From The Charlotte Observer's Prep Insiders:
CHAPEL HILL-- The North Carolina High School Athletic Association Board of Directors concluded its two-day spring meeting on Wednesday.
A number of items were discussed by the Board that had been recommended by a sub-committee which has studied travel, length of seasons and cost containment issues. Those items included the following:
--To play 11 regular-season football games in 11 weeks (including the Endowment game, which is optional), rather than the current 11 games in 12-week format. The Endowment game would be dropped for seeding purposes, starting with 2011-2012 academic year
--Reducing length of winter sport season by one week for competition, but still starting winter sports season practice on November 1, starting with 2010-11 academic year
-- To add to the football seeding process the "pod" format, which means schools would be grouped into four different sections (East, Mideast, Midwest, West), effective with 2010-11 academic year, to help reduce some of the longest trips that occur under the current format
--To allow an "opt-out" declaration for schools who wish not to enter NCHSAA playoffs, with a form that would be signed by athletic director, principal and superintendent and must be submitted by an established deadline prior to the release of the brackets in that sport, effective with 2010-11 academic year
Other actions of the Board included:
--Approved wrestling state championships for a three-day event, with one specific classification to wrestle on Thursday night
--Approved additional weekly combination for scheduling of one tri match and one tournament in wrestling
--Approved holding 2010-13 NCHSAA state cross country championships in Kernersville at Beeson Park
-- Recommend approval if school does not pay outstanding fine by two days before the reporting deadline for a sport, it cannot play in playoffs in that sport, to go in effect academic year 2010-11; if a school has any unpaid fines by June 30 following the academic year, its teams will not be able to participate in playoffs in any sport in the next academic year until fine is unpaid
--Eliminate mandatory use of NCHSAA-assigned clock operators for all second round and subsequent rounds of football playoffs; it is still optional for schools to use if they wish
--"Flagrant contact" will be added as a separate category to ejection policy, with the ejection penalty
--Approved move to six-man crews in NCHSAA football championships in 2010 as pilot program, all eight games
--Approved job title changes since the old job titles from the University are not necessarily applicable anymore and the new titles more accurately reflect the work being done, effective June 1, 2010
--Increase the mileage allotment, lodging and meal allowance for schools in championships in a number of different sports
--Adjust revenue shares to return more to schools; for sectional basketball share for NCHSAA, reduce to 15% to parallel other sports and could help eliminate some deficit games; for volleyball championships: 60% to NCHSAA, 40% to schools, makes volleyball consistent with other sports
--Approved new employee policy and procedures manual for NCHSAA with some editorial changes
--Approved of executive director's contract from June 7, 2010 to June of 2013
-- NCHSAA