HMSC chairman: There’s ‘no guarantee’ agreement can be reached
HobbsDailyReport.com
CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) on Thursday announced it hopes to return the West Regional basketball tournaments to Hickory, but that remains up in the air a key local official says.
In an email late Thursday, Hickory Metro Sports Commission (HMSC) chairman Mark Seaman said: “On behalf of (the) HMSC, we have inquired about the games being played in Hickory this year or in the future, but nothing has been agreed to at this point and there is no guarantee we will be able to reach an agreement. Either way we hope to have a decision in the next couple of weeks or so.”
After completing two days of board of director meetings at the NCHSAA, the association announced it has secured Fayetteville State for the East Regionals and that it’s in talks with the Greater Hickory area about bringing the West Regionals back there.
The NCHSAA said although nothing has been signed, it hopes to play West Regional games at Catawba Valley Community College’s Tarlton Complex and at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Shuford Gym.
HobbsDailyReport.com is awaiting return information from CVCC officials who are involved in the discussions about games at the Tarlton Complex, while an athletic department official who would be involved at LRU about use of Shuford Gym did not return an email or a phone call inquiry from HobbsDailyReport.com on Wednesday.
The West Regionals began in 1980 — playing at Statesville High — and moved the next year to the Hickory area, where they remained through the 2002-03 season before being moved to Winston-Salem by the NCHSAA.
The NCHSAA cited seating concerns as it moved to a larger venue starting with the 2003-04 season.
Game sites used in the Hickory area during its long run as the host site for the West Regionals included LRU, CVCC and high school gyms at East Burke, Hickory and Newton-Conover.
