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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-Sept. 21, 2004
Contact: John Johnson or Andy Frushour
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING , Mich. – Sept. 21 – With new overall records set in three girls sports and ice hockey, attendance at post-season tournaments sponsored by the Michigan High School Athletic Association remained strong during the 2003-04 school year.

The total attendance for the year of 1,587,490 was down slightly from the previously year's figure of 1,593,827, but was still the fourth highest overall attendance on record. The girls tournament figure of 372,998 was the third highest of all time. Attendance is kept for all sports except golf, skiing and tennis, where admission is typically not charged.

Three girls sports – competitive cheer, soccer and volleyball – set multiple attendance records during 2003-04, and ice hockey was the only boys sport to record new marks. Competitive cheer had a Regional attendance figure of 7,226, a Final figure of 5,272, and an overall mark of 12,498 for new records in all three categories. The Finals figure is the highest of all girls tournaments, with the exception of basketball.

Soccer had records at the District (12,135) and Semifinal (3,768) levels of its girls tournament, en route to a new record of 27,787 for that series. In volleyball, the District attendance of 27,251 and Regional count of 11,520 set marks – leading to a new overall tournament record of 51,035, the first time that tournament has broke the 50,000 barrier.

Ice hockey's Regional turnstile count of 48,752 shattered the previous high of 40,201 in the 2001-02 school year, and the overall tournament attendance figure of 68,317 blew away the old record of 59,039 in 2001-02.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,500 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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