C.B. Aycock High School principal and current NCHSAA board member Tod Morgan spoke at the regional meeting on Tuesday morning, and he expressed his support for the NCHSAA.
Morgan said the legislation is a "personal attack" against Tucker, alluding to the 2019 decision to keep Anson County's football team out of the state playoffs following an on-field fight against Richmond. NCHSAA rules say if three or more players are ejected for fighting, the team is ineligible for the playoffs.
In 2021, Sen. Tom McInnis (R-Moore), who represented Anson County at the time, told HighSchoolOT that decision is what sparked his interest in the NCHSAA. McInnis requested that Tucker and the NCHSAA change their ruling and allow the team in the playoffs, but the association declined. Tucker told HighSchoolOT at the time that she understood if the NCHSAA had changed its ruling, the investigation into the association would not have happened.
Joe Franks, a representative of the N.C. Coaches Association, also spoke in favor of the NCHSAA at the regional meeting on Tuesday.
"The coaches association supports the high school association and believes that the NCHSAA is the best group to run high school athletics in North Carolina," Franks said,
echoing a statement released by the NCCA last week.
Franks said he received a call from a counterpart in Florida on Friday asking what was happening in North Carolina.
"He said, 'Son, they did it to us about seven years ago, welcome to Florida. You tell your group to stand firm,'" Franks said.