Earl Etheridge

On Sunday, August 10, GAOA's leadership along with Earl Etheridge, GHSA Chairman of Officials, will host a session designed to identify "what's going right and what needs tweaking" to benefit our membership as well as to help improve high school athletics.

GAOA's 2nd Annual Statewide Athletic Officials' Conference is shaping up nicely.

So, Monday afternoon, with the remainder of the game moved to Country Day, 24 players, six coaches, GHSAA region representative Earl Ethridge and three new referees walked into a gym that was closed behind them to keep out everything else usually associated with high school basketball.

That's the scenario Earl Etheridge, a Georgia High School Association executive committee member, had in mind when he convinced the GHSA to allow the tournament to be held in town.

"Every team coming here and their fans will stop on the roads coming into Savannah and spend money for food and gas," he pointed out."They will spend money in our city, and then spend money on the roads leading out of town.

"Sometimes you have to do what's best for everybody, and that means the Savannah schools will stay in AAAAA," said Earl Etheridge, the GHSA's Region 3 representative."Competing statewide?

Earl Etheridge, the GHSA's representative at the tournament, followed Ellis in the news conference and said Goldston would be relieved immediately.
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"Our decision would be to do what the mayor has asked," said Etheridge, who said he would assume Goldston's duties through today's conclusion.