Virginia Judge Reinstates Manor Girls Basketball in Playoffs After VHSL Disqualification

Manor High's girls basketball team is set tp return to the Virginia Class 4 girls basketball tournament Wednesday. The Mustangs, ranked No. 15 in this week’s High School on SI Virginia Top 25, received a temporary injunction Monday that overturned their disqualification by the Virginia High School League for using an ineligible player.

Manor Now Has a Date with Warhill in the Region A Semifinals

Manor will play Warhill in the Region A semifinals. The winner will play No. 22 Hampton for the region championship. The region champion and runner-up both advance to the state quarterfinals.

The School Self-Report to the VSHL Leading to Its Postseason Disqualification

According to the Virginia Pilot, Manor athletic director Jamal Felton reported to the VSHL on Feb. 24 that the team had used an ineligible player in a 88-20 win over Gloucester in the region quarterfinals on Feb. 19. Manor forfeited the game.

Manor Failed to File a Required Waiver

The player, who transferred to Manor in December, was reportedly ineligible because the school failed to file a waiver with the Eastern District school system for her to play in the postseason, a VHSL requirement.

Warhill Has Also Suffered as It Has Go Backwards in the Bracket

Gloucester was declared the winner and advanced. Gloucester lost to Warhill, 56-31. Warhill now faces the difficult task of going back and replaying a playoff round from which it had already advanced.

Legal Challenge Filed by Players and Parents

According to the Pilot, Manor players and parents, represented by Norfolk attorney Steven L. Washington, filed for an injunction on Feb. 27 in Portsmouth (Va.) Circuit Court to keep the Region A final match between Warhill and Hampton - scheduled for that night - from being played. They contended that Manor’s failure to submit the waiver was a “purely clerical omission” and that removing Manor from the postseason for that was a “disproportionate” punishment.

Judge Vacates Ineligibility and Restores Manor’s Win

Monday, Judge Brenda Spry granted the waiver, vacating the player’s ineligibility and the forfeit. The waiver nullified the Warhill-Gloucester semifinal result.

High school athletic associations generally maintain complete authority over eligibility rulings, and courts are often reluctant to intervene in sports governance decisions.

However, legal challenges do occur when athletes or families argue that a governing body acted arbitrarily, unfairly, or with disproportionate punishment.

In this case, the argument presented in court was that:

The paperwork issue was clerical rather than competitive misconduct
The player had otherwise been properly enrolled and eligible
Removing Manor from the postseason penalized the entire team for an administrative mistake

Judge Spry agreed with that argument, granting the injunction and restoring Manor’s postseason status.

Manor's only on-court loss came against No. 4 Menchville in December. The Manor-Warhill winner versus Hampton match will likely be played Thursday.