With football season in full swing, one question remains on the Hoover High School football players’ minds: 

Will we be able to make it to the playoffs? 

Unfortunately, despite having a 6-1 record and guaranteed to having a winning season, the answer to that question is no. 

Three years ago, Hoover and Glendale High School decided after a meeting and careful consideration that they would play on individual schedules and automatically take seventh and eighth place in the league. Both being a part of the Pacific League, this meant that they would not be playing against any of the other league teams – Pasadena, Arcadia, Muir, Burbank, Burroughs, and Crescenta Valley – besides each other. 

Due to said decision, this also meant that Hoover would no longer be eligible to make it to the playoffs. 

“To be perfectly honest, at the time this decision was made, it was probably a good decision, a step in the right direction,” Hoover High Coach Azad Herabidian said.

Hoover has no way to automatically qualify for playoffs due to their independent game schedules, so they decided to look into placing an at-large bid. This means that if a team wins half of all the games they played in their season, and don’t automatically qualify for playoffs they can petition to apply as an at-large applicant. 

However, Hoover cannot do this because of the agreement that was made. 

CIF Assistant Commissioner Rich Shearer stated in an email: “Just as in 2021, as Glendale and Hoover High Schools are league members not playing the majority of their league games, they will not be allowed to participate in our playoffs as an at-large applicant.” 

At the time of the decision making, Hoover did not even have a varsity program, so the decision made sense. 

“I don’t think anyone anticipated that we would be able to actually qualify for an at-large bid,” said Herabidian. 

John Van Patten, the athletic director at Hoover High, felt the decision was fitting. 

“Everybody’s having a good time, we’re not getting beat 50-0 every week,” said Van Patten. “When I go home there’s no injuries, so I am a happy camper.”