How Gray is forging ahead after forfeits, taking lead on SC competitive balance issue
Gray Collegiate Academy is moving forward with a plan and positive outlook in the wake of forfeitures against the school’s athletic teams.
The was the school’s overarching message to the more than 600 students and parents who attended a Tuesday meeting in the Gray gymnasium and more than 1,000 who watched it on the school’s YouTube page. All of the school’s coaches were in attendance, as were most athletes.
“Tonight was informative to let our parents know that we are going to be just fine if teams don’t want to play us. We are ready to compete,” Gray principal Brian Newsome said.
The meeting had a pep rally-type feel with cheerleaders and applause for the speakers, which included Newsome, football coach-athletic director Adam Holmes and football player JT Sowell.
They talked about how things got to this point and what Gray teams’ schedules will look like for the rest of the 2023-24 seasons.
“We wanted to let our parents know we have a plan, develop that plan with them and put the right pieces in place,” Newsome said.
Gray Collegiate is in Class 2A’s Region 4 and has had state championship success across multiple sports in recent years. Gray and some of its charter and private school counterparts that are S.C. High School League members have faced criticism because of concerns over fair play and how those schools build their athletic rosters.
Region schools Fairfield Central, Keenan and Eau Claire first forfeited spring sports games with Gray Collegiate. This fall, all those schools plus Columbia and Mid-Carolina (in the region for football) told Gray Collegiate they won’t play them in any sports this year. Newberry High, also in the region for football, hasn’t told Gray of its intentions but isn’t expected to play the War Eagles either.
Those schools view their decisions as taking a stand on what they say is a competitive imbalance that needs to be addressed and remedied.
Remaking Gray’s schedules
Forfeiting gives Gray Collegiate the victories and automatic region championships, but it creates voids in the War Eagles’ schedules where they’d prefer to have games. Gray is remaking schedules for the fall, winter and spring — with fall being the most challenging because of the short time frame.
The War Eagles football team has added three new games, with the first coming this weekend as they travel to take on St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.). The other two games will be Sept. 29 at home against Portal (Ga.) and a trip to Clearwater Academy (Fla.) on Oct. 6. One more game against an in-state opponent, possibly Atlantic Collegiate out of Myrtle Beach.
“We will take the No. 1 seed into the playoffs and make our state championship run,” Holmes said while speaking to the crowd.
Gray boys basketball coach Dion Bethea said his schedule is complete and will be revealed Oct. 1. The defending Class 2A champions usually play a tough non-region schedule against various in-state and out-of-state tournaments.
Bethea said the schedule will be even better, with eight region games replaced by matchups against strong competition.
“Having eight more games that have been high-level games for us that we have been working on since July,” Bethea said. “We didn’t lose any sleep over it. We will be fine.”
Gray boys soccer coach Kevin Heise said they have added tournaments in Tennessee as well as matchups with Bishop England, Southside Christian, Dreher, Chapin and its annual Nike Palmetto Cup.
Addressing competitive balance
While reassuring parents was a top priority Tuesday, looking to the future and what changes could be ahead for Gray and high school sports in South Carolina also was addressed.
Newsome talked about the need to address competitive balance problems, especially at the Class A and 2A levels.
On Monday, the state House Education and Public Works Ad Hoc Committee on high school athletics met for the first time Monday to discuss several topics, including competitive balance and fair play — but also how sports should be managed statewide in an era when education options are evolving.
Their efforts could change the way high school sports are governed in the Palmetto State.
“We may need a legislative fix,” Newsome said.
Another Ad Hoc Committee meeting is set for next week. Newsome isn’t sure if he will speak as part of the open forum for testimony that will take place.
Newsome formed his own committee, made up 17 of people throughout the state and in all classes, to address competitive balance issues and other topics facing the S.C. High School League.
The committee met last week and will meet again in two weeks. Their main goal is to craft amendment proposals that can be voted on by S.C. schools at their annual spring meeting.
One of the amendments would streamline forfeiture rules statewide instead of letting each region decide penalties. The amendment will include monetary fines.
Newsome is tasked with working on solutions for competitive balance. Five years ago, he was part of a committee that dealt with the same issue, but nothing was ever adopted.
There were 219 SCHSL member schools split into five classifications as of the league’s most recent realignment. Of those, 15 are public charter schools and four are private schools. And there are new charter school members being added for the next two school years.
The charter and private schools that already compete in Class A and 2A — against traditionally rural or smaller schools — and have dominated state championships in recent years.
Newsome will look at how other states handle the issue, he said. He talked about a possible points system in which a school’s athletics teams would move up in classification based on success such as winning — or appearing in — state championships, and from consistency in reaching the semifinal rounds of the playoffs. He also brought up the use of a multiplier in which students who attend a school from outside the district count toward enrollment as 1.5 or 2 students.
“We know this is going to be a statewide effort,” Newsome said. “If it is not successful for voting for amendments (at the SCHSL level), it might go the legislative route. We are trying to do everything we can to be positive influencers, change-makers to do it in a way we don’t go behind the scenes and talk about people.
“We are talking about ways to fix the problem. We don’t feel that fixing the problem is not playing.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
