CHAPEL HILL—A special ad hoc committee to discuss eligibility issues convened on Wednesday at the offices of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

Superintendents from across the state met to discuss a variety of issues related to high school athletic eligibility. Dr. Bill Harrison of the Cumberland County Schools chaired the meeting and the group also heard a perspective by Dr. Diane Frost, superintendent of the Asheboro city schools and president of the NCHSAA.

After extensive discussion, the committee agreed on the following recommendations to the Board of Directors. The Board then could accept any or all of the following recommendations at its spring Board meeting in April.

• Recommend no change to the Board of Directors in policy of forfeiting games for ineligible athletes, but also recommended no change in policy that does not require forfeits if a student-athlete or his parents have falsified information and that could not be determined by reasonable scrutiny by the school; the penalty would fall upon the individual student-athlete (game for game)

• Recommend that a special ad hoc committee drawn from athletic directors and coaches develop a checklist of “best practices” in terms of determining eligibility; this committee would include representatives from N.C. Coaches Association and N.C. Athletic Directors Association as well as superintendents and principals

• Determine protocols in terms of what process is followed when a formal complaint is filed; the first step would be to check to see if that checklist of best practices was adhered to

• Recommend mandating as a condition of coaching at aNCHSAA member school local sessions for all coaches, both non-faculty and faculty, about NCHSAA rules and regulations, including eligibility and recruiting; program to be developed by NCHSAA and delivered locally (city county AD, etc.). This training would be completed before practice begins in a sport season and would be an annual event. Superintendents on thecommittee endorsed this and it will be shared at an upcoming superintendents meeting

• Review the penalty code to determine whether or notfines, etc., are appropriate at this time

“We really appreciate the great input that these
superintendents provided,” said Charlie Adams, executive director of the NCHSAA. “The Board has a lot of good suggestions to consider for
implementation.”