Concord High School (North Carolina)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Concord High School

Established	1924
School type	public school
Principal	Carla Black
Location	Concord, N.C.
Enrollment	1,200
Athletic Conference	South Piedmont 3A
Colors	Gold, black
Nickname	Spiders
Rival School	Kannapolis
Homepage	Official Site

Concord High School is a comprehensive public high school in Concord, North Carolina. Open since 1924, it is the oldest high school in Cabarrus County. It became a part of Cabarrus County Schools in 1983 when Concord City Schools merged with the county school system.

[edit] History

The Concord City Schools began operation in 1891. Concord High School (CHS) began operation prior to 1914 in downtown Concord. The original building was located at the site of the present Coltrane-Webb Elementary School. In 1924, a new high school building was authorized and constructed. This building, with a large ornate auditorium (Sauvain Auditorium) would serve as Concord High for 43 years. It later become Concord Junior High School (after 1967), and is now the site of the Glenn Alternative Center for Cabarrus County Schools. A fire partially destroyed the building in 1937 and parts of the school had to be totally rebuilt. Concord High moved to its current location in northeast Concord in 1967. Two major additions have been made to that building in the nearly four decades since.

[edit] Athletics

Concord High's athletic teams are known as the Spiders. The nickname, unique to N.C. high schools, came from the athletic field at the old Concord High School (1924-1967), which was named after Principal and schools superintendent A.S. Webb. Concord football and baseball teams played at Webb Field throughout this timeframe.

After competing in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association from 1924-1929 (winning a state football title in 1929 in one of the first football games played at the new Kenan Memorial Stadium at UNC-Chapel Hill), Concord High became a charter member of the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association (WNCHSAA) and participated in this sports association from 1930-1976, when it merged with the larger NCHSAA. Concord also won a WNCHSAA football title in 1935. Since 1977, Concord High is a 3A (AAA) member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association and competes in the South Piedmont Conference (SPC). The South Piedmont Conference dates back to the 1940's and the WNCHSAA, and Concord High is the only high school to have never played in another athletic conference.

The school sponsors interscholastic football, volleyball, tennis (boys and girls), cross country (boys and girls), basketball (boys and girls), wrestling, swimming (boys and girls), baseball, softball, golf, track and field (boys and girls), and soccer (boys and girls).

Concord's football team is notable throughout central North Carolina partly due to its role as one half of the State's longest-running high school football rivalry with A.L. Brown High School in neighboring Kannapolis. This "Battle for the Bell" began in 1930, and has been played each year since that time. Since 1950, the victor of the game has been awarded a mounted Southern Railway train bell that is painted in the colors of both high schools. The annual football game has long been a tradition in the area and is among the state's most highly-attended single high school sports events, regularly drawing crowds of 10,000-plus.

The Spider football team won their first state championship in football since the 1929 and 1935 titles in 2004 with a 27-0 victory over Hunt High School of Wilson in the 3A championship game played at Wake Forest's Groves Stadium.

Concord's men's basketball program, which has a rich tradition of excellence dating back to the late 80's/early 90's, has also regained its winning edge, finishing as the runners-up in the 2006 AAA state basketball tournament, after losing 79-75 to Greensboro Dudley. Concord's football team beat Western Alamance in a 35-28 overtime thriller for their second state championship in three years.

This year the Concord's men's basketball team has made its second return to the state 3A championship game, making this back-to-back years for the Spiders. The Spiders won their game and brought home a state championship, defeating Kinston High School 85-79. This win secured a state championship in both basketball and football in the same academic school-year, giving the Spiders the honor of being the first 3A team to ever win both championships in the same school year.