at each event to compete at the divisional level with the chance to move forward to individual all-stars with a good time. Individual all-stars is made up of the top 18 swimmers for each event in their respective age groups.

NVSL Dive
There are 48 dives teams made up of eight different divisions with six teams in each division. Dive meets are also made up of "A meets" and "B Meets" and each team can have up to 32 divers compete for the team. B meets are usually on Thursday nights and gives new and developing divers the opportunity to compete and work on their skills. A meets are held on Tuesday nights and divers are selected by the coach based on eligibility. These meets are scored and also consist of up to 32 divers on a team.

NVSL Scholarships
Each year the NVSL awards many different scholarships to those associated with the NVSL for a variety of reasons. The main scholarships awarded each year are:

COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHOLARSHIP- "The Community Service Scholarship was created in memory of the many NVSL swimmers, divers and volunteers. This scholarship is in honor of George MacDuff and his daughter, Melinda. George served for many years as the League's Records Chairman." PRESIDENTS' SCHOLARSHIP- "The Presidents' Scholarship was created in honor of the volunteers who have served the youth of Northern Virginia and in particular those who have served as President of the NVSL." SPIRIT SCHOLARSHIP- "The Spirit Scholarship was created in memory of athlete Olivia Aull to recognize spirited swimmers and divers from within the NVSL community." SPORTSMANSHIP SCHOLARSHIP- "The Sportsmanship Scholarship was created in to honor Joan Olson a long time volunteer who served as a Director of the NVSL and Chair of the Swimming Seeding Committe for many years. She was also a passionate advocate for sportsmanship throughout the league." EXCELLENCE IN TECHNIQUE SCHOLARSHIP- "The Excellence in Technique Scholarship was created in honor of Lou Sharp by a grant from estate. He was the founder of the Competition Swim Clinic and a strong supporter of the NVSL. He guided generations of NVSL swimmers in stroke technique and the love for the sport of swimming."