Dialogue of email discussion on why we could not hold Clash of the Carolinas practices between myself and SCACA Director Shell Dula:
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Coach Dula,
I hope that you are doing well and can help me with a couple of questions that have been raised by the SCACA decision to not allow training sessions prior to the July 8 report date for the Clash of the Carolinas.
(1) Clash teams have trained in the past with no problem or issue being raised. What's different this year?
(2) What is the procedure for the football Shrine Bowl to allow for a week's worth of practices? Is it simply money being raised to bring them into one venue?
(3) How can football be allowed combines to evaluate potential players, but not the same for soccer?
(4) What is the operating procedure for baseball and basketball (or any other SCHSL sport) practices in regards to their NC/SC all-star contests?
Please address each of these so that I may share with our body. I have had several questions from parents, coaches, players, etc. (including myself) in terms of some of these issues.
I look forward to your expediate reply.
Sincerely,
Kevin Heise
SCHSSCA / Brookland-Cayce HS
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Kevin,
Thank you for your email of June 9, 2010 concerning extra practice time for the Clash of the Carolinas Boys team. Let me emphasize that all decisions made by the SCACA Officers and Board are made after careful consideration of the SCACA as a whole. We want to be sure that the opportunities afforded to one sport are afforded to all and the opportunities afforded to males are also afforded to females and vice versa.
On Wednesday, May 26th I met with Dick Smith in the SCACA office for an extended meeting concerning many of the same issues you have raised. However, I will be more than happy to once again go over the position of the SCACA.
If Clash teams have trained in the past prior to the event dates then they have done so without the approval of the SCACA Executive Director and without any insurance being in place. As a reminder, these players are no longer high school students, and therefore are not covered by their school student accident insurance or by the High School League Catastrophic Policy (except during the approved dates of the event). Yes, you have looked into insurance for the 2010 summer's extra practice dates, however if practices occurred in the past as stated, the coaches involved, the SC Soccer Coaches Association, and the SCACA were all extremely fortunate that there were no serious injuries because legally we were wrong to hold such practices.
In reference to the combines, let me say that the biggest difference is that the students involved are still in high school. These combines are not sanctioned by the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association. In fact, we have some concerns with the combines. Individual schools or individual parents choose to send their players or child to the combines. Some schools provide transportation, food, etc. The SCACA is not involved.
Our Select Baseball team will report on Wednesday, June 16th at 2:00 pm, they will play a game vs. North Carolina on Thursday, June 17th at 7:00 pm, and a second game will be Friday at 2:00 pm. Our North-South teams report on Thursday and play Friday and Saturday.
Our SC Basketball teams reported at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 17th and the games were played Saturday, March 20th at 6:30 and 8:00 pm. Our North-South teams report at noon on Thursday, March 18th and played at 11:30 am and 2:00 pm on Saturday.
Our Volleyball teams reported to Lander University at 1:00 pm Thursday, November 19th and played their games on Saturday morning.
Our auxiliary associations play a major part in determining how much practice time each team will have prior to their games or matches. I have conveyed to Coach Smith and other soccer coaches that the SCACA would support the soccer teams coming in a day earlier. This would coincide with the schedule currently being followed by several North-South and South Carolina Teams.
At this time, our association does not support and will not sanction practices being held prior to the approved dates for a North-South or SC vs. NC event. We appreciate the fact that you, your coaches, and your players want to represent South Carolina in a positive way. You always do this. We are proud of the fact that we in South Carolina do things first class and the right way. We put the kids first.
