Published: 12:19 AM, Sat Jun 26, 2010
Terry Sanford has paid off half of loan
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
Terry Sanford High School has paid off half of a loan it was given by the Cumberland County Schools to pay for legal fees assessed to the school after last fall's unsuccessful legal fight to get the Bulldog football team reinstated in the state playoffs.
A group of Terry Sanford players filed suit to try and get the school back in the playoffs after they had to forfeit all of their wins for using an ineligible player. Even though the school did not bring the suit and was not a direct party to it, the N.C. High School Athletic Association has a rule that allows it to seek payment of its legal fees from member schools even if an outside party files a suit.
Vickers said the county schools gave Terry Sanford two years to repay the loan, which came to a little over $14,000. Had the sum not been returned to the NCHSAA last year, all of Terry Sanford's winter and spring athletic teams could have been barred from state playoff competition.
Vickers said the school has repaid about half of the loan. She said there is no set schedule for making payments, and that Terry Sanford has been working with gate receipts that go into its combined athletics fund to make payments whenever possible.
"There is some turnaround time between when gate receipts are turned in and when we know how much we have,'' Vickers said. "We've been looking at it more from a season to season basis, how much do we need to get through this season. We don't want to penalize any of the kids.''
Vickers said the school could send in a single large payment, but it would risk leaving the athletic budget too low during a given sports season to allow for unexpected financial needs during that season.
Vickers said the school has not approached boosters about fundraising projects to help repay the loan. "I don't feel that's the right way to do it,'' she said. "They didn't create the bill and we're not going to ask them to pay it.
"If they come to games, they are helping us pay the bill.''
Vickers said the school's athletic budget got a boost from the basketball team's trip to the state 4-A championship game in March.
"We'll make a payment before the school year starts,'' she said. "Some of that will come from basketball revenue.''