2023 honorary chair: BRETT WEATHERSBEE

Game Operations Minutia, Meeting People Keep this Honorary Chair Coming Back Year-After-Year 

The HAECO Invitational honorary chair is a person that made a significant commitment to the HAECO Invitational or the Greensboro Sports Council over the years. Brett Weathersbee has that covered. She joined the Council in 2013, chaired the HAECO Invitational in 2016 and ’17, served as Sports Council president in 2021 and remains on the board of directors. But what sets her apart from most is her continued commitment to the HAECO Invitational. Tournament chairs come and go, but those who remain a part of tournament operations long after they chaired provide much needed institutional knowledge of how this prestigious event operates. We caught up with Brett on a break from preparing for this year’s tournament.

Q: Why did you join the Sports Council in 2013?

A: From the time I was little, I always loved sports. I was born right after my parents graduated from N.C. State –State basketball and football games were part of my life. When I was little, my grandparents took me to Atlanta for a week every summer to see baseball games. I inherited my Dad’s love of sports, but I did not inherit his athletic ability. When I was in middle school, I played a couple years of J.V. basketball and ran track, but I was horrible at all of it. I learned very quickly that I could get involved in sports by keeping the basketball book at the scorer’s table or keeping the stat sheet for the track team. I could still get out of school early, go to all the events and hang out with all my friends who were athletic. I liked that behind-the-scenes stuff. I wasn’t really involved in sports all through college, but we moved to Greensboro in 2007 around when my Dad joined the Sports Council. We worked in the same office. I watched what he was doing – the HAECO Invitational, serving as a team host for NC State. I was seeing all that and after a few years, I knew I wanted to do those things, too.

Q: What were the first GSC things you enjoyed doing?

A: The first two things I got involved in were courtesy transportation at the Wyndham Championship and the HAECO Invitational. Right after the 2013 HAECO Invitational, Worth Holleman asked me if I’d like to keep the HAECO Invitational sponsorship spreadsheet. I’d watched my Dad struggle with that for a few years, but I wanted to get involved. I did that until I co-chaired the tournament in 2016 and ’17. I also got involved as a team host for ACC events along the way.

Q: What about this tournament keeps you coming back?

A: There’s just something about this event. When you put so much into something, you have a vested interest in its success. One of my favorite parts is going to HAECO with the teams that played in the championship games and seeing some kids that have never been on a plane see one up close for the first time. I like experiencing that with them. And I still like the behind-the-scenes stuff. Seeing everything that goes into the event – all the things nobody thinks about like people at the scorer’s table, stats people, official dressing rooms. I like all the minutia – it’s kind of like a puzzle. It’s the kind of thing I like to do. I enjoy thinking about things other people might not think about. That’s why I’ve always liked proof-reading. It’s not that I’m trying to think about things people forgot; I just like going through, in my mind, and asking, ‘Have we covered everything? Have we thought of everything?’

I like all the people I get to meet being part of this team. I’ve met so many people through sports I wouldn’t have met otherwise – like people at the ACC, for example.  I hosted the Notre Dame women’s golf team for a long time and got to know their equipment manager; she’d been at Notre Dame for like 25 years. When NC State played Notre Dame in football, our family went. I reached out to her, and we ended up tailgating together. She took us on an incredible tour – which was far better than the game, but that’s a great example of something that wouldn’t have happened without the Sports Council.

Q: Professionally, you’re an attorney, but you also work with the family business?

A: I went to Davidson undergraduate and got a masters in international business at the University of South Carolina. Then I went to law school at Vanderbilt University and practiced in corporate law for a while in Columbia, S.C. When we relocated to Greensboro in 2007, I went to work with my parents. At the time we had five Steak ‘n Shake restaurants, and Steak ‘N Shake used to be a tournament partner with the halftime shootouts I think until COVID. We operate two restaurants now – one on Wendover Ave. and one in Greenville, S.C.  

On behalf of everyone associated with the Greensboro Sports Council and the HAECO Invitational, thanks, Brett!!

tournament honorary chairpersons