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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-January 9, 2004
Contact: John Johnson, Randy Allen or Andy Frushour
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Jan. 9 –A day of educational opportunities for new officials will again precede this year’s Women In Sports Leadership Conference, sponsored by the Michigan High School Athletic Association, the first weekend in February.

On January 31, the day before the general conference opens, the MHSAA will conduct its annual TWO-DAE clinic. TWO-DAE, an acronym for Trained Women Officials – Dedicated, Accomplished, Educated -- is a day-long workshop designed to assist new female officials and females interested in becoming registered high school game officials, learn the tools of this avocation. TWO-DAE will feature the six-hour Rookie Official Training Program intended to help participants understand officiating mechanics, study basic rules, explore the psychology of officiating and review the elements of professionalism in officiating. The cost of the TWO-DAE clinic is $30, and provides participants with a “Registration Voucher” toward registration in one sport for the 2004-05 registration year, plus continental breakfast, lunch and a gift. Last year, 36 individuals participated in this program.

Advance registration is required for TWO-DAE. The deadline is January 23. For more information about pre-conference activities, contact the MHSAA at 1661 Ramblewood Drive, East Lansing, MI 48823. Telephone: 517/332-5046. E-Mail: [email protected].

Northern Illinois University Athletics Director, Cary Groth, headlines the major speakers for the 15th annual Women In Sports Leadership Conference, which will take place at the Sheraton Lansing Hotel, February 1-2. Groth will deliver the opening keynote address to coincide with the theme of this year’s conference, “Make it Happen,” on February 1.

Also on the agenda for this year’s conference is Donna Grant, principal at Summit High School in Mansfield, Texas, who will speak at the February 2 morning general session breakfast. Jody Brylinsky from Western Michigan University will emcee the Sunday evening awards banquet, and the always popular Student Leadership Workshop sessions will be led by Jackson Community College’s Mary Belknap on Sunday.

As in past years, registration for the nation’s first and longest-running program of its type is limited to 400. (NOTE – Media registration is complimentary – A copy of the WISL brochure can be viewed on the MHSAA Web Site.)

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,200 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.

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NOTE – A brochure about the TWO-DAE program is available on the MHSAA Web Site.

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