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H
HWA OP
Nov 19, 2024 at 05:01 PM ET
Whew, this Hayfield football story.
What started as a story in the Fairfax County Times is about to go national. Freedom (Woodbridge) coach went to Hayfield, and surprise, Hayfield got 31 football transfers. Somehow, FCPS blessed the whole thing. VHSL didn't, and issued a 2-year playoff ban. Now there are court cases. But hey, winning is the most important thing! Who cares how/why you do it.

16 Replies

ShortFatHokie ShortFatHokie
No big deal, John Marshall does it in basketball...
and the VHSL doesn't bat an eye, because, you know, inner-city school in the State Capital. They play Class 2 in VA but they beat everyone on their "National" schedule. Hopefully, VH$L will do something about them soon...
Beerman Beerman
It's wild
I'm curious to see if the rest of Region 6C follows through on their collective threat to forfeit the entire playoff bracket.
BG Hokie BG Hokie
I truly do hope nobody plays Hayfield and just forfeits. The nephew is a
VT RB recruit.
H
HWA OP
Some teams have been "forfeiting" all year long against Hayfield.
Not a true forfeit, because a forfeit excludes you from the VHSL playoffs. But once the mercy-rule happens (which means a running-clock), some teams just take a ridiculous amount of delay-of-game penalties. So both teams just stand around in the 2nd half, and wait for the clock to run-out. And you wonder, how is that good for any of the kids? There is no competition/challenge for the Hayfield kids, and only 50% of the game is actually played.
7
7Hokie1
Freedom had to cancel 2 games due to too few players. They went from
stomping their opposition to losing the 8 games they played. Strange goings on. a lot of hanky panky with that coach.
A
Apex-Hokie
If Liberty Christian Academy can recruit, then why can't public schools?
Vienna_Hokie Vienna_Hokie
Catholic and private schools have been doing it for years
Private schools recruit all of their students, don't have boundaries and aren't funded by taxpayers, that's the difference.
H
HWA OP
And in many cases, don't compete against Public (especially playoffs)
B
BleedinOandM
Because public school attendees are assigned to schools based on boundaries
set by county school boards. Private schools are not bound by those boundaries.
H
HWA OP
Right. Beyond the recruiting issues, there are county residency issues.
Hard to believe all 31 kids are truly established as Fairfax County residents. Which would be a crime (see link) -- but the higher-ups at FCPS are more concerned about not offending anybody, and less concerned with enforcement.
B
BleedinOandM
Agree....apparently (a bit of a rumor) that the kids....
or at least some of them, have claimed they are homeless. FCPS thus allows them to attend their schools as a result. I am guessing that this is what VHSL found and thus their assertion that Hayfield broke the intention to not recruit players. In other words, FCPS found that nothing was done wrong because it followed their "homeless" policy but then VHSL dug deeper and found out that the (or some of) the kids were told to be "homeless" so they could attend Hayfield.
H
HWA OP
Homeless policy, or a divorce/separation, or a sick family member.
Oh, all the paperwork is there. Just like people filed for a $3M PPP Covid loan, because "Ummmmmm yes, I do have 27 employees at my made-up barber shop." Either FCPS didn't verify the paperwork, or FCPS didn't *want* to verify the paperwork.
Major Kong Major Kong
LCA sued the VHSL in 2015 to become full members of the VHSL. The...
agreement was LCA had to follow all VHSL rules to the letter. To determine classification LCA student enrollment is counted as 1.5 students each. They're currently classified as Class 3A. There is nothing stopping them from classifying up to Class 4A if they so chose. There are a couple of other private schools in the State that are looking to joining the VHSL (The Hague School and Smith Mountain Lake Christian Acadamy).
2
2hhoop3
Are you saying.......
Liberty is still recruiting? Do you have specific proof? If so, why haven't you and their other competitors filed a complaint with the VHSL?
H
Hokie1992
Public schools are not allowed to recruit athletes as private schools are
Those are Virginia high school rules
H
HWA OP
For now, that isn't relevant. Relatively clear, Hayfield broke VHSL rules.
Give it another 10-20 years, and maybe every K-12 school in USA will be wide open (all under some sort of anti-trust argument). Private schools can recruit. Colleges can recruit (some of the Hayfield/Freedom parents have made this argument). That's great, but Hayfield is neither, so hopefully the rules are actually enforced (for once). As for Liberty -- even though they're in VHSL, there was a negotiation. Private schools can be in VHSL, but the classification is 1.5x of students, or 2x (co-ed, or boys).