Athletic directors are torn over NCHSAA investigation, largely oppose legislative changes
Posted May 17, 2021 3:26 p.m. EDT
https://www.highschoolot.com/athletic-directors-are-torn-over-nchsaa-investigation-largely-oppose-legislative-changes/19682815/As the legislative investigation into the N.C. High School Athletic Association moves forward, HighSchoolOT asked athletic directors at NCHSAA member schools what they thought about the investigation.
Within a sports participation survey we sent to athletic directors at all NCHSAA schools, we asked three questions about the legislative investigation:
Do you support the legislative inquiry into the NCHSAA?
Do you believe the state legislature should pass legislation to change the way high school sports are governed in North Carolina?
Do you have any thoughts about the ongoing legislative investigation into the NCHSAA or proposed legislation regarding high school sports?
The first two questions were multiple choice athletic directors could choose "Yes," "No," or "I don't know." The third question was free response. All of the data we collected was anonymous, so we won't be identifying the schools or athletic directors.
After responses from 223 athletic directors, here's my main takeaway from the data we collected: Athletic directors have questions and concerns about the NCHSAA, but they do not want the state legislators to be the ones to make changes.
THE DATA: Plurality of ADs support investigation, oppose legislation
First, none of the answers got a majority vote, so athletic directors definitely have a mixed opinion of what is going on. 38.1% support the investigation, 33.6% do not. The other 28.3% said they're not sure if they support the investigation.
But things are flipped and more dramatically when you ask if the legislature should pass legislation to change high school sports in North Carolina. 45.3% of athletics directors say the legislator should not pass legislation to change the NCHSAA, 30.5 are undecided. Meanwhile, just 24.2% of athletic directors think legislation should be passed.
Going into this survey, I thought we would see more support of the investigation at the smaller schools with declining support as classification size increased. We often hear concerns about money and charter school participation from smaller schools more than larger schools. However, the trend was the exact opposite.
Support for the legislative investigation peaks at the 4A level with 48.9% of athletic directors supporting the investigation 11.9% higher than the second most supportive classification. Support drops with each classification. In fact, the largest group of athletic directors that opposes the investigation is in the 1A classification.
When you look at the second question we asked whether or not athletic directors would support legislation to change high school sports in this state the same trend is evident. While the plurality of athletic directors across all classifications oppose legislation to change high school sports, the share of athletic directors opposing is higher in the smaller classifications than in the larger classifications.
We can also look at this data by region. The most interesting data point from the regional breakdown was that the East has made up its mind on the investigation more than the West has made up its mind. On both questions, the number of undecided athletic directors in the East was 4-5 percentage points lower than the West. That skews the comparison of the "Yes" and "No" answers.
Finally, we can look at the support of the investigation and legislation based on the type of school. Among traditional public schools, 39.9% of athletic directors support the investigation, 33.5% oppose it, and 26.6% have not yet made up their minds. The plurality of traditional public school athletic directors oppose legislation to change high school sports though 44.3% to be exact. 30.5% aren't yet sure if they would support legislation, while 25.1% say they do support legislative changes to high school sports in the state.
Given the fact that charter and parochial schools are a topic of discussion in the investigation, it's probably not surprising that support for the investigation and potential legislation is quite low among those athletic directors but it's not zero.
Among charter and parochial school athletic directors, 21.1% support the investigation, 31.6% are opposed to it, and 47.4% are not sure. Support drops even more when you ask if they support potential legislation. Just 15.8% of charter and parochial school athletic directors support legislative changes to high school sports in North Carolina, while 52.6% are opposed. The other 31.6% are not sure.
THE TAKEAWAYS: ADs may feel this is the best chance to get answers
It appears that many athletic directors are OK with the legislature getting information out of the NCHSAA, but once the information is out, they want the legislators to stand down and let the member schools address any concerns. Perhaps athletic directors think the legislature may be the only body that can get to the bottom of some of the issues that have been brought up. Most of the things the legislature has raised questions about are not new concerns the size of the endowment fund, charter and parochial schools, and overall transparency have been issues in high school sports since I started covering them in 2006.
Some of the comments from athletic directors support this too.
One athletic director said, "The NCHSAA should answer for why they have so much money they're not doing anything with," adding they believe taking a PPP loan "looks awful" when you have over $40 million in assets. This athletic director also raised concerns about the NCHSAA's partnership with the NFHS Network, something some lawmakers have addressed. "Their partnership with the NFHS Network is troubling because that network fleeces schools for money by taking a solid chunk of the subscription fees. They went from charging $5,000 for one camera to $2,000 for two cameras, and now they're offering them for free because they will make money off schools in perpetuity; the cameras won't stream anywhere but the NFHS Network."
This athletic director clearly has concerns about the NCHSAA when it comes to financial arrangements, a trend we saw from comments from athletic directors, but the athletic director ended with this: "All that being said, I think that while there are ethical questions in the NCHSAA essentially answering to no one, I don't think having them nested into any state government entity is a good idea. I'd hate to see a state bureaucrat having that kind of power in high school athletics."
These sentiments were shared by other athletic directors too:
"High School sports was one of the last things in our country not molded by politics. Unfortunately, I believe that will change with the involvement of our state government. With that being said, the NCHSAA needs oversight as they, in themselves, were becoming very political in who benefited from their decisions and who suffered. I don't know the correct answer other than to give it completely to the members. Lifetime retired coaches and sport administrators should be overseeing the NCHSAA."
"While everything needs oversight, that should be left up to the schools that compile the NCHSAA. The state government has bigger things to worry about."
"I am 50 percent on board with the legislatures inquiry but not sure politicians should be involved with HS sports. However, the monies they NCHSAA takes from schools from games/playoffs really hurts us."
"The NCGA hasn't passed a budget in four years. Legislators should focus on the needs of North Carolina. I certainly think they have the right to inquire, but their timing seems petty. Our schools didn't get the conference they want, or a team missed the playoffs, or a charter beat my team,...so in return we are going to call you on the carpet for everything we can."
"I do believe that the NCHSAA needs to be transparent with finances. However, high school athletics is not something that needs to be governed by elected officials. Athletic Directors and Coaches have spoken to their representative in their area and that is why we have an investigation ongoing."
"Legislature should hold NCHSAA accountable from a financial perspective. Other than that, the lawmakers should stay uninvolved in HS sports."
Some athletic directors are very much against the investigation. The term "witch hunt" was used several times in responses, though legislators have said multiple times that this is not a witch hunt. Other athletic directors feel that this is nothing but politics.
"No government overreach."
"What this inquiry boils down to is a parent got mad because the school did not file an appeal to have the football team reinstated, they called someone more powerful and he did not like the answer he received. I feel the NCHSAA does an outstanding job and governing high school sports, they follow the rules they set forth, and make sure that schools follow those rules."
"The legislators need to stay out of athletics. They are playing politics."
"Goat rodeo, witch hunt, goose chase, snipe hunt, etc."
"I feel like people who sing the praises of charter schools and access to government money being given to private/parochial schools while then criticizing a 'private entity' representing public schools is very disingenuous (and I'm a very hard republican leaning person). I feel there are valid questions that can be asked, however, empower your county level administrators and school based administrators to demand better of the organization we are a part of instead of constantly attempting to restrict their jobs in ultimately more serious matters such as hiring/firing effective/ineffective teachers, determining curriculum, etc."
"Government should stay out of high school athletics."
"Stay in your lane! The NCHSAA was created for the purpose of being the governing body of HS sports in NC."
"Our board is amazing. If they would be in the red nothing would have been said. Pitiful! Stay out of it State!"
"I think it is personal and politically motivated."
There were some athletic directors who expressed support for the legislative investigation too.
"I feel like everyone should have someone to answer to. Not sure that happens with the NCHSAA."
"Very concerned that our associations have millions of dollars and seems to still charge the members schools the way they do."
"I support the legislation of wanting to closed the equity gap with traditional 1A public schools and charter schools ... The only sports 1A athletics the charter schools haven't been able to knock down is football. This needs to change immediately and not the next realignment. Our kids have suffer far too long with watching the charter schools win state championships after state championships."
"Should of happened 20 years ago."
"Investigation is well past due. The amount of money the NCHSAA takes from playoff games is absurd."
"I would like to know how they can have the assets they have and still expect member schools to pay a membership fee. Also, I do not understand how they claim membership in the NCHSAA is optional."
"The NCHSAA is not accountable to anybody. Nobody on the NCHSAA staff has worked in a high school in the last 30 years. They have no clue what is like in the schools."
"I think the NCHSAA basically answers only to itself and that needs to change."
"It is about time the NCHSAA is held accountable for their actions and finances. Conference alignment is a joke and the school's best interest are not taken into account. Playoff seeding and the process makes little sense. Why should opponent of opponents strength of schedule be taken into consideration in the the "playoff formula". Schools are being robbed of money to support an endowment fund and its "members" are not given what is rightfully owed to them."
"$41,866,464 in assets but still not enough resources to find a way to have charters and parochial schools compete in their own playoffs."
Much needed. Overreach by NCHSAA in many ways. The NCHSAA doesnt feel as they work for its members, they feel its members work for them. It is long past time that something was done to change the scene in NC."
The most frequently expressed concern of athletic directors revolves around finances and transparency, followed by participation of charter and parochial schools. All of these issues have received a lot of attention from the legislative committee investigating the NCHSAA.
The committee will meet again on Thursday at 2 p.m. to continue its investigation.