NC high school football moving to the spring? NCHSAA commissioner addresses the idea
The N.C. high school football season kicks off Thursday, but at least 15 teams in North Carolina will have to sit out due to COVID-19.
Due to contact tracing, some teams might miss two weeks, and with school beginning soon, cases could rise.
N.C. High School Athletic Association commissioner Que Tucker said the association has no plans to change the schedule like it did last year when it moved football to the spring to try to get away from a hard round of COVID that was running through the state.
Last season, high school football season began in February and ran successfully through eight state championships in May.
“Schools have to let us know when they’re having a pause due to COVID or quarantining,” Tucker said, “but members are not calling saying, ‘Oh, we need to pause.’ Obviously, football plays fewer games, but currently, we’re hoping that in the next week or two, this will level out some and we’ll be able to move forward.”
Tucker said the biggest issue with scheduling and missing weeks is making sure teams have enough games in to qualify for the playoffs. That is usually determined by how teams do in conference games which won’t begin for several weeks in most cases.
“Right now,” Tucker said, “we’re trying to help everybody get through the first week. There’s been nothing that has come from board members or the membership at large asking us to consider pausing the season.”
At least three teams in Charlotte won’t play this week: Ardrey Kell, Independence and Mallard Creek. In Raleigh, Garner and Knightdale have canceled their game scheduled for Friday.
Mallard Creek was scheduled to play at Butler in one of the state’s most anticipated matchups; the two schools have won six N.C. 4AA state championships held since 2009.
Butler coach Brian Hales was nearly done painting the numbers on his school’s field when he got the news about the game being canceled.
“The first game is like Christmas Day,” Hales said. “And that’s for all of us, and it’s like you wake up and the Grinch stole all your presents. I know it’s so hard for the kids. They’re so excited.”
Hales said Butler athletic director Chris Satterfield was trying to find another game with some other area teams that had lost games due to an opponent having a COVID case.
“I’m very concerned,” Hales said, “just with the whole thing and the health of everybody. It’s not getting better. It’s getting worse. In terms of football, all we can do is prepare and hopefully we get the green light to go on a Friday night.”
Hales’ team plays state power Richmond Senior at home next week and then is scheduled to take a trip to Washington, DC. to play regional power St. John’s University.
“All we can do,” Hales said, “is keep telling our kids that ‘You’ve got to live in a bubble.’ It’s just like we talked about in the spring. It’s like the NBA. They had their bubble (in Orlando) and we’ve got to have a self-imposed bubble — just be around your families or each other.”
Mecklenburg County changes
- Ardrey Kell at Providence, canceled (Providence will host Chester Friday)
- Independence at JM Robinson, canceled
- Mallard Creek at Butler, canceled
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 2:24 PM.
