Meeting Minutes - 9/10/2023

NCWCA Board Meeting – September 10, 2023 – Zoom

Present: Heang Uy, Butch Ross, Mark Harris, Byron Sigmon, Tripp Rogers, Ben Watson, Jamie Belk, Jed Cox, Jacob Tutterow, David Perry, Chase Holleman.

The annual fall meeting included a discussion about the all-star meet, multiple entries for tournaments, girls' wrestling, contact information for coaches, and rule changes.

Items Discussed:

• Jamie Belk facilitated the meeting.

• Coaches need to be reminded to pay their $30 dues for the year. Membership will allow coaches to nominate athletes for the All-Star meet in February.

• Uwharrie Charter is volunteering to host the All-Star meet again in 2024. The date for the meet will be Saturday, February 24. The Board agreed for Uwharrie to be the host site. The Board will explore the possibility of "Who's #1" matchups at the meet. This will be discussed prior to the selection of teams during the upcoming season.

• Jed Cox is working on a proposal for teams to submit multiple entries in regular-season events. The Board has an upcoming Zoom meeting with Tra Waters (NCHSAA) later this week and will ask if this is a possibility. It was noted that a specific plan will be needed for scoring and individual records, along with a list of states that currently allow this. Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina were mentioned as states that allow multiple entries in regular-season tournaments.

• The Board discussed the format for Girls’ Regionals along with host sites. Currently, the expectation is that previous hosts will have the opportunity to host again in 2024 with the option for either a Friday/Saturday tournament or a Saturday-only tournament. The NCHSAA will clarify this information prior to the start of the season.

• At the annual meeting in Greensboro, we were asked about offering a coaches' email list on the Coaches Association website. The Board is supportive of the idea but would like to create a password-protected system to prevent the emails from being used by spammers or for marketing.

• Some coaches are asking about the possibility of an invitational dual-team event for girls' teams. The Board is supportive of this idea and will present this to Tra in our upcoming meeting.

• Regional seeding was discussed with the scenario of girls who compete in both boys' and girls' events. With teams now required to add wrestlers to separate boys' and girls' rosters onto Trackwrestling, the Board discussed whether we should seed for regional events more accurately. For example, if a girl chooses to compete in a boys' regional, will she be seeded according to her matches against boys? This will be addressed in our upcoming meeting with the NCHSAA.

• As discussed in our July meeting, the pairings for the state tournament rotate over a four-year period. Coaches have learned the order of the rotation, bringing concern of forfeits in regional finals matches for a seeding advantage in the state tournament. The Board agrees the NCHSAA make the pairings random. This will be discussed at our upcoming meeting with Tra.

• The Board agreed to table any proposals to expand dual-team playoffs until after realignment is complete. The rationale is that any proposal for expansion would be for only one season and will change again after realignment.

• 2023-2024 NFHS rule changes will require some clarification from the NCHSAA. One rule change discussed is the new medical forfeit option and the tournament director's role in designating a medical forfeit. Tra is currently at the NFHS meeting in Arkansas and will report to the Board on the application of this new rule in North Carolina.

• Byron Sigmon noted a change at NCHSAA for Supervisor of Officials and that officials will need to be informed about the new weight classes for 2023-24.  Jamie will inform Tra about this.