Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics
Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Dec. 17, 2008 Reaching Higher Basketball Experience Announced EAST LANSING, Mich. – Dec. 17 – The Michigan High School Athletic Association and the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan will provide for the first time an opportunity for 100 high school girls and 100 high school boys to gather for a day under MHSAA and BCAM supervision to learn what it takes to become a college basketball player and succeed in college life at the Reaching Higher Experience. In separate events for girls at South Lyon High School om April 19 and boys at Brighton High School on April 26, these students, selected by BCAM members, will have classroom sessions, engage in on-court drills and testing, and scrimmage. Classroom sessions will be conducted for parents as well. College coaching staffs will be invited to observe. “This is a day of education,” says MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts, who proposed the idea on a two-year experimental basis to the MHSAA Representative Council and BCAM’s Board of Directors, which both enthusiastically approved the initiative. “The events intend to strengthen the ties between high school players and coaches, to show students and parents how to prepare for college on the court and in the classroom, and to provide college coaches a convenient and inexpensive means for evaluating a large number of players with potential to ‘reach higher.’” April’s events are the first of a multi-phase program intended to encourage an educational orientation for sports participation for high school, middle school and even younger students. As each phase is implemented, it will be evaluated and thereafter adapted for application in other sports. Letters from the MHSAA to head girls and boys basketball coaches of all Association member high schools have already been mailed inviting them to nominate players. In mid-February, 100 girls and 100 boys, plus up to 40 alternates will be identified by BCAM Selection Committee members. The complete timeline follows: December, 2008 -- The MHSAA will mail letters to all head boys and girls basketball coaches of MHSAA member schools. Letters will include information about the nomination process and the nomination form, which will be posted on the MHSAA and BCAM Websites. The BCAM Boys and Girls Selection Committee names will also be posted in the letter and on the websites. Coaches will be encouraged to send DVD highlights or pertinent information to the selection committee coach in their BCAM Region. Coaches will be asked to identify and nominate the top underclass basketball talent in the state (including their own players). Coaches have one month to nominate players; there will be email confirmation by the MHSAA to those coaches. February 2, 2009 -- Nominations are to be sent to the MHSAA office postmarked by this date. Nomination forms will be disbursed to the Reaching Higher Selection Committee by Feb. 6 and each committee member will receive nomination forms for the players in his/her assigned region. February 15, 2009 -- The Reaching Higher Selection Committee will meet to identify the top 100 underclass players in the state. Each BCAM Region will receive one automatic nomination. The Reaching Higher Selection Committee will send a list of selected players to the Michigan High School Athletic Association. The Selection Committee will also identify and rank the top 40 alternate players. February 16, 2009 -- The MHSAA will send out congratulatory letters to the Top 100 players and to the Top 40 alternates. Coaches of each player will also receive letters notifying them that their player was selected. Players will have three weeks (March 9 deadline) to commit to attending the event. The nominees will return biographical information and picture for the printed program and a check to the Michigan High School Athletic Association. The BCAM Selection Committee members will contact the coaches of the Top 100 players from their region and the alternates via telephone. BCAM Selection Committee members will be instructed to report back to the MHSAA on the status of their assigned players. March 2, 2009 -- The MHSAA will follow up with an email/telephone call to each player and their coach, instructing them that they have one week to commit to attending the Reaching Higher Experience. March 9, 2009 -- Biographical information along with the Reaching Higher Experience fee must be turned in by this date (postmarked). March 16, 2008 -- The MHSAA will send letters to the players who have been selected to attend the Reaching Higher Experience. The MHSAA will also return checks to the alternates who were not selected to fill the 100 spots. March 21, 2009 -- The Girls Reaching Higher Selection Committee will meet during the MHSAA Girls Basketball Finals and place the Top 100 female players on ten competitive teams. The information will be sent immediately to the MHSAA office electronically. Player information must be emailed using the online forms provided by the MHSAA. Faxed/mailed/handwritten documents will not be accepted. March 28, 2009 -- The Boys Reaching Higher Selection Committee will meet during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals to place the Top 100 male players on ten competitive teams. The information will be sent immediately to the MHSAA electronically. Player information must be emailed using the online forms provided by the MHSAA. Faxed/mailed/handwritten documents will not be accepted. April 19, 2009 – Girls Reaching Higher Experience at South Lyon HS! The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,600 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year. -0- Farm Bureau Insurance and MEEMIC Insurance are year-round MHSAA Corporate Partners |