BY EARL VAUGHAN JR. | CityView Sports Columnist
David Culbreth, who wraps up his tenure as Cumberland County Schools student activities director today, made his last official visit to the N.C. Athletic Directors Association annual convention over the weekend.
It was an enjoyable visit to beautiful Asheville, but some of the news Culbreth brought back with him was less than good for high school athletics in North Carolina.
One major headache on the horizon is the impending realignment of schools into conferences, which takes place every four years.
What makes this realignment especially challenging is the N.C. High School Athletic Association will be going to eight size classifications, double the current number, to cope with future school growth.
So as an experiment, representatives of the NCHSAA came to the NCADA conference and gave the athletic directors a problem to solve. Culbreth said each county was given a list of schools in their county along with their classification and told to form a conference.
According to Culbreth, most of the Cumberland County Schools will fall in either the 6-A or 7-A classification, with only Douglas Byrd landing in the 5-A classification.
The NCHSAA also flashed maps on the screen to show where the schools from the various classifications are located.
Culbreth said the Cumberland County contingent came up with the idea of putting all 10 of its schools in the same conference, a combination league, a common practice to avoid travel.
But then he said somebody realized that with Douglas Byrd being the lone 5-A — even though it might guarantee them an automatic state playoff bid — the Eagles would likely lose frequently in the regular season, having to repeatedly play conference foes with a clear numbers advantage.
Culbreth approached one of the NCHSAA representatives and suggested they did the exercise to show everybody how hard it is to realign the entire state into conferences.
The answer was yes.
Culbreth suggested the example illustrated the biggest problem for each school trying to deal with realignment. “You don’t think about other schools until you start having to do it,’’ he said.
• Que Tucker, commissioner of the NCHSAA, made her state of the NCHSAA speech near the close of the NCADA gathering.
Much of what she had to say also fell into the unpleasant news category. She reminded the athletic directors that because of the stripping of powers from the NCHSAA by the N.C. General Assembly, every school has to submit financial information for the last five years to the state. That includes everything from booster club funds to the price paid for team uniforms.
Another change forced by the legislature allows any parent unhappy with a ruling that might keep a student from playing high school sports to appeal to a higher authority, and not the NCHSAA.
The State Board of Education is the only group that can change any of these rules. Back when the NCHSAA was in charge, the member schools could vote on what to do. Issues were decided by the boots on the ground, the school leaders, principals, coaches and athletic directors. Now it will be in the hands of politically motivated elected officials.
“The membership has lost its power to vote and control these things,’’ Culbreth said, referring to the action taken by the legislature led by a trio of Republican senators bent not on making things better, but on revenge for a single action the NCHSAA took against a school that clearly violated the rules.
• Culbreth added the NCADA wants to take a look at the dangers of court storming after the incident in the ACC where a Duke player was injured during a court storming incident.
The NCADA is looking at offering a free course to the athletic directors that would educate them on managing game events and having security in place to avoid such problems. “You can’t prevent them,’’ Culbreth said. “You can only try to manage that situation. We want to do everything we can.’’
• One thing I enjoy reporting on is when former standout athletes give back to their community.
Aaron Curry, former E.E. Smith and Wake Forest star, is doing just that with the creation of the Aaron Curry Foundation and his upcoming benefit golf tournament at King’s Grant. The tournament is scheduled for Saturday, April 6.
In a statement, Curry said the mission of the foundation is to support the youth in the community.
“We look to provide mentorship, educational resources and opportunities for personal and academic growth.’’
For full information on sponsorship packages and group or individual signup fees, visit the link below:
