The N.C. High School Athletic Association is in the process of severing its 97-year-old ties with the University of North Carolina. The NCHSAA already administers the interscholastic athletic programs of its 386 member schools, including most public high schools in North Carolina.
"It is a very amiable parting," said Charlie Adams, the executive director of the NCHSAA who will step down on Jan. 30.
"From the university's standpoint, we need us to be a part of the university or not a part of the university. From our perspective, we are governed by our membership and board of directors. We have come to understand that we can't serve two masters."
Carol P. Tresolini, a UNC associate provost for academic initiatives, said the university has examined all of its relationships in light of the current budget climate to see how the relationship was helping to fulfill the university's academic mission.
"In looking at the relationship, we realized it would be best to part," Tresolini said. "The association does wonderful things, and it is an excellent organization, and we hope to continue to support high school athletics in North Carolina even if we are not part of the same organization. It does wonderful work for the state."
The NCHSAA and the university have set a May 15 deadline to effect the change. The two entities have had a long relationship but not a tight one.
The NCHSAA was founded by the UNC system in 1912 as part of the university's extension program. The association's first two executive directors were UNC professors.
In 1944, former Reidsville High coach Hap Perry was named as the association's executive director, and he served for 18 years. Perry and Simon Terrell, Perry's assistant, ran the association on a day-to-day basis with governance by a board of directors that was selected by the member schools.
Perry was succeeded by Terrell, who also was the executive director for 18 years.
Adams, who was Terrell's assistant, has been the executive director since 1983.
The arrangement between the NCHSAA and UNC has been an unusual one.
In 1947, a new NCHSAA constitution relieved the university of most financial responsibilities for the association, although the university continued to provide office space.
That changed when the university sold a lot on UNC's Finley Golf Course to the association for $1. The NCHSAA used funds derived from membership dues to build the office it first occupied in 1978. NCHSAA athletic game officials furnished the building.
The NCHSAA is expected to keep the facility.
No UNC funds go to the NCHSAA, which raises its own money through membership dues, playoff ticket revenue, corporate sponsorships and other sources. The salaries of the association's 16 employees come from those funds, but the employees are part of the North Carolina retirement system.
"We haven't cost UNC a dime," Adams said.
The principal of each of the NCHSAA's 386 member schools is a voting member, and the group is governed by a board of directors, which is elected by the schools.
"We have reached the point that we can no longer be governed by our board and by the university," Adams said. "We stress academics and we serve the children of North Carolina, but our main objective is different from the University of North Carolina. We are not part of the educational mission of the university."
The university basically let the NCHSAA run itself since the 1940s, but UNC has taken a more active role recently, including conducting the search for Adams' successor through the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.
Adams said he learned the NCHSAA was expected to cut staff as part of a general university belt-tightening, even though NCHSAA salaries are not paid by the university.
"I don't think the NCHSAA has a choice in the matter," said Bobby Guthrie, the Wake schools athletic director. "The association needs to leave the university. There is no need to have a board of directors if it has little say so. The membership has built the association, and I don't think the membership wants to have no input in its operations."
The NCHSAA's athletic teams have more than 150,000 athletes. The NCHSAA conducts state championships in 24 sports.
The next step, Adams said, is to pursue a relationship with a local school system so that the staff can retain state employee benefits while not being associated with the university.
"I've had superintendents from throughout the state say they would be interested in letting us be associated with them," Adams said. "We would like to be associated with an area system. We would continue, of course, to pay our own way, just as we have been."
Guthrie, who is on the NCHSAA board of directors, said he believes an arrangement with a local school system is the best option but said the wording of the agreement needs to make clear that the local system knows it will not get preferential treatment.
"All schools need to be treated just like every other school," Guthrie said. "There shouldn't be any breaks when the association arranges conferences or anything. The association has always treated schools equally, and we'd need to continue to do that."
Severing the ties with the university is not expected to affect the NCHSAA's operations or its playoff competition. Most NCHSAA state championship events are held at major university venues, including N.C. State and UNC.
"We hope to continue to support the association by hosting championship events and doing joint research projects, such as Kevin Guskiewicz's work on concussions," Tresolini said.
