Built By Sports

Everyone in the stands has an opinion about the referee. But what does the game look like from the other side of the whistle?

Steve Schwartz joins Nick Stevens on Built By Sports to share lessons from 37 years officiating high school basketball in North Carolina. From losing sleep over missed calls to removing a booster club president for berating an official, Schwartz offers an honest look at the preparation, pressure, and people behind the decisions.

We discuss what parents should understand about officiating, where passionate cheering crosses the line, how schools can support officials, and what it takes to recruit and retain the people who make school sports possible.

Built By Sports is a production of National Amateur Sports. Learn more at NASAthletics.com.

Subscribe to the Built By Sports podcast on all major podcast platforms.

Middle school athletics can be one of the first places students find a team, build connections to their school, and discover a sport they may play for years.

But as school districts face budget challenges and the cost of private and club sports keeps rising, protecting those opportunities is becoming increasingly important.

On this episode of Built By Sports, Nick Stevens talks with Julie Cochran, Director of Sports and Middle Schools for the NFHS, about the NFHS's new Case for Middle School Involvement and Student Participation.

They discuss:

• Why the NFHS is investing more resources in the middle school space
• Why middle school sports can be vulnerable when budgets get tight
• How middle school programs build the pipeline into high school athletics
• Why athletics can function as a “third classroom”
• The connection between participation, belonging, and student well-being
• How the rising cost of club sports creates barriers for families
• What schools need to expand middle school opportunities
• The challenges involving coaches, officials, funding, and administration
• What Julie hopes middle school athletics will look like in the years ahead

Built By Sports explores the people, ideas, partnerships and innovations shaping public school athletics.

Learn more about National Amateur Sports at NASAthletics.com.

Read the NFHS Case for Middle School Involvement & Student Participation: https://nfhs.org/resources/sports/case-for-middle-school-involvement-and-student-participation

What does it actually take to build a high school athletic department from the ground up?

In this episode of Built By Sports, Nick Stevens sits down with Felton Grove High School athletic director Joe Sharrow to talk about the challenges, opportunities and lessons that came with opening one of Wake County’s newest high schools.

Sharrow shares what happened behind the scenes before Felton Grove ever hosted its first game — from hiring an entire coaching staff and ordering equipment to managing summer workouts at multiple locations before the school building was even available.

The conversation also explores the changing role of the modern athletic director, the importance of creating a strong culture and memorable student experience, and why community partnerships are critical to the future of public school athletics.

Sharrow explains why operating a large high school athletic program can require hundreds of thousands of dollars each year and how relationships with local businesses, sponsors and the broader community helped Felton Grove establish its foundation.

Felton Grove is part of the Wake County Public School System, a partner of National Amateur Sports. NAS works with public school districts to protect their athletic assets, enhance the student and fan experience, and responsibly monetize new opportunities that can generate resources for school athletics.

Learn more about National Amateur Sports at NASAthletics.com.

Public school athletics create enormous value for students, families, and communities, but the programs themselves are often underfunded, and their most valuable assets are fragmented across individual schools, teams, and facilities.

In the inaugural episode of Built By Sports, host Nick Stevens sits down with National Amateur Sports founder and CEO James Shipley to discuss how the threat of eliminating middle school sports in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools helped inspire the creation of NAS more than 15 years ago.

Shipley explains what it means to protect, enhance, and monetize the assets surrounding public school athletics. The conversation covers districtwide partnerships, sponsorships, funding inequities, technology, ticketing, live streaming, media rights, student-produced content, and the importance of keeping more revenue within school communities.

He also shares why businesses should view public school sports as a valuable marketing investment, how districts can create stronger and more connected athletic programs, and what success could mean for the next generation of student-athletes.

Get more information at https://www.nasathletics.com.