High school athletics as it is today may become a distinct memory with shrinking budgets.

Recently, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association asked for its 361 member schools to consider a voluntary reduction in the number of games teams play in the regular season.

Charlie Adams, the executive director of the NCHSAA, formed a committee to meet this month to examine the possibility of trimming the number of teams which receive playoff berths in every sport except football and basketball.

The Florida High School Athletic Association did the NCHSAA one better and cut the number of games its members could play by 20 percent in all sports except football.

The cost of running an athletics program is skyrocketing, while the money to run them is being cut.

In New Hanover County, athletics directors in that district are dealing with a 10 percent cut from their overall budget. Among the ideas being floated to help trim costs are decreasing the coaching supplements and cutting athletic directors’ pay.

In other counties, like Forsyth, athletic directors there are being forced to return to the classroom to teach like their brethren in Mecklenburg.

As school boards across the state try to compensate for lower tax revenues and fewer dollars from the state, the athletic programs at the high school to middle school will ultimately be affected, no matter how “sports-friendly” the board may be.

Tough decisions are being made in regards to teachers and their future across the state.

Tod Morgan, the head basketball coach at Chapel Hill High School, was recently informed he will lose his Physical Education teaching position. He was completing his first year at the school but has 12 years experience teaching in the state.

Morgan is not the only coach possibly heading to the unemployment line.

Murphy High’s David Gentry continued working on a year-to-year contract as the school’s athletic director, football coach and physical education teacher since qualifying for retirement in 2005. Gentry needs just 17 victories to grab the record for the most career wins in Western North Carolina.

But with budget cuts looming on the horizon, the district is unable to guarantee it will be able to bring employees like Gentry back.

The troubles going on across the state will eventually strike Richmond County. The sea around is too rough to be able to sail right through without taking on a large wave or two.

There has been some great foresight done by the Richmond Senior High School administration. A good number of the coaches have their commercial driver’s license and are able to drive their teams to games. Having this plan in place has saved the district thousands of dollars a year.

This may not be the golden age of high school athletics, but it is shaping the way we will see it in the future.