High school athletic directors in Stokes County aren’t planning any major changes or cuts any time soon.
At least not for right now.
A committee with the NCHSAA will take into consideration the length of the sports season, number of games scheduled and the number of playoff berths.
“We are going to wait it out,” said North Stokes athletic director Frank Sessoms. “As long as gas doesn’t shoot up like it did last year and couple years ago. I think we are going to be OK. We haven’t put anything in motion.
“We always have lower gates than anybody else. It seems like visitors don’t like to ride up here between the hills.”
While the school’s scenic location close to Danbury and Lawsonville in the heart of Stokes County might be a tough drive for visitors, the overall gate numbers this season have been comparable to last year.
“We’ve been about the same,” Sessoms said. “If football does OK, and basketball does OK, we’ll be OK. We’ve had some good baseball gates, softball gates and good track gates this year. We haven’t entertained cutting back.”
The NCHSAA’ revenues are down this year and the committee is asking schools who are struggling across the state to reduce sports schedules, cut down travel, etc.
“Everybody agrees that our seasons are too long,” said Charlie Adams, the executive director of the NCHSAA in an article in the Raleigh News & Observer. “But nobody wants to cut their season or their sport.
“We may have to move past that, though. We have lived in a land of plenty for several years and have been able to expand programs. We were able to do some things that we might not be able to afford now.”
Revenue sports like football and basketball provide the biggest boost for athletic budgets, particularly at smaller schools.
Breaking even at best can be the case with many non-revenue sports after taking into consideration travel time and the cost of officials. Bad weather in the winter and spring also is factor.
“I can tell a difference with spring sports. This spring our numbers have been down. With the weather we’ve had to reschedule so much. We usually break even,” said South Stokes athletic director Tim Lawson. “Things the last few months have been tightened down. I don’t know how that will spill over into football and basketball. I know things are tight. We definitely have to prioritize stuff and be careful. With athletics you always have a lot of things you need to keep things rolling.“We’ll patch things together and move forward as best we can.”
Postseason travel can get expensive. North Stokes had to drive to Robbinsville, in the far western part of the state, for the Class 1-A West football playoffs last fall and West Stokes received a wild card in basketball and drove to the outer banks to play Kill Devil Hills First Flight in the 2-A East basketball playoffs.
Any major changes in the NCHSAA’s playoff bracket or length of the season are not likely before the 2011-12 season.
Adams contends that local systems can start changes quicker. Among the suggestions were cutting jayvee football games down from 11 games and trimming basketball schedules down from 24 games, the maximum allowed for the regular season.
“If a school can cut one or two games in a nonrevenue or revenue-neutral sport and save travel and the cost of officials, it might be worth looking at.”
Adams said the NCHSAA is not making any of the changes mandatory.
Athletic director Annette Johnson at West Stokes does not anticipate a reduction of games for any of the Wildcats sports for the fall.
“Right now, we are going to keep it as is and play a full schedule,” Johnson said. “We know in the back of our minds we might have to cut down on nonconference (games). We are going to be in such a big conference (next year). But that definitely is something that if the economy stays as it is, if we struggle this year or next year, it would be something to look at.”
Lawson is in his 12th year as athletic director at South Stokes.
He said he doesn’t expect to see any cuts any time soon.
“I believe in trying to be fair. They want to try and play the games, we’ll try our best to find a way to do it. Hopefully it won’t come down to that,” Lawson said. “We are definitely going to try and play closer by. In the new league we are going into, our conference games, the travel will be less.”
With the new realignment next season, West Stokes, North Stokes and South Stokes will be part of a split 1A/2A conference with East Surry, Mount Airy, North Surry, Surry Central, Bishop McGuinness and Winston-Salem Prep.
In terms of distance between the schools, the new conference should be easier on travel.
West is now a conference game for North and South Stokes, who no longer have conference games against schools further away like Alleghany or West Wilkes. Winston-Salem Prep currently does not offer a full slate of sports, including football.
Meanwhile the Wildcats move from a conference that featured teams as far away as Eastern and Southern Guilford.
“The weather during football season was not as good as the past few years. That hurt a bit. Definitely the football gate was down and the basketball gate was down,” Johnson said. “When gas prices were so high, people weren’t going to games as much. When we played teams farther away, parents weren’t making trips.”
Stokes County provides some money for coaches’ supplements, with the remainder of revenue coming from gate receipts and school and booster club fundraisers.
Some middle school programs were cut slightly due to the gas shortage last year.
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