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Consolidation has been discussed in Cherokee County Schools for more than 50 years.
Since moving here in April 2021, I’ve heard numerous reasons why it shouldn’t happen in Cherokee County. How it wouldn’t be the same because Murphy’s legacy would be tossed aside. How there would be less pride because you’re not playing in the same town you grew up in. How it would limit opportunities for kids to play sports.
With fall sports practice starting Monday, it’s worth considering how the current school situation in the county impacts sports.
On the education side of it, keeping all 13 campuses open means Cherokee County pays out of its own pocket to fund teaching positions and continues to spend money to make patchwork fixes to aging buildings. It’s valid to question whether certain traditions are worth it when a more practical opportunity arises.
Even in sports, this has an effect. Yes, it technically gives kids more opportunities, but not as many as you think. The N.C. High School Athletic Association crowns state champions in 15 different sports, including 13 solely at the 1A level. Murphy had athletes participate in 11 of those sports, while Andrews and Hiwassee Dam had athletes participate in only six.
It’s easier for Murphy, which last year had more than double the enrollment of Andrews and Hiwassee Dam, to find kids to play a less-popular sport like soccer than it is at a smaller school. At some point, you just run out of students who also want to be athletes.
It’s also fair to question whether the opportunity is really worth it to play the sport just to get the participation trophy rather than go out and be able to compete with other teams in the area. At Murphy’s football scrimmage last fall, I had someone tell me how even though he was on Andrews teams that barely had enough kids to make up a team, they still took pride in being able to go out and represent the town Friday night.
I know sports is more than just wins and losses and about the lessons you take with you off the field, but learning life lessons isn’t as fun when your team is getting clobbered. Once teams get a losing reputation, it can be hard to overcome. If a team struggles, that likely means fewer kids come out, making the experience worse for everyone involved.
This isn’t just about the team, but the individual players, too. With the talent spread out across three schools, there’s a bigger drop-off between the top players on the team and the end of the bench. That happens everywhere, but is likely more pronounced at smaller schools where the talent pool is smaller.
If there was just one high school in the county compared to three, the talent drop wouldn’t be as drastic, and there’s potential for a much higher ceiling. For freshmen and sophomores who may have played on varsity before, a bigger school could mean fuller junior varsity teams, where they can get more playing time to help their development.
Last year, there were a combined 792 students enrolled in the three traditional high schools. This would put a consolidated school into 2A, which wouldn’t be the end to state championship dreams like some think. Sure it would be a lot tougher, especially in football but there are recent examples that show deep playoff runs are possible with a special group of talent.
East Surry got bumped from 1A to 2A this year, and their football team was West regional runner-up. In the eastern part of the state, Camden County got bumped up, and their volleyball team made a run to the state championship. Murphy girls basketball team last year beat 3A Western regional champion Enka twice.
The travel is a different story, but that’s a bridge to cross if the consolidated school is actually built.
Some may be reading this wondering what an “outsider” like me could know about the situation, but I have my own experience with school planning. The high school I graduated from in Maryland in 2015, Dulaney High School, was built in 1965.
Half the school doesn’t have air conditioning, and the part that does was still referred to as the new wing when I attended, despite being built in the 1990s. Rust showed up in the water coming from the old wing water fountains, and we had an occasional pipe burst.
When a new athletic director was hired during my junior year, he started a plan to put in a new turf field at our football stadium. That quickly turned into a plan for a new school. Fast forward eight years later, and the county executive finally put in the next budget planning and design money for both of the schools.
This may seem irrelevant to Cherokee County’s discussion, but it shows this discussion won’t go away easily. It can keep going depending on what buttons people push.
With sports, new facilities doesn’t guarantee success, and neither would being able to pick from the best athletes in Cherokee County. But it would provide a better place to start from, and a better opportunity for this county’s athletes. It’s what the consolidation conversation has been about, providing the best opportunities for students in the county. And it’s worth keeping in mind as this conversation continues in the future.
Justin Fitzgerald is sports writer for the Cherokee Scout. Call him at 837-5122 or email sports@cherokee-scout.com.