As many of you know by now, we did not prevail in our appeal of the final draft of the proposed conference realignment that kept us in our current split 2A/3A WNC Athletic Conference. Dr. McDaris and I both spoke at a hearing with the NC High School Athletic Association on Tuesday about the impact of their decision-making process and what we believed were procedural errors that occurred in the process. We pointed out that our school would be a better fit in the Western Highlands 1A/2A conference and our county athletic director, Mr. Justice, talked to the committee about the positive communication that we've done with all of the various schools impacted by our proposal. I believe that the state association did not display true leadership and chose a path of least resistance in finalizing the realignment in this way. Both of the previous drafts released were better for our students but did call for some much-needed change in our region. However, we know that people are often disturbed by change and we wound up with "just leave it the same." Very disappointing for sure.

This is no doubt a loss for us and the decision is final--there is no further appeal that we can file.  Much like any heartbreaking loss you have experienced as a coach with your students, after it's over...it's over. It's time to move on now. The best way for us to move forward is for us all to work together to build and maintain a solid and competitive athletics program in every single sport. Turning this loss into a positive is a good parallel lesson for us to bring to our students. It would be easy to make excuses or dwell on something being unfair, but that is simply not productive and such negativity will only bring on more negativity. We tried our best and did a good job this morning but we lost. Nevertheless, all of us here at BHS will continue to do our best for our student athletes moving forward and we'll do so in a positive way. I also know that we will work hard and that we will always be competitive in our conference--regardless of how much larger than us the other schools happen to be.

 We have quite a bit to be thankful for here at BHS; we have a great athletics program and school community. If we stay positive, take pride in our school, and get others (including our student athletes and POTENTIAL STUDENT ATHLETES) to do the same; we will be a force to be reckoned with for sure. Blue Devil Pride: Past, Present, and Future.

Sincerely,
Jeremy R. Gibbs, Principal