NC adds girls high school wrestling, punts on changes to ejection policy
North Carolina high schools are getting a new sport.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association Board of Directors voted to add girls wrestling as a sanctioned sport, beginning in the 2023-24 season. The association currently hosts an invitational for girls but it is not a recognized sport with true state champions.
That will change.
“It means an opportunity for a female to now win a state championship,” NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said. “It’s exciting to know that a sport that was for such a long time women didn’t they could participate in, particularly in our state, and so it is another opportunity. I think whenever we can provide opportunities to teach the lessons that education-based athletics teaches that’s a win. I’m excited about the opportunity to see those young women receive a medal that says state champion.”
Tucker said while many girls sports are seeing a decline in participation, that N.C. schools are seeing a rise in interest in girls wrestling.
“Our coaches have been great in terms of trying to change that stigma that girls don’t have a place to wrestle,” Tucker said. “Seeing the invitational grow and the opportunity to be able to participate in the invitational (has been important). I think those young women who were in the first group, they went back and talked to their friends, and so it’s that word of mouth that ‘Hey this is a good thing,’ and I think the appreciation for the fact that, hey there’s somebody in our corner and they’re trying to help us be involved in a sport that many people didn’t think we could.”
In other highlights:
▪ The N.C. High School Athletic Association’s policy on team ejections will not change this year.
At its annual spring meeting Wednesday, the NCHSAA Board of Directors did not advance a proposal from Mountain Island Charter School to change its ejection policy, one which led to Mountain Island Charter being kept out of the 2021 playoffs despite winning nine games.
The NCHSAA’s current policy says that if three or more players are ejected in the same game for fighting, that team is automatically removed from playoff consideration.
Mountain Island Charter was banned from the playoffs following a fight that broke out during a game with Winston-Salem Carver in Week 10.
The same rule cost Anson County a trip to the playoffs in 2019, and the NCHSAA’s decision in that case led to a state legislator adjusting House Bill 91 to call for an overhaul to how high school athletics were administered North Carolina.
The NCHSAA Board of Director’s Policy and the Review & Officiating Committees did not advance the proposal to the full board for a vote Wednesday, so the current rule will remain in place. The Board requested a committee to further consider the proposal as the NCHSAA begins to look at a new penalty system.
▪ The Board also approved a distribution of five percent from the General Endowment Fund to member schools and a 5.05 percent distribution from the Education, Health & Safety Endowment Funds. This passed 18-0.
The Board also approved membership dues to remain for $1 per student and $25 per participant for the Cheerleading Invitational registration fee. A $100 administration fee per school was eliminated.
It also asked the Endowment Advisory Committee to explore setting aside money to reimburse athletic directors who achieve national certifications. Most Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ ADs do this regularly.
▪ The board approved a proposal 18-0 to change wrestling regional assignments based on longitude and gave NCHSAA staff flexibility to look at conference assignments in cross-country and track and field.
▪ The board approved the addition of a 4A girls lacrosse championship for the 2022-23 season. The proposal passed 18-0. Currently, there is one “open” class championship for girls while the boys have a 1A/2A/3A and a 4A championship.
▪ The board approved a five-quarter rule for basketball for a three-year trial period. It will allow basketball players to play five quarters in a single day, allowing a junior varsity player, for example, to play in parts of varsity and junior varsity games.
▪ The board requested the NCHSAA staff form a committee to review officials’ compensation for all sports.
▪ The Sports Committee did not advance a proposal to allow all tennis teams to make the playoffs, a request that came from the N.C. Tennis Coaches Association.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 9:57 AM.
