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To the Editor,

Regarding the proposed bill being discussed in the NC General Assembly regarding controlling the NCHSAA, one only needs to investigate the original sponsors of the bill and find out from where the impetus for this action comes.

It will not take much digging by a reporter, especially one that is well versed in NC high school athletics, especially football, to find where the irritation with the NCHSAA lies. An investigation of which high school football teams have been ruled ineligible for playoffs and/or having to forfeit games won even in the playoffs because of ineligible players will find the sponsors of the bill simply have an axe to grind with the NCHSAA.

And to make matters worse, when the courts are involved because parents bring lawsuits for courts to issue injunctions against the forfeitures so their children can continue to play sports, everyone loses.

Hold the coaches and athletic directors responsible. Dotting the “Is” and crossing the “Ts” of athletic eligibility is not rocket science and neither is it a gray area. A player either is or is not eligible by age, academics, residence, or games participated in.

Shame on members of our General Assembly using sour grapes from its constituents to “slap the hand” of the outstanding work done by the NCHSAA for high school sports. I shudder to think of the actions we officials often have to account for during high school sporting events after being scrutinized by some NC government appointed persons rather than the leaders we now have in the NCHSAA who have been in the trenches with us.

Tracy J. Warren

Washington