His sister, Dr. Jane Fields, is assistant superintendent of Cumberland County Schools. Brother Scott Barbour is a baseball coach and helps out with football at Hope Mills Middle School.
Sister Laura Bailey is married to Richard Bailey, Scotland High School head football coach, and works as principal at Scotland High School.
But Barbour, who takes over later this month when current student activities director David Culbreth retires, points to his late father Brad Barbour as the main reason for his interest in athletic administration.
The baseball field at Douglas Byrd High School is named in the elder Barbour’s memory after he spent countless hours there manicuring it to perfection.
The elder Barbour also coached baseball at Byrd, and Chad spent a lot of time with him and with other coaches.
“My biggest role models were coaches,’’ he said. “That’s kind of what led me to being an athletic director.’’
A graduate of Douglas Byrd and Fayetteville State with a masters degree from UNC-Pembroke, Barbour briefly taught and coached at Jack Britt and Douglas Byrd early in his career before moving into athletic administration.
“I think athletics is the way you build lifelong relationships with students,’’ he said. “The one thing I want to say is I’m following some really great folks.’’
He learned a lot of the ropes of the job when he worked as South View athletic director under the leadership of another former AD, the late Brian Edkins, who was South View principal at the time.
But Barbour said he had a number of mentors, included former county athletic directors Vernon Aldridge and Culbreth.
He said his initial goal is to build on the foundation created by county athletic director legends like Fred McDaniel and the late Bill Carver.
“It’s a big step in being an AD,’’ he said. “Sometimes you’re one of the most visible people in the school. I want to be able to help them put their best foot forward. I want to be able to help them (high school AD’s) to navigate the process and do things the right way.’’
Because of his upbringing with his dad, Barbour said facility upkeep will be a priority with him. “I think every kid deserves a first-class facility to be able to play on,’’ he said.
He’s also concerned about equity among schools and helping those with less than successful programs to find ways to meet their budgeting needs. “It’s tough to be an AD at some of these schools not producing ticket revenue,’’ he said. “They still have the same needs as the other schools but not the means to be able to get it.’’
Barbour has been away from hands-on involvement with sports since 2020 when he left South View to become principal of Cumberland Polytechnic High School.
While the school has no athletic teams, its athletes play for other schools and Barbour said he was a regular at many of their games.
“I stay engrossed in athletics because I think it’s one thing that keeps kids in school,’’ he said.
***
Dr. Karissa Niehoff, chief executive officer of the National Federation of State High School Associations, penned a disturbing column this week about a Fox Sports plan to increase live television coverage of college football on Friday nights.
For some time ESPN has been encroaching on the Holy Grail of Friday night high school football with its prime time telecasts of games.
Now according to the Niehoff column, Fox is looking to air games featuring teams from the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences.
My former sports editor Doug Mead has frequently told me that I need to give up this crusade against Friday night college football on television, saying the ship has sailed and it’s a fruitless gesture.
He’s probably right. But I’m not going to keep talking about what a horrible injustice it is, that the college football coaches who thrive on plucking the best high school talent from rosters across the nation to build their teams are party to draining the life blood of high school sports.
People who sit at home and watch college games on Friday night aren’t buying a ticket to a high school game or a bag of popcorn and a soft drink from the concession stand.
That hurts the total sports program because high school football money is used to pay for athletic expenses in all sports.
I’m a proud voice in the wilderness fighting against this disrespect of the game that I love, and I will continue doing it as long as I can talk and type.
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