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The guest speaker for our upcoming meeting will be Brad Allen, NFL Football referee. A native of Lumberton, North Carolina (and a graduate of UNC-Pembroke), Allen began officiating football games at the high school, and later, ACC, levels. When he made his NFL officiating debut in 2014, he was originally going to be an umpire, but when long-time referee Mike Carey announced his retirement on June 24, 2014, Allen was given the referee position instead; this was the first time since 1962 that an NFL official in his first year of officiating was given that honor (Tommy Bell was the last NFL official to do so).

Allen’s 2015 NFL officiating crew consisted of umpire Fred Bryan, head linesman Jim Mello, line judge Tom Symonette, field judge Doug Rosenbaum, side judge Tom Hill, and back judge Shawn Hochuli, son of senior NFL referee Ed Hochuli.

Outside of officiating NFL games, Allen is the President and Executive Director of the North Carolina Senior Games.

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Mark Your Calendars

8/3/16 – Joe Breschi, Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach, UNC
8/17/16 – Special Guest Speaker
9/7/16 – Special Guest Speaker

The guest speaker for our upcoming meeting will be Jared Sandberg, Manager of the Durham Bulls. Sandberg is in his second season with the Bulls, after spending the previous seven seasons as a coach and manager at four different levels of the Rays’ organization. He is just the fourth manager in the triple-A history of the Bulls.

The 37-year-old Sandberg managed the Advanced-A Charlotte Stone Crabs prior to coming to the Bulls. He managed Single-A Bowling Green the year before after spending three seasons at short-season Class A Hudson Valley. He made his managerial debut with the rookie-level Princeton Rays in 2009 after one year as a coach at Hudson Valley in 2008.

Prior to his time on the bench, Sandberg spent parts of three seasons from 2001-03 primarily as a third baseman for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays hitting .221 with 25 home runs in 196 games. He played parts of five seasons with the Bulls (2000-04).

Sandberg, the nephew of Hall of Famer and current Philadelphia Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg, was selected by Tampa Bay in the 16th round of the 1996 draft. He is still the franchise’s all-time minor-league leader in home runs (113), RBI (473 and runs (417).

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Mark Your Calendars

7/20/16 – Brad Allen, NFL Referee
8/3/16 – Special Guest Speaker
8/17/16 – Special Guest Speaker

The guest speaker for our upcoming meeting will be Billy Lee, Special Assistant to the Head Coach/Director of Video Services/Scouting for UNC Women’s Basketball.

A 1969 graduate of Mount Olive College, Lee was an assistant coach at East Carolina for two seasons before taking the head job at Pembroke State (now UNC Pembroke) in 1978. During his time in Lumberton, Lee won three conference titles, advanced to the NAIA National Tournament and posted back-to-back 20-win seasons.

In 1985, Lee took over as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Campbell University, where he led the Camels for 18 seasons. A five-time conference coach of the year, Lee guided Campbell to the 1992 Big South Conference title and a bid to the NCAA Tournament, where his team faced eventual national champion Duke. In addition to winning over 400 games in his career, Lee was the director the Campbell University Basketball School, considered to be the largest and oldest of its kind in the United States.

In addition to his work on the sidelines, Lee has authored two books on basketball strategy. Lee has also been part of a number of organizations including the USA Basketball committee, the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Amateur Sports Association, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the Board of Advisors for the NC High School Athletic Association and the National Speakers Association. In 2009, Lee was inducted into the Mount Olive College Athletics Hall of Fame.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

6/1/16 – “Scholar-Athlete Awards Night” (5:30pm start time) – Scottie Montgomery, Head Football Coach, East Carolina University will be keynote speaker
6/15/16 – “Blunt-Bradshaw Legends Award” Presentation
7/6/16 – Jared Sandberg, Manager, Durham Bulls

The guest speaker for our upcoming meeting will be Jim Koerner, Head Baseball Coach at North Carolina Central University. Koerner came to NCCU in 2011 from the University at Buffalo, where he was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

During the 2015 season the Eagles were once again in the hunt for a division title, and featured one of the best pitching staffs in NCCU’s modern era. The team kept the second-lowest earned run average (4.55) and second-lowest opposing batting average (.286) in the program’s modern history.

In 2014, Koerner and the Eagles were right in the thick of the MEAC’s Southern Division race throughout the entire season, putting together one of the best season’s offensively since the program restarted. NCCU recorded 454 hits, the second-most since 2007, and ripped a Division I high 22 home runs, along with the most doubles in the modern era of the program (75). New standards were set in the 2013 campaign for Koerner and his program as the Eagles set a new modern era record with 27 wins overtaking the 21 victories collected in the 2007 season, the only year NCCU played at the NCAA Division II level. Despite finishing third in the Southern Division and dropping its opening round matchup against Norfolk State in the 2013 MEAC Baseball Championships, the Eagles recovered to win two of the next three to advance all the way to semifinals as one of the four remaining teams left in the tournament, going 2-2 during the week.

He received his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1997 from St. John Fisher College (N.Y.), and a master’s degree in athletic administration from Marshall University. Koerner and his wife, Kylie, have two children, Sam and Elizabeth.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

5/18/16 – Billy Lee, UNC Women’s Basketball, Special Assistant to Coach Sylvia Hatchell
6/1/16 – “Scholar-Athlete Awards Night” (5:30pm start time)
6/15/16 – Special Guest Speaker

The guest speaker for our upcoming meeting will be David Cutcliffe, Head Football Coach at Duke University. Cutcliffe is 48-53 (.475) in eight seasons at Duke and owns an overall head coaching ledger of 92-82 (.529). His 2015 squad continued the elevation of the program as it captured eight wins, marking the first time in school history the Blue Devils have posted three consecutive seasons with eight-plus victories. In addition, the season capped the most successful three-year stretch in Duke history with 27 wins while the Blue Devils earned a berth in an unprecedented fourth straight bowl game last winter, defeating Indiana, 44-41 in overtime, in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.

Duke’s fan support has increased since Cutcliffe took the helm of the football program. In his first season, Duke set a school single-season record with four home crowds of 30,000 or more spectators. Eighteen of Duke’s 47 home dates in the Cutcliffe Era have reached 30,000 fans — compared to just four of the previous 47 home games prior to his arrival.

In addition to guiding the Blue Devil gridiron program, Cutcliffe serves on the American Football Coaches Association’s Board of Trustees.

Cutcliffe is married to the former Karen Oran of Harriman, Tenn., and they have four children (Chris, Marcus, Katie [Kolls] & Emily), one daughter-in-law (Molly), one son-in-law (Chris Kolls) and four grandsons (Shivers, Bennett, Oliver & Campbell).

Thanks, www.GoDuke.com!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

4/20/16 – NO MEETING
4/24/16 – Durham Sports Club’s “Night Out With the Bulls”
5/4/16 – Jim Koerner, Head Baseball Coach, North Carolina Central University
5/9/16 – Durham Sports Club Golf Outing

The guest speaker for our upcoming meeting will be Dave Odom,

In his 12 seasons(1989–2001) as head coach at Wake Forest, Odom compiled a record of 240-132, making him the second-highest winning coach in Wake Forest history, as well as the second highest winning percentage in school history. During this time, Wake Forest earned 7 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship.  Odom was named ACC coach of the year in 1991, 1994 and 1995, and he led his team to consecutive ACC Championships in 1995 and 1996.

During his tenure at South Carolina, his team earned one NCAA tournament bid, and made three appearances in the NIT, winning the championship in 2005 and 2006. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2004. On January 2, 2008, Odom coached his 400th collegiate victory as a head coach. Later that month, on January 18, he announced that he would retire at the end of the 2007-2008 basketball season, his seventh at South Carolina. He coached his final game for USC on March 14, 2008, in the SEC tournament.

With the 2016 NCAA tournament coming up, this promises to be a very timely and informative meeting.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

4/6/16 – David Cutcliffe, Head Football Coach, Duke University
4/20/16 – NO MEETING
4/24/16 – Durham Sports Club’s “Night Out With the Bulls”

The guest speaker for our next meeting will be John Clougherty, the Director of Basketball Officials for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clougherty, who served as an NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Official for 30 years, was named the ACC Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officials in June 2005. During his tenure on the court, he officiated 26 consecutive NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments as well as 12 Final Fours, including four NCAA Championship Games. Clougherty has received the James Naismith Official of the Year, the NIT Officials Award as well as inclusion into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

As the ACC Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officials, Clougherty has overseen the expansion of the men’s basketball officiating staff, the management of all evaluations and ratings, and numerous training and educational opportunities to promote the recruitment and development of ACC Men’s Basketball Officials.

Clougherty and his wife, Dorothy, have three sons (Tim, Patrick and Conor) and six grandchildren.

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Mark Your Calendar

3/16/16 – Dave Odom, NCAA Basketball Expert
4/6/16 – Special Guest Speaker
4/20/16 – Special Guest Speaker

The guest speaker for our next meeting will be Luke DeCock, Sports Columnist for the News and Observer. DeCock has been with the News and Observer since 2000, serving as a beat reporter for the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL until 2008, at which time he became a columnist. He has earned multiple awards for sports columns, feature writing and coverage from the North Carolina Press Association, and multiple awards for game stories and news stories from the Professional Hockey Writers Association. DeCock has also been in the national top-10 for sports columns and feature writing by the Associated Press Sports Editors.

Prior to joining the News & Observer, DeCock was the Colorado College hockey beat writer, General-assignment sports writer, and sports copy editor/page designer for The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

He also served as a General-assignment sports writer for the Appeal-Democrat newspaper in Yuba City, California, where he won first place for sports stories by the California Newspaper Publishers Association in 1996, and his story “A Matter of Heart” was listed in The Best American Sports Writing in 1997.
DeCock is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mark Your Calendar

3/2/16 – Special Guest Speaker
3/16/16 – Dave Odom, NCAA Basketball Expert
4/6/16 – Special Guest Speaker

The guest speaker for our next meeting will be Elliott Avent, Head Baseball Coach at North Carolina State University. In 18 years as head baseball coach at NC State, Avent has molded the Wolfpack into one of the nation’s best and most consistent programs. Starting with his hiring in 1996, he has taken the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament in 13 of the last 18 seasons, and 10 of the last 12. Avent captured both ACC and National Coach of the Year honors in 2003.

The 2014 NC State baseball squad saw seven players taken in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, tied for the third-most all-time at NC State. Carlos Rodon and Trea Turner became the Wolfpack’s first-ever three-time All-Americans and gave State a pair of first round picks for the first time in program history. Andrew Knizner earned Freshman All-America honors and a spot on the All-ACC third team. Brett Austin joined Turner and Rodon on the All-ACC first team.

In 2013, the Wolfpack returned to Omaha for the College World Series for the first time since 1968, and the second time in program history. Avent was named the 2013 ABCA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for his efforts.

In his NC State career, Avent has amassed 681 career victories, produced 21 All-Americans, and six of the eight first-team All-Americans in NC State’s 107-year baseball tradition.

Mark Your Calendar

2/17/16 – Special Guest Speaker
3/2/16 – Special Guest Speaker
3/16/16 – Dave Odom, NCAA Basketball Expert

The guest speaker for our next meeting will be Lee Pace, sideline reporter for UNC football games and a golf historian who has written numerous books about golf. He has written 10 books and hundreds of articles about golf. Four of the books focus on Pinehurst.

Pace, who has been a writer since 1987, decided early in his career that he wanted to write about one of his loves – golf. That desire led him to Pinehurst, where he wrote his first book just as it was reassuming a prominent spot in the world of golf.
Pat Corso, then president and CEO of Pinehurst Resort, knew Pinehurst needed to tell its story before it hosted the PGA Tour Championship in 1991. He called on Pace, who wrote a 320-page coffee table book called “Pinehurst Stories.”

Pace wrote “Pinehurst Stories, Vol. II” in 1999, the year Pinehurst hosted the U.S. Open for the first time. In 2004, just before the resort was host to its second U.S. Open, Pace wrote “The Spirit of Pinehurst.”

Pace’s latest book, “The Golden Age of Pinehurst – The Story of the Rebirth of No. 2,” focuses on the 2010-12 restoration project of Pinehurst’s No. 2 Course.

Pace also has written a book about Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club and a biography of former Pinehurst Director of Golf and PGA President Don Padgett.

Mark Your Calendar

2/3/16 – Elliott Avent, Head Baseball Coach, North Carolina State University
2/17/16 – Special Guest Speaker
3/2/16 – Special Guest Speaker