CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina High School Athletic Association, which is the governing body of the state’s high school athletics programs, delivered its official ruling Monday morning on the fall sports season impacted by Hurricane Florence.
Nearly two weeks since the storm made landfall along the Carolinas’ coastlines, NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker sent a memo to principals and athletic directors declaring that the required reporting deadlines for several fall sports would be extended as a result Florence.
Following the hurricane, dozens of school districts across the state, including all eight of the Sandhills Athletic Conference schools, which Richmond Senior High School is a part of, saw time out of the classroom as relief efforts got underway.
“In light of the devastation caused by Hurricane Florence and the resulting aftermath, the NCHSAA Board of Directors approved changes to the playoff schedule and calendar for fall sports,” Tucker wrote in her memo. “Sunday practices and/or competitions are still not permissible for any sport.”
RSHS athletic director Ricky Young confirmed Monday that the annual SAC conference tournaments for soccer, tennis and volleyball are still slated to be played at this time.
Below is a breakdown of the changes for each sport:
Football
Off all the fall sports, football has been the most impacted from the hiatus. The NCHSAA requires football programs to have at least three days off between competitions, as well as certain physical conditioning requirements. The week-long extension of the season helps the Raiders, who only missed on game, and will be made up at the end of regular season play ahead of the playoffs.
“It works out pretty good for us where that week falls,” Richmond head football coach Bryan Till said of playing Purnell Swett High School to end the season. “We won’t miss a game and we’ll be able to get ready to roll into the playoffs. I think it was a really good decision by the state to extend the season.
“Every football coach I talked to from all over the state felt like that was the best thing to do,” he added.
According to the NCHSAA’s ruling, the last regular season play date for football is now Friday, Nov. 9, instead of Friday, Nov. 2. For playoff seedings, the deadline for teams was also pushed back seven days, now requiring teams to submit final records on Saturday, Nov. 10.
The rest of the football state playoff schedule falls as follows: first round (Friday, Nov. 16), second round (Friday, Nov. 23), third round (Friday, Nov. 30) and the regional round (Friday, Dec. 7).
The state championship games, which were originally slated for Saturday, Dec. 8, have now been moved to Friday, Dec. 14, and Saturday, Dec. 15, with sites to be determined.
Soccer and Volleyball
The Raider soccer and Lady Raider volleyball teams will only see minimal changes to their season schedules, as each program was awarded a couple of days by the NCHSAA to meet the playoff seeding deadline.
Chris Larsen’s soccer team will get a two-day extension, with the reporting deadline being moved to Wednesday, Oct. 31, instead of Monday, Oct. 29. That puts the first round to begin on Saturday, Nov. 3, followed by the second round (Tuesday, Nov. 6), the third round (Thursday, Nov. 8) and the fourth round on Saturday, Nov. 10.
Soccer regionals will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 13, with the state championship matches played on Saturday, Nov. 17.
The volleyball team, coached by Ashleigh Larsen, is getting special permission by Tucker and the NCHSAA to play as many as five matches per week if necessary. Richmond will play in four matches this week.
“Prior to 11:59 p.m., October 20, teams affected by the hurricane are permitted to exceed the weekly limitation -- maximum of five matches per week; however, daily limitations remain unchanged,” Tucker noted.
The seeding deadline for volleyball has been pushed back four days, from Thursday, Oct. 18 to Monday, Oct. 22. The first round of the state playoffs is slated for Tuesday, Oct. 23, with the second through fourth rounds to take up the remainder of the week. The state semifinals and state championship matches are on Nov. 1 and Nov. 3, respectively.
Tennis
Girls tennis is the only sport to not see any changes to its schedule, with individual regionals falling on Friday, Oct. 19, and Saturday, Oct. 20. The individual state championships will be held the following weekend on Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27.
The dual-team reporting deadline is set for Monday, Oct. 15, and will be followed by the state championships on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
Cross Country and Golf
The girls golf and boys and girls cross country reporting deadlines have been slightly altered, as a matter of fact, by only six hours for each sport. The golf deadline is still set for Wednesday, Oct. 10, and cross country’s is on Friday, Oct. 19. The only difference is that the time for each reporting period has been moved from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The golf regional and state championships will be held on the originally planned dates of Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 22 and 23. Cross country’s regional and state championships will take place on Saturday, Nov. 3.
“It is our hope these changes will allow for a fair and equitable playoff season in all sports.” Tucker’s memo concluded.
ROSports will update any changes to the NCHSAA if they were to arise.
