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Raleigh – Change could be coming to high school sports in North Carolina after the General Assembly passed HB91 on Nov. 17.
The bill, which passed the Senate 41-7 and the House 71-43, would allow the State Board of Education oversight of the N.C. High School Athletic Association.
When HB 91 was introduced this summer, it initially proposed disbanding the nonprofit NCHSAA and having a commission appointed by the governor be in charge of running high school athletics in the state. That was widely panned by both athletic directors statewide as well as the athletic association.
The bill went through several revisions, including input by the NCHSAA and its board of directors, to get to its current form. If signed into law, the bill would allow a nonprofit organization, in this case the NCHSAA, to reach a memorandum of understanding with the Board of Education to administer high school athletics in the state.
The State Board of Education would set rules for high school athletics in aspects, including participation, health and safety, penalties and fees, game play and administrative functions, such as organizing schools into classifications and divisions. The state board could also overturn a rule adopted by the NCHSAA by majority vote, and the association would be audited annually.
In a statement released on Nov. 16, NCHSAA Board of Directors President and Hendersonville High School Principal Bobby Wilkins said the athletic association will not oppose the bill.
“Although we continued to believe that legislation was unnecessary,” Wilkins wrote, “we advocated for changes to the legislation that would best serve the needs of student-athletes. As of today, House Bill 91 has been revised to reflect these changes.”
Murphy athletic director Ray Gutierrez thinks most people “definitely want change” in high school sports. This could be a step in that direction.
“The biggest change is they’re going to having a little more oversight from the state board, and that’s not a bad thing,” Gutierrez said. “They’ve got a lot of pressure on them, and there’s going to have to be a change.”