State cuts football playoffs in half
Raleigh – In a move that has sparked both outcry and praise, the look of the 2021 state football playoffs will change significantly.
Following the conclusion of its 2020 Board of Directors’ winter meeting last week, the N.C. High School Athletic Association announced a 50 percent decrease in the number of classifications that will be bracketed for football playoffs. There will no longer be eight state champions; instead, it will be four.
Though the state did not reveal how teams will qualify, the end result will see 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A schools paired with schools previously classified as 1-AA, 2-AA, 3-AA and 4-AA. Robbinsville is the reigning 1A state champion, winning its 15th state crown by defeating Northampton County 45-14 on Dec. 14, 2019.
Additionally, the fall 2021 football season will see a reduced schedule, from 11 games to 10. The reduction still includes an endowment game. The first contest cannot be played until two days before the final Friday in August.
Based on the two-day caucus, the association also voted on several items, including:
* Athletics will continue on a reduced schedule. Basketball tryouts began Monday and games are set to tipoff Monday, Jan. 4. Players will have to wear a mask, per Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order, but will enjoy an added 60-second officials timeouts in each quarter to help the adaptation.
* Multi-sport athletes who are playing football in 2021 will have an adjusted period to switch over to the gridiron in a swift manner.
* In a unanimous vote, the board allotted $4 million to distribute to qualifying member schools as a one-time subsidy to help with athletic funding during the pandemic. A committee will be set up to finalize qualification details for schools.
* The association will be changing its realignment formula, eliminating each of its 416 member school’s Individual Student Percentage. The percentage measures the number of students at a school that receive USDA government assistance.
* Telemedicine can be used as an alternate method for following the Concussion Return-to-Play Protocol.
* Boys and girls golf will now have 48 and 45 respective qualifiers, beginning with the 2021 campaign.
N.C. High School Athletic Association Commissioner Que Tucker emailed member schools after the meetings concluded, providing a beacon of hope for the future of athletics after such an unusual year.
“As we await the COVID-19 vaccine and hopeful abatement of the current worldwide crisis, we believe that better days are ahead for NCHSAA member schools and we will again be able to offer the robust programs and championship events that our student-athletes, coaches and communities have enjoyed for so long,” the statement said.