Triangle Football Officials Association Are Against HB91
The Triangle Football Officials Association (TFOA) is a group of over 250 dedicated men and
women with a passion for officiating. We officiate high school football in the greater Triangle
area (including Wake, Durham, Orange, Harnett, Johnston, Franklin, Vance, Granville, Moore,
Person, Sampson, and Warren Counties).
We function as independent contractors governed by the North Carolina High School Athletic
Association (NCHSAA), and we adamantly oppose the legislation currently moving through the
General Assembly referred to as HB91.
The NCHSAA has always operated with the highest ethical standards. Its 108 year history
evidences the finest tradition of acting in the best interest of high school sports and student-athletes.
This standard is unparalleled across the country and our experience as NCHSAAapproved officials bears witness.
One of the NCHSAA’s duties is to provide officials across the state the framework with which to
manage games, players, coaches, and schools fairly and equitably, while supporting our positive
relationships with high school athletics and North Carolina’s 400 plus member schools. This
relationship, developed over decades, has been instrumental in our officiating being seen as a
gold standard throughout the United States.
The NCHSAA—though not without room for improvement—has managed the State’s high
school officiating program judiciously throughout its history and in our opinion HB91 will act as
a detriment to this program. The proposed legislation will negatively impact the retention of
current officials and may create an additional burden on attracting the next generation of
officials so badly needed in all sports. Simply put, you cannot play high school sports without
officials.
Despite the proposal that educator and coaches comprise the Committee, its members would
be answerable to the politicians who nominate them rather than the high schools and school
districts they currently represent. This will negatively affect high school athletics making
politics, not the best interests of student-athletes, the primary consideration.
We believe this decision will end high school athletics as we know it in North Carolina and will
adversely impact the ranks of officials who support high school student-athletes.
The undersigned members of the Triangle Football Officials Association (TFOA) fully support the NCHSAA
G Steve McNeill, TFOA, Regional Supervisor
gsmcneill@me.com
TFOA members in support:
Oscar Pace, Jimmie Massengill, Scott Wetzel, Lyn Roberts, Don Johnson, Ken
Tyndall, Alan Rigsbee, Battle Whitley, John Critcher, Justin Ford, Bennie Odham,
Ron Nicely, Richard Millner, Gary Wiley, Eddie Pendergrass, Mike Chalk, Chris
Andrews, Mike Thompson, Keith Johnson, Mark Barbour, Deran Coe, Travis
Keith, Mike Joyner, Sean Delaney, Chris Summerlin, Joe Wolozyn, Brooks
Matthews, Jimmy Williams, Greg German, Justin Brown, Richard Wood, Michael
Owen, James Lawson, Robert Ziemba, Darren Deese, Bent Boykin, Max Carter,
Gerald Bagley, Greg Hayes, Sam Allen, Michael Sachs, Joe Mydosh, Nick
Rummage, Keith Stephens, Michael Utley, Evan Sauer, Dustin Champion, Lewis
Jackson, Donald Bryant, Rodney Clapp, Ben Strunk, Michael Thomas, Sean
Cherry, Melvin Gray, Travis Foster, Dennis Andrews, Robert Hemingway, John
Smith, Richard Platia, Steven Jolley, Mike Honkomp, Brandon Kaput, Jeremy
Hicks, Derek Nunn, Michael Williams, Mike Stevens, Marc Phillips, Bob
Vaughan, Marcus Jimison, Matthew Rollins, Jeff Corbett Todd Murray, Steve
Shelton, Marc Waterloo, William Harrison, Todd Blackburn, Jackie Rhodes,
Raymond Fuller, Solomon Ricks, Bart Tyler, Robert Nichols, Horace Graham,
John Holmes, Tim Blum, Jeff Faulkner, Tommy Fallin, Ron McCuddy, Samuel
Hershey, Matt Thompson, Roger Olmstead, Michael Wallace, John Quiggle,
Ryan Dawson, Ken Hall, Jerome Blue, James Ewing, Edward Rabil, Scott
Burkhardt, Kennedy Gentry, Dustin Champion, Eric Hopkins, Billy Vick, David
Strickland, Joe Lapp, Sam Fasola, Jimmy Barbour, Scott Plaster, Vernon
McGrew, Lewis Jackson, Jackie Rhodes, David Kennedy, Robert Zimmers,
Donald Rosenbaum, Scott Boykin, Rick Tate, Anthony Hill, Austin Merritt, Derek
Smith, Larry Stringfellow, Mike Germino, Otis Tucker, Kevin Lassiter, David
Sauer, Guy Zahn, Danny Dorman.