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Rose appeal denied by NCHSAA
By John Swartz
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
CHAPEL HILL — The N.C. High School Athletic Association denied Wednesday J.H. Rose’s appeal of a proposed realignment that would have the Rampants join an athletic conference with four Wilmington schools.
According to NCHSAA president Charlie Adams, the board denied the appeal because it could not find a suitable alternative.
Rose officials pleaded their case to the NCHSAA on Tuesday, stressing that the move from the Coastal Conference to one including four Wilmington schools — Ashley, Laney, Hoggard and New Hanover — would greatly increase the amount of time that student-athletes would be out of the classroom.
The board voted down the proposition Tuesday. The official announcement was made Wednesday.
“I’ve had better days,” JHR athletic director Tommy Peacock said. “I’m a little disappointed. I feel sorry for the kids. It’s going to have a big impact.”
After the Rose appeal on Tuesday, the NCHSAA board spent several hours talking about the Rampants’ situation “off and on” as time allowed, according to Adams. The board then voted down the appeal, but not without exhausting all the possibilities, he said.
“There was not a person in there whose heart doesn’t go out to Rose,” Adams said. “They’re school people. They all said it’s tough; it’s hard travel. If we took a vote, it’d be 25-0 we feel sorry for Rose. This is a bad situation.
“But then everything you looked at affected somebody else adversely. We tried everything in the world. If they’d gone independent, they wouldn’t have been able to find football games. Everything else would have been easy, but football is the only one (with a schedule that’s done) two years (in advance).”
Under the first draft of the 2009-13 realignment proposal, J.H. Rose was slated to join a conference with schools from Wake, Johnston and Harnett counties. After the initial draft was released in December 2007, members from several of the schools in the proposed conference objected, Rose included.
Trips west would have increased the average Rampant ride to 154 miles. With the new conference, going to Wilmington four times brings the Rose average trip up to 208 miles. In their current league, the Rampants have average road trips of 71 miles.
“The deal with that whole thing, going to the Wake County schools also doubled our average miles,” Peacock said. “Wake didn’t want us, and we were happy with where we were. We relayed that to the realignment committee. They should have said, ‘No you’re going to stay in the Wake County deal.’
“No one called and asked us if we wanted to go Wilmington’s way. If they’d called and given us a choice, I would have stayed with Raleigh. Wilmington was never discussed with us.”
Those directly affected by the realignment — the coaches, parents and athletes — now must prepare for the realities of the new conference.
“When it was first was put on the table, I couldn’t see how it could come about,” said Rose boys’ soccer coach Charlie Harvey, whose son Warren also plays four sports for the Rampants. “It just didn’t make any sense to put a bunch of high school kids on the road that long. As a coach, I’m doing four (trips to Wilmington) per season. As a coach and parent going to Wilmington, it’d probably be cheaper to rent a condo down there. But my biggest thing as a parent is the safety. The road to Wilmington is not a good road. I think you’re asking for trouble.”
Some parents are simply disappointed with the decision to go forward with the realignment based on the message it sends.
“I think it’s a sad statement that the decision by the realignment committee would be upheld by the board,” said Hale Stephenson, who has two daughters playing sports at Rose. “I think the administration of the school has done a super job evaluating the data. The statistics are compelling, and it’s hard for me to believe that a leadership group that subscribes to the mission statement of the NCHSAA would not see that this was not in the best interest of the student-athletes nor the dedicated coaches who put in the time to try to lead these kids.”
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Your comments
Grow up
12/29/2008 07:57:22 AM
Its not about winning championships, its about putting these children on a bus and having them miss classes and then get home at 1am with homework and studying left to do! Why don't some of you ignorant people look at it from that stand point???? How would you feel if it was your CHILD????
Suggest removalDee Carpenter
12/17/2008 10:13:01 AM
As a parent who goes to the away games and also works it will be hard to go to the away games without losing my job. My son will be senior next year and will have to miss a lot of instruction hours.
Suggest removalCorey
12/10/2008 03:43:47 AM
Will the NCSHAA make concessions to the Pitt County School board when the GPA's of Rose's student athlete's plumment b/c they will have to leave for games at 12 noon for every sport when they have away contests..and get back around 3am....im sure there is a conference closer that would of LOVED having rose's great athletic reputataion and school apart of its conference...why is NC so backwards ccompared to other states???
Suggest removalrose student
12/05/2008 11:05:38 PM
Nobody at Rose is upset about this decision because "we can't be number one in the conference". We are upset because of the ridiculous amount of class time we will miss because of so much time traveling. We are not obviously not dominant in any sport at the moment. Good teams come and go.
Suggest removalAre you serious?
12/05/2008 03:36:49 PM
Hurray, Do you actually think that because Rose is in your conference that South Central is not winning conference championships. Let see, last year--Girls softball, State Champions; Girls basketball, lost in regional finals. Both of these teams won the conference championship. This year West Craven won the conference in football. You need to quit blaming Rose because your child's team has not won a conference championship.
Suggest removalHurray
12/05/2008 08:05:54 AM
As a South Central parent, I am glad Rose is leaving the conference. Now, maybe my kids can win some games and have a shot at being conference champions and just win some games in Pitt County. We are Number 1!! Goooooooooo Falcons!!!!
Suggest removalAmazing
12/05/2008 07:56:23 AM
It never ceases to amaze the number of people like "gville" "pityrose" and "Ipityrose2" who post with no real truth, only their perceptions of the way things are. And people wonder whats wrong with Pitt County.... look no farther than it's clueless residents for a start.
Suggest removalgville
12/04/2008 11:39:12 PM
rose had their chance a few years back when south central opened to support a proposal that would create 6; 3A schools in pitt co and create their own conference... but NO the high and mighty Rose "people" put a stop to that idea real quick, now this is the result of it..u want to be 4A, go play in a 4A conference.
Suggest removalteacher1
12/04/2008 10:16:31 AM
Hey pityrose; the money for the post season tournaments goes directly to the state. Not Rose. The state uses Rose because of the proximity to ECU. The last time I checked the rest of the county schools have been competitive. Conley, Farmville, North Pitt, South Central, and now maybe Ayden-Grifton have been very successful.
Suggest removaldowneastpirate
12/03/2008 11:09:23 PM
Get real folks. Wilmington is 2 plus hours away. This is about the most short sighted, fiscally ignorant decision that could have been made...would say I'm surprised, but I'm not. We are in the middle of a recession with high gas prices on top of it. The NCHSAA decides its a good idea to ship kids from central NC down near SC. Explain to me how this makes sense.
Suggest removalReality
12/03/2008 09:43:45 PM
Uhm... if you are thinking WIlmington sports are that good... you obviously don't know much about Wilmington sports. Outside of Hoggard football the last few years, VERY mediocre at best. The worst part about having to travel to Wilmington is the lack of competition. Not much fun riding 200+ plus miles to play and win a 10 run rule game and such.
Suggest removalAll stems from a couple of schools in conference tired of getting it handed to them in football every year... sheesh...THERE'S your whiners...
Rance
12/03/2008 07:43:43 PM
Really stinks for Rose. Hate it for them, because all the Wilmington schools will spank them so so bad. ROCK ON Wilmington!!!!!
Suggest removalFuture Rose Parent
12/03/2008 06:08:51 PM
Hey "Pityrose" are you at a loss for words since you copied and pasted the same comment on the previous article. The fact is that 208 miles is too much travel for a high school sporting event. It is not about the money it is about time away from school for the students. Last time I checked Rose has nt been number one in all sports.
Suggest removalWake up
12/03/2008 05:56:08 PM
When will somebody like Dr. Reep realize that the 6 Pitt county schools should be in 1 conference. Re-district the schools to even out the enrollment & let 'em play each other. If the parents don't like the school district they live in the contact their favorite real estate person & move to the school of their choice. No matter where the students get their education the PARENTS need to be INVOLVED in their life.
Suggest removalI pityrose 2
12/03/2008 04:42:25 PM
They cant be the number one team in that confrence so they whine.
Suggest removalpityrose
12/03/2008 04:32:07 PM
Yeah....How is this realignment going to break Rose financially... get real. Where does the money go when they host post season basketball tournaments? And I'm sure quite a few booster club members help out!
Suggest removalPost a Comment
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