Eight years ago, the N.C. High School Athletic Association pushed back the start of its football playoffs due to Hurricane Matthew.
NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said that could be a possibility again this year after the devastation brought to the western part of the state by Hurricane Helene.
Tucker said any decisions about the playoffs would come from the NCHSAA Board of Directors, which she expects will meet via Zoom sometime later this week.
“With the devastation they have had,” Tucker said Monday. “I’m not sure one week would do it. But that’s a decision that has to be made by our board members. As a staff we want to huddle up and look at what we have found and see what we can come up with to present to the board, but we want to make sure our board members (from the regions most affected) can be on the Zoom with us because they have boots-on-the-ground knowledge, and we need to get their perspective.”
Tucker said in her talks with coaches and athletic officials in the mountains that the damage is excessive and that schools in all four of the NCHSAA’s classes have been affected.
So the association will not be able to delay one or two classifications in the playoffs, she said.
Tucker also doesn’t expect that many football games, or any sports, will be played in that region this week. She noted she saw a photograph of the football field at Morganton’s Freedom High School showing it almost completely submerged.
“Even if we thought one school could play, well, who would they be playing?” Tucker asked. “How can they get there? That’s the crazy part. We talked to a coach at Mountain Heritage and he had been out with a chainsaw trying to help. He stopped long enough and found a spot with cell service and said it may be two months before they can get back to school; that they are using the school building to house the workers and everybody.”
The NCHSAA playoffs are scheduled to begin in about two weeks, with girls’ tennis (Oct. 14), volleyball (Oct. 19), girls’ golf (Oct. 21) and cross-country (Oct. 26) up first.
Football playoffs are scheduled to begin Nov. 8.
“Until we can get a true assessment to when schools can return to play, and just be able to open up school, we can’t make decisions at this point,” Tucker said. “But I do know our board will be as far as equitable as when they were dealing with situations (brought on by past weather events) in eastern North Carolina.”
Tucker said she is worried about how to get the playoffs going, knowing they are important so many schools and athletes and families. But seeing the images of the damage done, she said, is heartbreaking.
“It’s a lot to think about,” Tucker said. “Some people don’t have drinking water. But you have to have hope, and hope brings about renewed excitement to push through. We know when we get to the other side, we’ll play again, and we don’t want to act like we don’t have hope. But we have to be patient and try to keep it all in perspective as we try to do things that are in the best interest of everyone.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2024 1:00 PM.
