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From the Sports Desk - 03/16/06
It had been 12 years since I had attended a Western Regional basketball tournament so I wasn’t surprised that there would be some changes.
Obviously the venue was different as Winston-Salem became home to the Regionals a year ago after the games were held in Hickory since 1982.
To my disappointment, most of the changes I found were not for the better. The N.C. High School Athletic Association has plenty of work to do to get things headed in the right direction.
First of all, there is a major problem with the location. Winston-Salem may be a fine city, but it’s right on the dividing line the NCHSAA uses for determining whether schools are placed in the Western Regional or sent to the East in Greenville.
A more central location is sorely needed. Hickory was perfect in that regard.
Some people complained that the Hickory facilities could no longer hold the crowds. That may be true since 1994 was my last Regional until this year, but I never witnessed such a problem even when Smoky Mountain played Hickory on its home court.
Charlotte would be better from a central location standpoint. However, a move to the Queen City would echo another problem with Winston-Salem.
In Hickory, the Regionals were a big deal. The community got behind the tournament and made participants feel special.
Winston-Salem and Charlotte are accustomed to having big events, including NCAA Tournament games (especially in Charlotte). A high school tournament isn’t going to do much to get the corporate community excited.
Now let’s get to the facilities themselves. Joel Coliseum, home of Wake Forest games, and the Coliseum Annex are the venues. But for each of the two years the games have been in Winston-Salem, Wake has had a home game.
Last year’s solution was to move some of the 1-A games to an area high school. Reports are the gym could not hold the crowd.
This year’s solution was to play seven of the eight finals in the Annex. That meant Smoky Mountain’s game against Salisbury started at 11 a.m., not exactly an ideal time to expect teams to play at peak performance.
The Rosman men were to have played at 8 p.m., but that game didn’t start until nearly two hours later. In a classic case of bad planning, the NCHSAA set starting times an hour and a half apart. There’s no way to play a game, have an awards ceremony, then have warm-ups for the next game and stay on schedule.
If Winston-Salem can’t provide the facilities, the contract to play the games there should be voided.
The Annex is not the nicest facility in the world for teams reaching the state quarterfinals and semifinals. On the other hand, its size is an advantage in that it’s not so large that a decent crowd looks miniscule.
While it doesn’t matter to the masses, the Hospitality Room says all one needs to know about how the tournament was run. The room consisted of a popcorn popper and soft drinks without ice. The NCHSAA could take lessons from Smoky Mountain’s own Linda Haggard, who did a wonderful job with the Hospitality Room at the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
I should have known things might not go so well at the Regionals after attending a news conference in Winston-Salem. It was much less organized than the events I had attended in Hickory.
While on the subject of the NCHSAA, another problem is allowing private schools to join the Association. It’s clear that they don’t play by the same rules as public schools, especially in the area of attendance districts.
Charlotte Catholic has been a member for years, but two more private schools have now joined the NCHSAA.
Bishop-McGuinness of Kernersville won the women’s 1-A basketball championship in a cake walk.
Cardinal-Gibbons of Raleigh has won 2-A titles in volleyball and women’s swimming.
The NCHSAA should be for public schools only.
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