Forsyth Technical Community College announced the next phase of its emerging junior college sports program today with the introduction of a new athletics director. The feasibility studies for beginning an athletics program at Forsyth Tech began more than a year ago with community surveys, gauging student interest, and researching peer institutions throughout the region.
President Janet Spriggs says although running 150 programs across 9 campuses is already a daunting task, the benefits of adding athletics to the student experience became clear: increased student engagement, building a sense of community, and providing valuable transferable skills like teamwork and discipline.
"Once we realized all of this and determined through our feasibility study that this was a dream that we could realize, we immediately started to search for the perfect person to lead this exciting and transformative new journey," says Spriggs.
Shelly Barnes will fill the new role as Forsyth Tech Director of Athletics. She is a Randolph County native and a former student-athlete at High Point University. Barnes was an athletic director at Lenoir Community College. She’s also served as assistant director for women’s sports with the National Junior College Athletic Association. She says the next step for Forsyth Tech will be joining NJCAA before determining which sports to pursue at the school. They could be phased in as early as the fall of 2025.