When a new high school opens, the public usually sees the finished product: new uniforms, facilities, teams, and an identity. What they do not always see is everything required to get there.
When a new high school opens, the public usually sees the finished product: new uniforms, facilities, teams, and an identity.
What they do not always see is everything required to get there.
For Felton Grove High School athletic director Joe Sharrow, opening a brand new high school in Wake County meant building an athletic department almost entirely from scratch.
No traditions to inherit, no established coaching staff, and no long history of policies, routines, or expectations. Instead, Sharrow had the rare opportunity to decide what the program would look like from the beginning.
“You have to kind of have a vision for every single part of the athletic program,” Sharrow said.
That opportunity came with plenty of challenges.
Sharrow was hired in February 2025 while still serving as athletic director at Jordan High School in neighboring Durham County. For several months, he handled responsibilities for both schools, working on Felton Grove in the mornings and at night, while continuing to oversee athletics at Jordan during the school day.
Then came what he described as the longest summer of his life.
Felton Grove’s teams began summer workouts before the school building was available. On some days, nine teams were practicing at eight different locations across the area.
Sharrow spent the summer traveling between sites in Apex, Holly Springs, and other communities. His garage and home office became storage areas for Felton Grove equipment, while his dining room functioned as a makeshift athletic department office.
Despite the workload, Sharrow had long wanted the opportunity to open a school. He described it as “the most fun we never wanna have again.”
Starting from scratch also let him build a culture without having to overcome years of “we’ve always done it this way.”
That meant hiring coaches who wanted to build something new, creating traditions, developing policies, and finding ways to make Felton Grove athletics something students and families wanted to be part of.
But building an athletic program also requires money.
Sharrow estimates it can take roughly $400,000 per year to operate a large high school athletic department at a high level. Ticket sales and school funding alone don't cover everything, so fundraising, sponsorships, and other revenue sources become essential.
“We’re all kinda just keeping our head above water and surviving,” Sharrow said.
That made community partnerships especially important for Felton Grove.
A new school does not have years of attendance figures or an established fan base to show potential sponsors. It has to build those relationships while it is building everything else.
Sharrow started within the school community, identifying families and business owners willing to support the new program. He also went directly into the broader Apex business community.
At one point, Sharrow walked through Downtown Apex looking for businesses with signs indicating they already supported other local high school athletic departments. He introduced himself as the athletic director at the new school and asked to speak with managers about becoming involved with Felton Grove.
“We raised a lot of money that day,” Sharrow said.
Those relationships have become part of Felton Grove’s foundation.
Sharrow said successful fundraising is not about using the same approach everywhere. He has worked in Vance County, Durham, and now Wake County, and each community has required something different.
The key, he said, is understanding what a community can support and being transparent about why it's needed.
For businesses, that can mean more than putting a logo on a sign. It can mean providing the resources students need for a better experience, which connects that business to something positive happening in their community.
“We really need this to get by,” Sharrow said. “We need this to operate at a level that makes this community proud — and you’re part of this community.”
Felton Grove is now in its second year, and Sharrow’s focus has shifted from simply launching the program to building something that lasts.
Championships are part of the goal, but so are strong coaching, student experiences, financial stability, and a culture the community is proud to support.
A new school may begin with a blank sheet of paper, but building everything that fills that page takes much more than one athletic director. It takes coaches, students, families, and community partners willing to invest in something before it has had time to build a history.
That same challenge exists across public school athletics.
National Amateur Sports works with school districts to help protect what they have built, enhance the experience for students and communities, and develop responsible new ways to monetize athletic programs and generate the resources they need.
For businesses, that creates opportunities to support public school athletics while building meaningful connections with the communities they serve. For school districts, it can provide additional expertise, technology, partnerships, and revenue strategies designed specifically for the changing landscape of school sports.
Businesses interested in supporting public school athletics, and school districts interested in learning more about how NAS can help, can visit NASAthletics.com to learn more.
