So Much More Than a Game

(South Charlotte Weekly, September 15, 2011)

‘Hardin Bowl’ always meaningful, but this one has greater impact

by Aaron Garcia

Porter Ridge coach Blair Hardin (left) will bring his Porter Ridge team to south Charlotte to face father Bruce’s Providence Day Chargers on Friday, Sept. 16. (Aaron Garcia/SCW photo)

Once Bruce Hardin reached his seat in the Clemson press box for The Citadel’s 2000 season-opener against the Tigers, he laid out his game charts. Though the Bulldogs were kicking off, Hardin’s focus was on the plays he was planning to open with as The Citadel’s offensive coordinator. Then he glanced down at the field and saw his son, Blair, was lining up on the kickoff team in his first college game.
“I didn’t know it,” Bruce recalled. “Nobody told me (Blair would be playing).”
More than a decade later, Bruce isn’t sure whether Blair made the tackle that day.
“I’m sure he surrounded the ball,” Bruce said.
But it didn’t really matter; Blair was on the field. It was a momentous occasion for both father and son. And years later, it serves as an indication of what Bruce’s Providence Day team will be facing as it hosts the Blair Hardin-coached Porter Ridge Pirates on Friday, Sept. 16.
“It was just a proud moment,” Bruce said of that fall day at Clemson. “To say 18 years (before that game) you were fighting for your life, now you’re playing the greatest game ever played.”
When Blair and his twin brother, Justin, were born, they were two-and-a-half months premature, and things initially looked bleak for Blair.
“I remember the doctor came in that night when they were born and said, ‘Coach, you look awful. Go home,” Bruce recalled. “He said, ‘At least you got one.’”
Heartbroken, Bruce reluctantly left the hospital but was back in the morning.
“(Blair) was still in that incubator,” Bruce said. “I went there and put my finger in that little incubator, and he battled all day.
“Everything – I mean my finger, my arm – went to sleep, but I wasn’t going to leave.”
So when Blair took the field against Clemson in 2000, Bruce took a rare opportunity to stop being Blair’s coach, as he’d been for four years while at the helm of Kannapolis A.L. Brown High.
“I took those fingers off (the play charts) and just became a dad for a minute or two,” he said.
Today, with Blair coaching just a few miles from his father, the matchup seems logical. But in actuality, Friday’s game is a matter of happenstance rather than a planned event. As both teams were putting together their schedules this summer, they each had an open slot they needed to fill for Sept. 16. Given the current state of financial affairs, neither team was looking to travel a great distance just to fill its schedules. Blair called Bruce to see if he knew of any contacts that were looking for a game.
Shortly before that, then-Providence Day athletics director Barbara Fricke noticed both teams had an open date and approached Bruce about scheduling the Pirates. Bruce said he never would’ve pitched the idea himself. He’d consider it poking his nose in Blair’s career, which he is vehemently against.
But he wasn’t going to back down from the challenge if someone else brought it up.
So when Blair brought up the idea, Bruce agreed.
“It was good because I wanted to find a good, well-coached team who was going to help us get better, and it worked out perfectly,” Blair said.
The concept wasn’t new to Blair; he’d faced his twin brother twice when Justin was the coach at Southern Carolina 3A/4A conference rival Weddington before taking the job as offensive coordinator at Rock Hill South Pointe this summer. (And, for the record, each brother won one game in the series.)
But after the relief of filling his 2011 schedule subsided, reality set in for Blair.
“I was like, ‘What am I getting myself into?’” Blair said with a laugh. “I knew (the Chargers) were good. I was like, ‘Well, if you’re going to get your butt beat, it might as well be by your dad.’
“I’ve always wanted to coach with him, not against him.”
Not that they would go back on the agreement, but both said the idea is a little easier to swallow since both are at the helm of strong teams. Providence Day (2-0) is the No. 7 team in South Charlotte Weekly’s Super 7 rankings, while Porter Ridge is No. 1 in the newspaper’s sister publication, Union County Weekly.
“You look forward to facing good coaches and good competition because it only makes you better,” Blair said.
“I wouldn’t hesitate to play anyone with the work ethic our players have shown,” said Bruce. “I have confidence that he’ll get his football team ready.”
Though the two have never met on the field, Blair knows exactly what Bruce’s Providence Day squad will bring to the gridiron Friday night.
“The biggest thing is you’re facing a tough, smart, well-coached team, and they’re going to come after you and you’ve got to be ready,” said Blair. “One thing Dad’s great about is adjusting and attacking your weaknesses and tendencies, and you might not even know them.”
But Blair said he continues to learn about the job his father has done in his 45 years of coaching since first taking over his own team in 2008. Blair said every Thursday and Friday, parents, opposing coaches, even the referees, approach him with stories of his father, which can be awe-inspiring.
“I guess you don’t really get an appreciation until you’re in the profession yourself, and then you see how many coaches and friends and teachers and administrators he impacted over 45 years,” Blair said. “It’s amazing. It’s tough to put into words.”
And to his credit, Bruce hasn’t lost an iota of the fire that made him such a good instructor four decades ago, said Blair, down to his hands-on approach of teaching the game.
“He could play for me,” Blair said. “I’d start his butt in a heartbeat. I’d put him at fullback. He’ll hit you in the nose.”
Though Bruce doesn’t have the same experience with Blair’s coaching style, he said he’s noticed some vital traits in his son that are necessary to coaching success, traits that remind him of former Independence coach Tom Knotts.
“I think he had a unique ability to create interest (in the program) and get guys to respond in a particular way to him,” Bruce said. “You admire that, and you like competing against guys like that.”
Perhaps the most easily recognizable quality Blair learned from his dad is the ability to deflect attention from himself in favor of keeping the spotlight on his players. It’s a tactic that’s come in handy the past few weeks as his Porter Ridge team has soared to its unbeaten start, especially last week when his Pirates downed A.L. Brown, the same school where he played – and won a state title – for his father in the late 90s. It’s also been a useful tool this week as his Pirates prepared to face Providence Day.
“It’s a player’s game” is one common mantra, as is taking things “one game at a time”.
Sure, there is truth in his words. But as Bruce explained, the reason he says them is as important as their meaning.
“You have to do that,” Bruce reasoned. “The guys do the work. It’s not how much we know; it’s how much the (players) learn.
“The bottom line is the essence of high school athletics is the high school athlete. That’s what makes it really special.”
So, yes, the game will be decided as much by what the players on the field do as which plays the coaches call. But that doesn’t mean that this is just any other game. Not this week, not as father and son square off on opposing sidelines for the first time in either of their careers. Not with what the game of football has meant to each man.
At this point, lining up against each other is an unavoidable obstacle for two people who have seemingly always been on the same side. But at least it’s football.
“I guess if we’re going to compete, the gridiron is the best place to do it,” said Bruce.

Charlotte Catholic defends athletics, financial aid

(South Charlotte Weekly, April 26, 2012)

by Aaron Garcia

Charlotte Catholic Principal Jerry Healy/SCW file photo

A new wrinkle in the unfolding drama surrounding Charlotte Catholic High School’s athletic department emerged this week, as the school’s financial-aid practices came into question by the N.C. High School Athletic Association, the state’s governing body for public high school sports.
On April 12, six Rowan County schools requested an amendment to the NCHSAA’s constitution that would remove the state’s three non-boarding parochial schools – Charlotte Catholic, Raleigh’s Cardinal Gibbons and Kernersville’s Bishop McGuinness – from the organization because of their lack of territorial boundaries, which allows the schools to draw athletes from larger areas than their public-school counterparts.
Three-fourths of the NCHSAA’s 390 member schools would have to vote in favor of changing the constitution before the Catholic schools could be removed, and all votes were due by noon on April 24.
Charlotte Catholic is expected to learn the results of the voting on May 3, a day after the NCHSAA’s executive board meeting in Chapel Hill. However NCHSAA Executive Director Davis Whitfield said he couldn’t put a timetable on when the results of the financial-aid review would be revealed.
Charlotte Catholic principal Jerry Healy said that after the initial issue surrounding the schools’ participation in the NCHSAA came to light, questions regarding Charlotte Catholic’s financial-aid practices surfaced. Healy said he was notified by the NCHSAA on April 18 that it also would be reviewing the aid awarded to students and, more specific, student-athletes. The investigation would be separate from the April 24 vote.
Healy acknowledged that Charlotte Catholic does award need-based financial aid but added that the process does not originate at the school but rather with an independent, third-party financial evaluator located in Ohio. The results, which are only identified by a serial number specific to the family requesting the aid, are then sent to Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools’ downtown office. Healy said that MACS then notifies the family of financial assistance available.
The process, said Healy, ensures that the school does not give special consideration to student-athletes or any other students because of the confidential nature of the process.
“Once (MACS) gets all the information they need, then they send for us to meet with the families,” said Healy. “But prior to that, we don’t know (anything about the recipient). We don’t know who’s coming, we don’t know if people play sports.”
On its website, the NCHSAA states that “parochial non-boarding schools, in addition to subscribing to the general rules of the NCHSAA, must agree to adhere to the following regulations: (a) an all-male student body shall have its enrollment doubled for classification purposes; (b) a student must have been in attendance for the two most recent semesters before being eligible for athletics; and (c) athletes shall not be given scholarship aid or other financial consideration.”
While the rule might appear cut-and-dried, Healy said the distinction has always been in the fact that the funds awarded to the qualifying students are collected from the Mecklenburg-area Catholic parishes, not the school itself. The process, said Healy, gives the school and its administrators a needed level of separation to remain compliant with the NCHSAA.
“I think that makes a major difference,” said Healy. “That was (former NCHSAA Executive Director) Charlie Adams’ interpretation: As long as the money did not come directly from the school, it was OK. That protects the (NCHSAA) and keeps us from saying, ‘OK, we’re going to give you this because we need you as a football player.’
“I think (the NCHSAA wants) to interpret it as any help given is financial aid,” Healy continued. “We have never interpreted it that way; we’ve always interpreted it as you don’t give scholarships for athletics. That’s been the bottom line, and that’s the whole issue – we do not give scholarships for athletics. Never have, never will.”
Whitfield, the NCHSAA’s current executive director, said the organization is working to better understand Catholic’s situation in relation to how it awards the aid, which could make a big difference in how the NCHSAA rules.
“I don’t know that anything has changed, necessarily,” said Whitfield. “I think what we’re trying to make sure we understand is when we say ‘financial aid.’ exactly what does that mean to these non-boarding parochial schools and try to understand them a little bit better. We’ve asked the schools for some additional information to really dive into the process and provide us with a full accounting of how that’s done, what’s the process and how it’s awarded.
“Aid is aid,” added Whitfield. “Is it monetary aid? Is it some other form of aid that comes in? We’ve got to take a look at those (factors) and then evaluate whether that is just for students, or student-athletes. Is it for everyone? Does that change? How is that interpreted? So, again, we have a lot of facets to look through and understand before we can determine an outcome on this.”
While Whitfield said he anticipates the subject will be a topic of discussion at the NCHSAA’s executive board meeting on May 1, he declined to put a timetable on when a decision could come.
“One of the things we’re finding out is Catholic education and the way it works is really mirrored to even the collegiate setting. When we talk about athletes, I’m not certain we can pinpoint that (the ones affected are) just athletes,” said Whitfield in regard to how the aid is distributed. “We want to make sure we’re fair in this case, so I think that’s why we’re wanting to make sure that we take our time and make sure that we understand their point of view as it relates to this and how it applies to our by-laws to make sure we’re being fair to all parties.”
Several states across the nation allow parochial schools to compete within public-school leagues. Whitfield said the NCHSAA was aware of that and would take it into account in Charlotte Catholic’s case.
“But as we do in most cases, we have to look at what’s best for North Carolina,” Whitfield said. “In some instances, we do look at what other states do and in some situations try to mirror or emulate some of their processes because we think they’re the best for North Carolina. In other cases, we sometimes have that information, but we may go an entirely different route. I would say we do have that information and that will be one thing we discuss.”
Healy said the atmosphere has remained upbeat around the Charlotte Catholic campus and that the parents “have been very good.”
“I think they trust the system, and I think they trust that people will truly recognize who we are and how we conduct ourselves,” said Healy.
Healy, however, feared that roughly two weeks wasn’t enough time for the Catholic schools to adequately plead their case before the May 1 board meeting.
“(The process) has been a pain,” said Healy. “You start (with the boundary complaints), and then you’re defending yourself from something you didn’t do wrong. It’s almost like you’re guilty until proven innocent.”
The principal also is worried about the potential slippery slope that could accompany the school’s financial-aid review. For example, MACS awards a tuition break to families with multiple siblings within the system.
“In the past, the fourth child or more would’ve been free,” said Healy. “Now, how are (NCHSAA officials) going to interpret that? Are they going to start getting involved with how much tuition we can charge and how much we can give?”
Healy also added that while legal action is a possible recourse, depending on the outcome, he is confident Charlotte Catholic has followed the letter of the NCHSAA’s laws.
“I’ve always felt like we were in compliance,” said Healy. “We’ve done everything we’ve been asked to do, and we’ve been aboveboard about everything.”

Warriors = Winners

(Union County Weekly, June 8, 2012)

Weddington uses talent, attitude to win first 3A state championship

by Aaron Garcia

The Weddington Warriors: 2012 Class 3A state baseball champions/Photo courtesy of Dave Collins

As his players rushed the mound and enveloped pitcher Sean Collins, who had just thrown the third and final strike of the Class 3A championship series on June 2, Weddington coach Travis Poole didn’t budge. Instead, he kept one foot on the dugout floor and the other on the top step leading to the field.

“I just watched it take place because I wanted to sit back and watch what they had accomplished,” said Poole. “It was an unbelievable sight. Words can’t really describe it.”

Collins’ strikeout capped a magical run for the Warriors, who claimed the Class 3A title by downing Pikeville Aycock, 4-2, to sweep the best-of-three series at Zebulon’s Five County Stadium.

It’s the first state baseball championship for a Union County team since Forest Hills’ 1997 title, and the first for any Weddington team since 2003.

In the first game of this year’s championship series, the Warriors jumped to a 5-0 lead behind a 3-for-3 effort at the plate from Chris Simpson, who Poole said “was a spark there for us in the lead-off spot all year.”

Weddington pitcher Alex Bostic held Aycock scoreless through six innings with a two-hit, eight-strikeout, eight-walk performance. Closer Daniel Pope ended a late Aycock rally and earned the save in the 5-2 win.

“I think once we got that win (and) the kids got that first game under their belts and some of the jitters and nervousness out of their system, they were able to just go out and play,” said Poole.

Poole, however, admitted he was a little nervous that his players were too relaxed as the team rested in its hotel after the Friday night opening game, especially with the second game of the series beginning at 11 a.m. the following morning.

“You would’ve thought we were at a spring break tournament,” Poole said. “Even Saturday, when we got to the ballpark, they were as loose as they could be.”

Fortunately for Poole, his team’s laid-back nature paid off, especially after the Warriors fell behind 2-0 after two innings. In the third inning, first baseman Jeremy Schellhorn knotted the game with a two-RBI single.

“Next thing you know, we’re right back in it,” said Poole.

Bostic then clubbed a solo shot in the fifth before Schellhorn added another RBI in the seventh to give the Warriors their final 4-2 lead.

Poole said he didn’t find his players’ attitude worrisome because it had been their outlook for years. Poole pointed out that players such as Pope, Nathan Borelli, Conor Newton, Andrew Knight and Payden Honeycutt had played together since they were freshmen and cut their varsity teeth against some of the state’s best competition while members of Charlotte’s ultra-tough Southwestern 4A conference. Throw in players such as juniors Schellhorn and Bostic, and sophomores Daniel Calabretta and Collins, and Poole said he had the perfect championship recipe.

“When you start putting those pieces together with the attitude those kids have, it was unbelievable,” said Poole.

Which, he added, only made the sight of his team celebrating on the pitcher’s mound even more unforgettable.

“When that final strikeout was made, just to be able to stand there and watch that take place was just … it’s ingrained in my mind,” Poole said. “That’ll be something I always see. When I look out, I’ll see that reaction of 17 kids as excited as they can be.

“To accomplish what they did, as a coach, is probably the most gratifying thing I can think of.”

Cierra the Great
(Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly, posted 2/18/11)