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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -October 20, 1998
Contact: John Johnson or Mike Clifford 517.332.5046

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Oct. 20 - To enhance the atmosphere of selected tournament finals, the Michigan High School Athletic Association will launch a series of youth clinics beginning in 1999, with the first such clinic to be conducted at its Lower Peninsula Girls Volleyball Finals on March 20, 1999.

The working title for the program is the CHAMPS Clinic. CHAMPS (Cooperation, Hard Work, Attitude, Motivation, Participation, Sportsmanship) Clinics will target junior high/middle school-aged students and their parents in a two-hour workshop designed to provide game skills and life skills information. The CHAMPS Clinics are free, and are underwritten by Farm Bureau Insurance and the United Dairy Industry of Michigan.

Approximately 150 youngsters and their parents from the greater Kalamazoo area are scheduled to take part in the inaugural CHAMPS Clinic, utilizing University Arena and its adjacent recreational facilities the morning of the Lower Peninsula Girls Volleyball Finals.

"The concept behind the CHAMPS Clinics is to provide young people, who have had a taste of a sport, additional training in fundamental skills in that activity, and the realization that game skills are really a small portion of what's needed for life," said John E. "Jack" Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. "The fact that the young people involved, and their parents, will hear information about academics, sportsmanship, teamwork, and what may lie ahead after playing a sport in high school, will make this a truly educational experience for all involved."

CHAMPS Clinic participants and their parents will also be guests of the MHSAA for the Lower Peninsula Girls Volleyball Finals later that day, and the participating youngsters will be recognized during one of the championship matches.

Roberts added that expansion of the CHAMPS Clinic series to other MHSAA Finals will be based on its inaugural program this March. Former Kalamazoo Central Athletic Director Blake Hagman, who also serves as the tournament manager for the Lower Peninsula Girls Volleyball Finals, is coordinating the first CHAMPS Clinic. Additional information about the CHAMPS Clinic series will be announced at a future date.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 public, private and parochial high schools and junior high/middle schools. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which does not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools may participate in MHSAA tournaments conducted in 12 sports for girls and 12 sports for boys which attract approximately 1.3 million spectators each year.