The Burlington School finds new league
By Conor O’Neill Burlington Times-News
Being the smallest and the only Class 1-A school in the Triad Athletic Conference hurt The Burlington School in more sports than those that thrived, so the school is moving into a league that will better fit its enrollment.
The Burlington School is moving into the newly formed Mid-Carolina Conference, which also includes Cresset Christian School, Crossroads Christian School, Grace Christian School, Lee Christian School and Neuse Christian Academy. All of those schools fall in the Class 1-A designation of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association.
“It adds a little bit more travel for us,” The Burlington School athletics director Ron Johnson said Wednesday. “But we felt like in a lot of sports we just didn’t match up, and a lot of it had to do with numbers.”
Enrollment at The Burlington School figures to land between 90-100 high school students when school begins next month, Johnson said. The dividing line between Class 1-A and 2-A schools in the NCISAA is 135.
The Burlington School has been immediately successful in boys’ basketball, which Johnson coaches, winning the Class 1-A state championship in two of the last three seasons. The Spartans lost one league game in four seasons, winning 14 games by an average of 45.4 points against Triad Athletic Conference teams last season.
The girls’ basketball program has reached the state semifinal round in two of the last three seasons, and the boys’ golf program has carried over success from what was The Elon School. But the Spartans have struggled against larger schools in boys’ and girls’ soccer and volleyball.
“Just have some other sports that really need to have the opportunity to … play against other sports similar to us in size,” Johnson said.
Johnson and former Neuse Christian athletics director and boys’ basketball coach Scottie Richardson initiated the process to form the new conference, reaching out to schools first, settling on the six, and then seeking approval from the NCISAA to form the league. Richardson has since left his post to enter into private business.
Being in a league with six schools will help The Burlington School from a scheduling angle. The Triad Athletic Conference varied in some sports from year-to-year, but for the sports offered at The Burlington School, the leagues were mostly seven- or eight-team leagues.
“When I got here, I thought we’d grow into a 2-A. … We have not gotten there, and I think some of our sports have suffered,” Johnson said. “With this you’ve got kind of a built-in 10 1-A games, and it gives you the flexibility to play non-conference games.”
Most of the Triad Athletic Conference schools are in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, along with Burlington Christian Academy and Westchester Country Day School (High Point). The locations for the Mid-Carolina Conference are Sanford (Lee Christian and Grace Christian), Raleigh (Neuse Christian), Durham (Cresset Christian) and Henderson (Crossroads Christian).
Discussions started last fall at The Burlington School to weigh the benefits and deterrents of changing leagues, factoring in travel costs and established rivalries.
“It was tough, because you build up these rivalries … even though in certain sports we have not been competitive, parents get familiar with each other, kids get familiar with one another,” Johnson said. “It was tough to leave, but I think in the long run hope it will be better for us.”
Lee Christian, Grace Christian, Neuse Christian and Cresset Christian come into the new league from the NCISAA’s Carolina Christian Conference. Crossroads Christian is leaving the Carolina Independent Conference, also an NCISAA league.
By Conor O’Neill Burlington Times-News
Being the smallest and the only Class 1-A school in the Triad Athletic Conference hurt The Burlington School in more sports than those that thrived, so the school is moving into a league that will better fit its enrollment.
The Burlington School is moving into the newly formed Mid-Carolina Conference, which also includes Cresset Christian School, Crossroads Christian School, Grace Christian School, Lee Christian School and Neuse Christian Academy. All of those schools fall in the Class 1-A designation of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association.
“It adds a little bit more travel for us,” The Burlington School athletics director Ron Johnson said Wednesday. “But we felt like in a lot of sports we just didn’t match up, and a lot of it had to do with numbers.”
Enrollment at The Burlington School figures to land between 90-100 high school students when school begins next month, Johnson said. The dividing line between Class 1-A and 2-A schools in the NCISAA is 135.
The Burlington School has been immediately successful in boys’ basketball, which Johnson coaches, winning the Class 1-A state championship in two of the last three seasons. The Spartans lost one league game in four seasons, winning 14 games by an average of 45.4 points against Triad Athletic Conference teams last season.
The girls’ basketball program has reached the state semifinal round in two of the last three seasons, and the boys’ golf program has carried over success from what was The Elon School. But the Spartans have struggled against larger schools in boys’ and girls’ soccer and volleyball.
“Just have some other sports that really need to have the opportunity to … play against other sports similar to us in size,” Johnson said.
Johnson and former Neuse Christian athletics director and boys’ basketball coach Scottie Richardson initiated the process to form the new conference, reaching out to schools first, settling on the six, and then seeking approval from the NCISAA to form the league. Richardson has since left his post to enter into private business.
Being in a league with six schools will help The Burlington School from a scheduling angle. The Triad Athletic Conference varied in some sports from year-to-year, but for the sports offered at The Burlington School, the leagues were mostly seven- or eight-team leagues.
“When I got here, I thought we’d grow into a 2-A. … We have not gotten there, and I think some of our sports have suffered,” Johnson said. “With this you’ve got kind of a built-in 10 1-A games, and it gives you the flexibility to play non-conference games.”
Most of the Triad Athletic Conference schools are in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, along with Burlington Christian Academy and Westchester Country Day School (High Point). The locations for the Mid-Carolina Conference are Sanford (Lee Christian and Grace Christian), Raleigh (Neuse Christian), Durham (Cresset Christian) and Henderson (Crossroads Christian).
Discussions started last fall at The Burlington School to weigh the benefits and deterrents of changing leagues, factoring in travel costs and established rivalries.
“It was tough, because you build up these rivalries … even though in certain sports we have not been competitive, parents get familiar with each other, kids get familiar with one another,” Johnson said. “It was tough to leave, but I think in the long run hope it will be better for us.”
Lee Christian, Grace Christian, Neuse Christian and Cresset Christian come into the new league from the NCISAA’s Carolina Christian Conference. Crossroads Christian is leaving the Carolina Independent Conference, also an NCISAA league.
