By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Eastern Alamance senior Makayla Thompson is more than just a valuable member of various sports teams at her high school. She also has a position on the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s student-athlete advisory council.
“I definitely wanted to represent the sports here at Eastern,” Thompson said.
Thompson is a forward for the girls’ basketball team and a thrower for the girls’ track and field team.
The student-athlete advisory council is designed to serve as a bridge between athletes and sport administrators. The NCHSAA’s aim for the program, which includes 22 students, is to enhance the experience for students participating in athletics.
In Thompson’s role, she has been involved in both virtual and in-person meetings. She said she’ll be involved in community projects and student-athlete clinics. Some functions will be connected to state championship events.
“We’re trying to do more stuff,” she said.
Thompson was a speaker at September’s NCHSAA regional meeting at the Greensboro Coliseum. She joins Winston-Salem Reynolds junior Alice Neelon and Seaforth junior Kyle Stinson representing Region 5 on the advisory council.
Thompson lives in the new Southeast Alamance district, but as a Class of 2024 member she chose the option to remain at Eastern Alamance. She is a tutor for elementary, middle, and high school students and a youth usher at Patillo Congregational Christian Church in Haw River.
As a junior, Thompson’s basketball accolades included selection as an all-conference member in the Central 3-A Conference and a spot on the all-tournament team for Eastern Alamance’s Holiday Hoopla tournament.
Thompson said she became interested in the advisory council upon encouragement from her mother, Michelle Thompson, an assistant principal at Hawfields Middle School.
