“He’ll [Darryl Overton, football coach] get kids from other schools to play for ya! I’m not sure he’d get away with the same stuff in FCPS.”
These texts between an anonymous user and Hayfield Secondary School Director of Student Activities Monty Fritts brought new information to light after Hayfield was allowed to compete in the regional playoff tournament.
Hayfield allegedly has brought 31 transfers onto the football team following the hiring of Overton, nearly half of those players from Prince William County’s Freedom High School, Overton’s previous school. These transfers were brought to the school under different addresses, including homelessness.
Fritts’ text messages indicated that he was aware of the Virginia High School League’s (VHSL) prohibition on recruiting players for the high school season. Yet somehow, they were allowed to compete through the full fall regular season.
Hayfield’s circumstances initially prohibited them from competing in playoffs, so Robinson Secondary School, the eighth seed for the Class Six Region C regional playoffs. Then, all of a sudden, the VHSL determined that Hayfield had not committed any offenses, and they were in the VHSL Regional Playoffs. This was deemed unfair by the Robinson community, as out of nowhere, their playoff run was over without competing in a single game.
After the fact, FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid issued an apology for handling the situation poorly, withdrawing Hayfield from the playoffs once again. Fritts immediately stepped down as Hayfield’s Director of Student Activities. Investigations are being conducted on Overton and Hayfield principal Darin Thompson, but as of yet, no punishment, aside from public backlash, has been issued to either individual.
This may cause issues for current or future student transfers, and any new rules and investigations put into place may cause issues for students who have legitimately moved to a new high school zone.
This brings us back to the real reason for this story: the students.
What about Hayfield’s actual seniors, who missed their final opportunity for a playoff run? The players who did not receive a spot on varsity due to the transfers? The kids who are hoping and dreaming of winning a state championship, but cannot because of the program’s two-year postseason ban?
It is not their fault the authorities of the school concluded that recruiting and cheating dominated building a true winning season. All of these players had zero say in the matter, and yet they’re the ones really being punished, for choices made completely out of their control.
The adults, who knowingly participated in the scandal, should be the ones to face the punishment and public backlash, not the students.
I guess in the end it was not “just better to be homeless,” as the anonymous texter phrased it.
