Sterling, Va. — The Park View High School Patriots will not play varsity football this fall, marking the first time since the school opened in 1976 that the Patriots will not put a varsity football team on the field.
As hundreds of football players across the county reported to their first practices of the season on July 30, just 18 varsity-level players showed up at Park View. Half of those 18 had never played football before.
The VHSL recommends that schools with less than 25 football players should not field varsity rosters.
“The bottom line is safety,” LCPS Public Information Officer Wayde Byard said. “Given the highly competitive nature of Park View’s schedule, it was decided by school and school division officials that playing at the varsity level this season would have exposed players to a heightened and unacceptable risk of injury.”
[adrotate banner=”25″]Over the last six seasons, the Patriots have compiled a 6-54 record, failing to win a single game in 2012, 2014 or 2017. However, Park View’s adversity on the football field is relatively new. The Patriots’ most recent playoff win came in 2010. Park View finished runner up in the VHSL AA Division 4 State championship game in 1999 and 2000 and won the VHSL AA Division State championship in 1988.
While there is certainly work to be done, the Patriots hope to become competitive in the years to come.
In order to achieve that goal, Park View will play a modified JV schedule this fall. Byard said coaches, athletic directors and administrators are working on a schedule to help rebuild the Park View program, and they will likely use a similar alternative schedule in 2019.
Juniors and seniors returning to the Park View football team will get the opportunity to transfer to Sterling-rival Dominion High School – free of VHSL transfer penalty – to play for the Titans this fall. The student-athletes must transfer to Dominion as students if they wish to play football there. A timeline has not been finalized for when students wishing to transfer need to make a decision.