Hayfield Secondary School can enter playoffs, judge says

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A circuit court judge has allowed a highly-ranked Alexandria high school football team to enter a regional playoff after complaints about player recruitment by the state league threatened a 2-year blacklist of Hayfield Secondary School's team.  

It was a legal win for Hayfield's parents, who sued the state league for trying to keep their sons off the gridiron.

The postseason ban was brought on by the Virginia High School League, who accused Hayfield's coach of recruiting students from outside the Fairfax County Public Schools district, issuing a two-year ban on Hayfield on Oct. 29. 

Earlier this month, Hayfield lost two appeals to lift the ban in separate rulings by a sportsmanship committee on Nov. 4 and a three-person panel of superintendents on Nov. 8. 

It wasn't until Hayfield's parents threw a legal hail Mary pass, filing an injunction with the Fairfax County Circuit Court just one day before the Virginia regional football playoffs, that their sons were allowed to play football again. 

The circuit court judge would decide to allow Hayfield the same day as the scheduled playoff, causing a delay in the playoff schedule. Seven other Virginia high school football teams were impacted by that delay.

Region 6C schools will now have six more days to prepare for the playoffs. The first-round playoff will take place next Thursday night - Nov. 21. 

Hayfield will play against Thomas Edison High School in that game. The Edison Eagles are the #8 seed among schools in Virginia Region 6C. 

The winner of next Thursday's playoff game will go onto the second round playoffs on Tues., Nov. 26. The state finals are on Dec. 14. 

A review by the Fairfax County Public Schools in August, which had interviewed 19 Hayfield staff members involved with recruitment also found that VHSL's accusations were not true. 

"A thorough external review did not substantiate the allegations of student-athlete recruitment violations and confirms that Hayfield student-athletes meet residency requirements," FCBS said in August.  

The four other regional groupings, Region 6A, 6B, and 6D were not impacted by the court's decision and have playoff games scheduled for Friday night.