Virginia High School Football Team Pulled Out of Playoffs Due to Recruitment Scandal

While a legal injunction allowed Hayfield to participate in the Virginia high school football playoffs, principal Darin Thompson pulled the team out due to an alleged recruitment scandal.

As Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Dr. Michelle C. Reid wrote in a memo dated Nov. 25:

“This evening, the principal of Hayfield Secondary School announced the difficult decision to withdraw the football team from further postseason play. … Last week, several new and troubling text messages were brought to light and are now part of the ongoing review regarding Hayfield Secondary School recruiting concerns.”

The withdrawal from the Virginia High School League Class 6 playoffs came after the Fairfax County Times reported a text exchange between Monty Fritts, the school’s student activities director, and an unknown person.

#Breaking Hayfield Secondary School’s Football team is withdrawing from the playoffs. The principal making the decision tonight, after troubling new text messages came to light. In those messages, Hayfield Athletic Director, Monty Fritts, appears to suggest using laws meant to… https://t.co/Lly786tOAX pic.twitter.com/oIuQ4qa0Ln

— Allison Papson (@AllisonPapson) November 25, 2024

The messages discussed hiring Freedom High School head coach Darryl Overton and possibly attracting some players to Hayfield. They also discussed making the transferees “homeless” to satisfy the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. This federal law automatically gives homeless people the right to enroll in a school.

However, as Fairfax County Times’ Sravan Gannavarapu and Asra Q. Nomani wrote, their publication has asked Hayfield for monthly homeless student data since June. A school spokesperson responded that the data would be available by September.

The alleged scandal and the ongoing investigation prompted Fritts to take a leave of absence. Meanwhile, the playoff withdrawal wasted a promising season for the Hawks, the 38^th-best team in the Virginia On3 Composite Rankings.

After going 9-1 in the regular season, Hayfield dominated Edison in the regional quarterfinals. However, their non-participation in the postseason means that Fairfax will move to the regional finals. The Lions will face either Lake Braddock or West Springfield.

The recruiting violations led the FCPS to give Hayfield a two-year Virginia high school football postseason ban on Oct. 29. After the player’s parents lost two appeals to cancel the ban, they filed an injunction with the Fairfax County City Court.

A circuit court judge allowed Hayfield to compete in the playoffs, a decision Thompson reversed by pulling the team out of contention. Concerning this decision, several FCPS schools threatened to boycott the playoffs if Hayfield participated.