HURRICANE MATTHEW: Meeting planned to discuss sports

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 12, 2016 9:59 AM

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Athletics have been on the back burner as residents throughout Wayne County wait to see the final aftermath of Hurricane Matthew's wrath.

But decisions have to be made.

Athletics directors from the seven Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference schools met this morning in Greenville to discuss the remainder of the fall sports seasons.

Tennis tournaments were canceled since all Wayne and Pitt County schools are closed for the week. The state dual-team and individual regionals begin next Tuesday and Friday, respectively.

Schools have lost a week of conference volleyball games. The state tournament is slated to start Oct. 22. North Carolina High School Athletic Association officials will not alter those dates to accommodate finishing regular-season play.

Soccer has two weeks left before its postseason begins.

"From years past, my suggestion is we play what we can because the state is not going to extend the season for us," Charles B. Aycock athletics director Charles Davis said. "Make up what you can make up and then go by winning percentage from there. Everybody down east is in the same boat, nobody is going to have an advantage over the other."

Davis mentioned that volleyball and soccer games remaining between the 3-A schools -- CBA, Eastern Wayne and Southern Wayne -- are paramount. The remaining CBA-EW contest needs to be played to help determine the teams' seedings for the postseason.

The 4-A schools face the same situation.

Football is a sticking point.

One week of play is lost, which could force either a Monday-Friday or Tuesday-Friday scenario to get each school back on schedule. Any additional missed time, which could happen in Wayne County due to washed out sections of roads and receding flood waters, will create further scheduling headaches.

Football is an athletic program's "cash cow." The lack of gate money doesn't completely damage the overall athletic budget, but can affect expenses in all sports over the long haul.

Athletes have also lost conditioning and practice time.

Davis said the timing of Matthew is reminiscent of a winter snowstorm when you're near the end of your athletics season, and make-up dates become minimal due to meeting state-mandated playoff requirements.

"Number one, safety is the most important thing and hopefully everyone can get back on their feet," he said. "Number two, we'll just take a good look at the schedules and see what we can make up. It's a mess right now, but we'll get through it."