Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics
Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 30, 2006 School Classifications Announced For 2006-07 School Year EAST LANSING, Mich. – March 30 – Classifications for Michigan High School Athletic Association elections and post-season tournaments in traditionally classified sports (A, B, C, D) for the 2006-07 school year have been announced, and the enrollment breaks for post-season tournaments set up by divisions will be announced soon on the MHSAA Web site. Classifications for the upcoming school year are based on a second semester count date, which for MHSAA purposes was February 22. The enrollment figure submitted for athletic classification purposes may be different from the count submitted for school aid purposes, as it does not include students ineligible for athletic competition because they reached their 19th birthday prior to Sept. 1 of the current school year and will not include alternative education students if none are allowed athletic eligibility by the local school district. After all the counts are submitted, the 760 tournament-qualified member schools are ranked according to enrollment, and then split as closely into quarters as possible. For 2006-07, there are 190 schools in each class. Effective with the 2006-07 school year, schools with 1,053 or more students are in Class A in MHSAA competition. The enrollment limits for Class B are 508 to 1,052; Class C is 245 to 507; and schools with enrollments of 244 and under are Class D. The break decreased 5 students between Classes A and B; increased 12 students between Classes B and C; and the break between Classes C and D decreased by 5 students. The new classification breaks will see 19 schools move up in class for 2006-07, while 11 schools will move down. Schools were recently notified of their classification. MHSAA Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts said that schools may not subsequently lower their enrollment figure. However, if revised enrollment figures should be higher and indicate that a school should be playing in a higher class, that school would be moved up. Schools have the option to play at any higher classification for a minimum of two years, but must exercise the option by April 15 for fall sports, August 15 for winter sports, and October 15 for spring sports. MHSAA tournament sports conducted in traditional classifications for 2006-07 are Basketball, Bowling, Girls Competitive Cheer, Girls Gymnastics, Skiing and Girls Volleyball. Football will use traditional classifications to determine playoff points. Sports which will compete in nearly equal divisions are: Baseball, Cross Country, Golf, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Softball, Swimming and Diving, Tennis, Track and Field, and Wrestling. Soccer will have 20 percent of sponsoring schools in Division 4 and the remaining schools divided equally into Divisions 1, 2 and 3. The division breaks 13 of those sports will be announced soon. (Note: Visit the respective sports pages on the MHSAA Web Site to review the divisional alignments.) To provide for greater accuracy, the release of the divisional lists are being delayed until approximately May 15 in five sports (Ice Hockey, Lower Peninsula Girls Golf, Girls Soccer and Lower Peninsula Boys and Girls Swimming and Diving) to reflect changes being made to cooperative programs to bring them into compliance with the 3,500 student enrollment limit that takes full effect in 2006-07. The eight divisions of the MHSAA Football Playoffs will be announced on Selection Sunday, Oct. 22, 2006. A complete list of school enrollments used to determine classifications for the 2006-07 school year can be found on the Administrators page of the MHSAA Web site. The MHSAA Representative Council will again be considering at its May meeting proposals from sports committees in Girls Competitive Cheer, Skiing, Lower Peninsula Swimming & Diving, and Girls Volleyball to either move to divisions or to restructure existing divisions. Votes taken to adopt such proposals could go in effect for the 2006-07 school year. Here is a complete list of the schools changing classification for 2006-07 (Note: This list does not include schools opting up in class/division for tournaments, which can be found on the Administrators page of the MHSAA Web site): Moving Up From Class B To Class A Moving Down From Class A To Class B Moving Up From Class C To Class B Moving Down From Class B To Class C Moving Up From Class D To Class C Moving Down From Class C To Class D New Post-Season Eligible Tournament Schools in 2006-07 Enrollment Breaks By Classes – 2006-07 (Number of schools in parenthesis) The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,800 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- RL06-0464 Farm Bureau Insurance and MEEMIC Insurance are year-round MHSAA Corporate Partners |