Government Shutdown Puts North Carolina High School on Pause

Lejeune is the only Department of Defense high school in North Carolina

The United States Capitol Visitors Center closed on the first day of the federal government shutdown on Oct. 1, 2025. / Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While many around the country are impacted by the government shutdown that went into effect recently, you would not expect that it could caused problems for high school athletics.

That would be incorrect, as one North Carolina high school is now on pause for all of its fall sports.

Lejeune High School is located on the base at Camp Lejeune, and just as they were to start preparing for upcoming postseasons in multiple sports, they are now sitting on the sidelines.

According to a report by High School OT, all sports are on a pause during the government shutdown following the failure of a budget agreement in the U.S. Congress. The Department of Defense’s education activity website includes a contingency plan where schools remain in session, but this “does not include sports (including practices) and extracurricular activities” proceeding as planned during the shutdown.

College service schools such as Army, Navy and Air Force previously moved athletic department into nonprofit entities to remain active during such an event, which last happened in 2018-19. 

Lejeune has Several Top Athletic Programs Now Sitting on the Sidelines

Lejeune has some of the top fall athletic programs in North Carolina, as the boys cross country team has won back-to-back Class 1A state championships, and are the favorites to win the 2A title this year. The boys soccer squad is 8-0-1 on the year and ranked.

The volleyball team is projected to qualify for the postseason while the football team sits at 0-6.

They moved up a planned Friday game to earlier this week to avoid the shutdown, falling to Northside-Pinetown, 48-0. They are currently scheduled to play host to East Carteret on October 10.

Regular seasons in North Carolina for girls tennis ends on October 9 while volleyball ends on October 15. Boys soccer wraps up on October 30 and football a day later. 

There is a vote scheduled to end the government shutdown on Friday in the Senate.