With a vacancy in Hayfield’s administrative lineup, Bryan Harris was appointed as Hayfield’s interim Director of Student Activities. Making the move from Annandale High School, he is no stranger to National District athletics.

Harris was a multi-sport athlete growing up, wrestling, playing soccer, and running track. He attended the University of South Carolina, where he found his love of coaching.

“I wanted to be a teacher mostly so I could coach to be perfectly honest,” Harris said. “I taught in South Carolina for two years and coached soccer and wrestling down there.”

He later moved to Northern Virginia, spending 16 years at George Mason High School, now known as Meridian. What began as helping out in the athletics office eventually moved Harris to the administrative side, becoming the assistant DSA in 2012. Around COVID, he moved to FCPS, working as the assistant DSA at Annandale. While he originally got into the job for the students, he enjoys working with the coaches too.

“I like having those interactions with kids and having that side of things, and then once I got into administration, I really enjoyed working with coaches and helping to build programs. Building coaches capacity, working with athletes, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it,” Harris said.

But Harris isn’t all athletics, he understands that Hayfield is a diverse school where students have many interests. His vision for the activities department is all-inclusive, encouraging everyone to participate.

“I think that we have so many incredible opportunities for kids between sports, performing arts, and all of our clubs. We have something for everybody, so my goal is always to get participation as high as possible. I feel like we have something that every kid can engage with,” Harris said. “That’s my big thing is getting the community, getting the kids involved in the things that we have here.”

He also leads a busy life outside of Hayfield, spending lots of time with his family.

“When I’m not here, I’m usually driving children around to various things. I have three daughters, [my oldest] swims, and so we’re up every morning, bright and early. My middle daughter does gymnastics, and my youngest [dances],” Harris said.

After all that, he doesn’t have much free time left. He
“[My favorite show is] definitely the office. I think I’ve watched that probably five or six times the whole way, and my wife and I love that show. All the Marvel movies [too], I grew up on comic books and so that’s very nostalgic,” Harris said.