Hello, I am Brad Alford, Commissioner of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

Since 1913, the NCHSAA has provided leadership and governance for interscholastic athletics across our state. For more than a century, student-athletes have represented their schools and communities and learned lessons that last long after their playing days are over. Today, I am humbled and honored to serve as Commissioner of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. I understand the responsibility that comes with this position, and three words will guide my leadership:

Transparency. Accountability. Trust.

We will communicate openly, be accountable for our decisions and, through our actions, work to earn your trust. Because this is your Association. The NCHSAA is the collective organization of 450 member schools, providing opportunities for more nearly 500,000 students across North Carolina each year.

Those students must remain at the center of our work.

I want to thank the North Carolina State Board of Education, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and State Superintendent Mo Green for their partnership and the opportunity for the NCHSAA to administer education-based athletics on behalf of our member schools. I believe high school sports are the greatest enhancement to the educational experience. Athletics teach teamwork, discipline, perseverance, leadership, responsibility, and how to respond to success and adversity.

That is why education must always remain at the heart of education-based athletics. Our mission reflects that commitment by supporting and enriching the educational experience of students.

To our student-athletes: you are the reason we do this work. Compete hard, represent your school with pride, respect those around you, and embrace the lessons athletics teaches.

To our superintendents, principals, athletic directors, coaches, teachers, athletic trainers, and school personnel: thank you for the opportunities you provide students every day.

To our officials and regional supervisors: thank you. Your service helps provide student-athletes the opportunity to compete in a safe, fair, and meaningful contest.

And to our parents, families, fans, communities, and partners: thank you for supporting our schools and student-athletes.

To our NCHSAA staff and Board of Directors, our member schools should expect an Association that operates with integrity, applies its rules fairly and consistently, communicates clearly, and provides exceptional service.

Our core values of sportsmanship, integrity, fair play, honesty, respect, equity, fair competition, and the development of student-athletes must be evident in how we serve. Together, we will pursue our vision of being the national model for developing and inspiring greatness through interscholastic athletic experiences. As Commissioner, I will listen and engage with the people we serve. I want to know what we are doing well and where we can be better.

We will not always agree on every issue or decision. But you should know how we reached a decision, why we reached it, and that it was made with our student-athletes and member schools in mind. That is transparency.

We will take responsibility for our work and hold ourselves to high standards. That is accountability.

And through transparency and accountability, we will work to earn something that cannot simply be requested: Trust.

450 member schools. More than 200,000 student-athletes. One NCHSAA I am humbled to serve as your Commissioner and excited about what we will accomplish together.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the Commissioner of the North Carolina High School Athletic Assocaiton.