Coaches, are you a member of the North Carolina Track and Cross Country Coaches Association (NCTCCCA)? If not, sign up now!
"I think the main reason to join the Association is because WE are the voice for track and field as well as cross country with the NCHSAA. When we take a look at long list of accomplishments, these would not have happened with the Association. Much has been accomplished, but there is still more work to do," says NCHSAA Meet Director and Executive Director for the NCTCCCA DePaul Mittman.
Joining the NCTCCCA gives coaches the opportunity to be the official voice of their sport, and help the sport continue to grow and advance.
Some notable accomplishments of the North Carolina Track and Cross Country Coaches Association since their founding in 2002:
1. Eight (8) place scoring for all State Meets which replaced 6 place scoring. This change allows for more athletes to score at the state meets, puts the scoring in line with the NFHS rulebook for scoring based on the number of participating teams, and has created more drama during the contesting of state championships.
2A. Advocated and achieved a split of the Indoor State Championships from a single classification meet into two (2) separate championships: The 4A State Meet and the 123A State Meet.
2B. Advocated and achieved the split of 3A schools from the 4A schools to contest their own state championship in Indoor Track. As a result, there are 3 contested state championships in Indoor Track, 4A, 3A, and 1A/2A which have led to more schools competing in Indoor Track, especially among the 3A and 1A/2A classifications.
3. Changed the schedule for the Indoor State Championships by making the 4x800 Relay the first event of the meet instead of the sprint semi-finals. This has given distance athletes more rest time between the 4x800 Relay and the 1600 Meter Run. Distance records in nearly all events have been broken in all classifications since the elimination of sprint preliminaries in these three events.
4. Kept Indoor Track alive on two occasions. (1) Successfully killed a proposal to replace Indoor Track with Field Hockey (Executive Director, DePaul Mittman) and (2) after unsuccessfully advocating for the 2011 Indoor State Meet to be held at Liberty University due to construction issues at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Association supported doing a State Meet Polar Bear in Fayetteville. Despite the Polar Bear meet being a less than desirable solution, it kept the Indoor State Championship going. There was discussion at the NCHSAA of not holding a championship at all that year, which would have done irreparable damage to the sport. In addition to keeping the sport alive, the Polar Bear State Championship highlighted the shortage of Indoor facilities in North Carolina which help result in the building of JDL Fast Track.
5. Established NFHS Track Certification clinics at the NCCA Clinic in Greensboro in July and at the NCTCCCA Clinic in January allowing all track and cross-country coaches to be certified. Certification helps coaches better understand the rules which allow them to be better coaches and meet officials. Began a NCTCCCA Track and Field Coaches Clinic in 2002. The annual clinic featured world class clinicians, including top college and high school coaches and world class track athletes including
6. Has successfully met the challenge of updating standards for Indoor State Qualifying and Regional Outdoor Qualifying on a regular basis at the request of the NCHSAA. Despite reviewing and updating standards on almost a yearly basis, the number of qualifiers has remained consistent allowing for competitive and efficient championship meets. Advocated and had a modified proposal approved adding two additional individual qualifiers from the Regional Meets in Cross Country to the State Championships. Advocated and achieved a change in the number of teams that qualify from the Cross-Country Regional Championships to the State Meet. Won a 10-year struggle to contest all four classifications in Outdoor Track on the same weekend.
7. Advocated and won approval to move the start of Indoor Track first day of practice to the same date as all other winter sports. This gave track and field athletes more training time to prepare for the first meets and take advantage of the best weather to do pre-season training.
8. Advocated and achieved the addition of the 4 x 200 Meter Relay added to the list of contested events in Indoor Track which increased the number of athletes participating in the Indoor State Championships.
9. Advocated and achieved the repeal the Split Squad Rule for cross country and track.
10. Advocated and achieved an increase in the number of Indoor meets per week from two meets to three meets.
11. Advocated and achieved a change in the reporting deadline for submitting meet results to the NCHSAA and to NC MileSplit from 24 to 72 hours.
12. Advocated and achieved a reduction in the minimum number of teams required for "Polar Bear Meets" from 5 to 3 teams for schools in remote areas of the state.
13. The leadership of this organization has been an important factor in the standing of North Carolina track and field athletes in the country. Without the NCTCCCA, these improvements in cross country and track and field would not have happened.