THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270414
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Conference realignment for North Carolina high school athletic teams is a year away, but tough decisions await some schools.
The schools have been classified, said Jerry McGee, athletic director at Northeastern High in Elizabeth City, but the most difficult challenge will be setting up new conference makeups.
McGee is one of 16 members of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Realignment Committee.
To realign the conferences, the committee will use the ``average daily enrollment'' formula.
Each of North Carolina's 320 high schools reports its average daily enrollment for grades 10 through 12 as of September.
The schools then are separated into classifications: 4A, 3A, 2A, or 1A. Schools with an average daily enrollment of 851 or higher will be 4A schools. Enrollment of 595 to 850 will be 3A. The 2A schools will have 420 to 594 students and the 1A schools will have 419 or less.
Of 14 high schools in northeastern North Carolina, only Manteo changed classification, moving up from 2A to 3A.
Territorial battles between schools, however, may leave some teams searching for a conference, particularly in the 1A and 3A ranks.
``There is absolutely no considerations outside of enrollment. Nothing is taken into account for how rural your county is,'' McGee said. ``Our area will be the most affected area.''
The 4A conference in the eastern part of the state has already been set. The new Big East Conference will contain Northeastern, Northern Nash, Rocky Mount, Greenville Rose, New Bern, and newcomer D.H. Conley. Conley, a 3A school in the last classification, replaces Kinston, which will drop down to 3A.
The Big Eight Conference, which has been perhaps the most competitive 3A conference in the state, does not want Hertford County or Bertie County, according to McGee, who did not elaborate, but those schools will probably end up back in the conference because of the lack of other 3A teams in this area. The Bears and Falcons could be searching for a new conference if the other Big Eight schools get their way.
The breakup of the 1A Albemarle Conference seems inevitable. Camden County has applied to the committee for inclusion in the Tobacco Belt Conference. McGee said the current Tobacco Belt teams would like to see Roanoke, whose boys and girls basketball teams both played in the state championship this past Saturday, ousted from the conference. This would pave the way for Camden to enter.
Perquimans and Williamston, both currently in the Albemarle Conference, are interested in joining a 1A/2A conference which would run along U.S. 17 and U.S. 64 and would include Northside (1A), Edenton-Holmes (2A), Plymouth (2A), Currituck County (2A), and Manteo (3A). The conference would have a 1A champion and a 2A champion, and both of those teams would go to their respective state playoffs.
Although Manteo has been classified 3A, the school has applied to the committee to be able to play at the 2A level without restrictions. In most cases, when a team plays against lower classified teams, it is not eligible for the state playoffs two consecutive years. So Manteo, the sixth-smallest 3A school, has three possibilities - the school could be allowed to play 2A without restrictions, it could ``play down'' and miss the state playoffs in certain years, or it could stay 3A and possibly join with Bertie County and Hertford County as refugees in another league.
McGee said that the four remaining Albemarle Conference teams are interested in forming their own conference. Gates County, Northampton East, Northampton West, and Weldon could possibly join Roanoke if it is ousted from the Tobacco Belt. North Edgecombe, which has already expressed interest in leaving the TBC, could also join forces with those schools.
``I think there are so many exceptions that things are going to be done that haven't been done before,'' McGee said. ``Lord knows what's going to happen out of all of this. We've got a mess up here, but it's going to work out.'' ILLUSTRATION: Chart of Daily Enrollment
by CNB