Published: 10:54 AM, Tue Mar 09, 2010
Cumberland County looks to host prep hoops regionals
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
With Greenville's grip on the N.C. High School Athletic Association's Eastern Regional basketball tournament possibly slipping, Fayetteville and Cumberland County are preparing to put together a bid to return the event here.
Leon Mack, student activities director for the Cumberland County Schools, said he had already spoken to officials of the N.C. High School Athletic Association and expressed an interest in getting the regional back in Fayetteville.
The tournament was held in Cumberland County from 1987-90, with boys' games played at the old Cumberland County Arena and girls' games at South View High School. The tournament left Fayetteville for Greenville after the 1990 season when it lost two of its three major sponsors and was unable to replace them.
Now the same thing may be happening in Greenville. Carolyn Shannonhouse of the NCHSAA staff confirmed Monday that University Health Systems is not renewing its contract as a sponsor of the regional in Greenville. "They are going to pursue other sponsors in the area, but we'll have to see if they are able to come up with sponsorship to cover the expense," Shannonhouse said.
Shannonhouse would not quote any figures on what sponsorship of the regional tournament costs, but Mack said he is starting with a ballpark figure of $50,000 as a minimum.
Mack said he expects to receive a packet of information from the NCHSAA after this week's state championship games that will provide details on all the requirements for sponsoring the regional tournament.
He has already made contact with representatives from the Crown Coliseum complex, the Fayetteville Convention and Visitors Bureau and the parks and recreation department.
"We have the perfect venue, an arena and coliseum complex separated by a parking lot, where we could host the boys' and girls' games," Mack said.
Mack said he hopes to make the event truly regional by involving surrounding counties that would benefit from having the tournament here instead of some more distant location. "I've already made initial contact with a couple of athletic directors from nearby counties," he said. "I've informed them we need their support."
Mack said he had heard some other communities have also expressed an interest in the regional tournament, but declined to name them.
"We're going to have to work hard and close together to come up with the best proposal for the state," he said.
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan Jr. can be reached at vaughane@fayobserver.com or 486-3519.