NCHSAA president encourages focus on student opportunities

Putting together championships for eight classifications is a daunting task for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, which is facing a budget shortfall.

That was discussed during last week’s NCHSAA board of directors meetings in Chapel Hill.

NCHSAA president Stephen Gainey, who’s also superintendent of the Randolph County School System, said the financial issues are something that should be addressed without negative ramifications on students.

“This is an adult issue, not a child issue,” Gainey said.

Gainey acknowledged the challenges that are out there, but he said he wants to ensure that students continue to see the positives of the championship experiences.

With the exception of football, all the fall sports championships have been conducted in the new eight-classification set-up. The football finals are scheduled for this week.

With more championships, additional venues are needed to hold finals among other costs. The budget shortfall might be about $1.5 million, though in the short term that can be covered by funds in reserve.

“We may have to look at different ways of doing these championships and reducing some of our costs,” Gainey said. “It’s a concern of the board. It’s a concern of the staff.”

NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said by the end of the school year there will be more indicators on how much strain the new set-up involves.

Otherwise, the December meeting focused on more regular basis after a year ago when conference realignment consumed much of the attention.

“We were constantly having to separate that business from the realignment,” Gainey said.

This year, the discussions seemed to be more typical of many past years.

“We were due for a meeting that didn’t seem as heavy,” Tucker said.

Flag football update

The topic of girls’ flag football remains on the NCHSAA radar, though no formal action was taken regarding adding the sport.

The sticking point appears to be the timing of the season because competition has popped up in different parts of the state, but not all areas are on the same calendar.

There was a group of schools in Chatham and Alamance counties that aligned for competition during this fall. Other areas also play in the fall, while other schools have set up competitions for the spring semester. Charlotte-area schools are competing in the spring.

“We’ve been in different places all across the state,” Tucker said in regard to when teams have played.

Gainey said there’s no question that flag football is coming to the NCHSAA.

“It’s just a matter of let’s do it right,” he said. “We don’t need to get in a rush.”

Gainey said the processes involving adding lacrosse and girls’ wrestling are examples of the NCHSAA making it work well.

Tucker said a subcommittee for girls’ flag football has been asked to review the possibilities, including how many games would constitute a season. Tucker said the board of directors isn’t opposed to reconvening to February to take additional steps on the topic.