The N.C. High School Athletic Association Board of Directors will hold its winter meeting on Dec. 1-2 in Chapel Hill.
During the two-day meeting, the board will hear several proposals and discuss some of the most pressing topics in high school sports.
Monday’s meeting will include committee discussions, consent agenda approval, and other topics. Voting will take place on Tuesday.
Two bylaw amendment proposals have been submitted to the board, one from the N.C. Lacrosse Coaches Association and the other from the Regional Supervisors. Details of these bylaw amendment proposals have not yet been released by the NCHSAA.
The board meeting can be live-streamed courtesy of the NCHSAA:
Below are some of the topics that the board will discuss and consider.
Consent Agenda
- Approve the addition of three new high schools to the membership: The Hawbridge School, Revolution Academy, and Wilson’s Mills
Health & Safety
- The Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) recommends a minimum of 60 hours be required between the conclusion of one football game and kickoff of another, including no contact practices during that time. The SMAC also recommends this be used for scrimmages.
- SMAC recommends requiring three separate days of football practice for any player who misses five days of practice due to injury or illness.
- SMAC recommends discontinuing the allowance of shoulder pads during summer football skill development workouts and 7-on-7s.
Sports
- The Flag Football Committee will provide a presentation to the board about the possibility of sanctioning the sport. Right now, a vote is not scheduled on sanctioning flag football, but that could change with a motion from someone on the board.
- The NCHSAA distributed a survey to member schools about flag football. Among the topics the NCHSAA sought input on was which season was preferable for flag football. 66% said if the season were in the fall, they would at least make an effort to play. That number was 52% for the winter and 40% for the spring. Fall was the first choice for 44% of the schools, followed by 34% in winter, and 25% in spring.
- The N.C. Basketball Coaches Association has asked the board to allow schools to use a 35-second shot clock during scrimmages, regular-season invitational tournaments, and special events and showcases. The NCBCA hopes to gather data for the potential implementation of the shot clock in North Carolina.
- A proposal has been submitted to the board that would create a Cooperative Team Agreement Policy. This policy would allow two or more schools to combine athletic programs in specific sports when one or more of the schools can’t field a full, competitive team due to limited participation, declining enrollment, or other challenges. This proposal came from Northwood High School and the Four Rivers Conference.
Playoffs
- East Carteret High School and the Coastal Conference are requesting the board reward conference champions in seeding by guaranteeing it a higher seed overall teams from the same conference.
- The N.C. Basketball Coaches Association asked the board to use RPI rankings to break ties in the conference tournament seeding process. Right now, a random draw is used as the fourth step.
Calendar & Schedules
- The Cap 8 Conference asked the board to consider moving the boys tennis individual state championships from May 8-9 to May 9-10. This would move the championships from Friday-Saturday to Saturday-Sunday.
- The Rocky River Conference asked the board to reduce the number of weeks in the basketball season and increase the number of weeks in the baseball season for the 2026-2027 school year.
After the meeting, additional updates will be provided on what proposals were passed and any other news released by the NCHSAA.
Here are some other helpful links:
- Two-Day Agenda
- Consent Agenda
- Committee Information
