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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 1998
Contact: John Johnson or Mike Clifford 517.332.5046

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The vision of an up-to-the-minute database of high school sports information for Michigan schools becomes a reality this week with the official launch of the Amateur Sports Network on the Internet.

The Amateur Sports Network is a Troy based corporation in which high schools, at no financial obligation, may participate by contributing information to the site and taking part in a variety of fund-raising programs. ASN became a Michigan High School Athletic Association corporate partner over the summer, and will provide the association with web site hosting and e-mail services.

ASN will provide current information about school sports teams, including rosters, schedules and results. The program also promotes student involvement through the creation of Student Sports Information Directors, who will be responsible for providing ASN with schedules, statistics and scores on all athletic teams at their schools. Results sent to ASN by SSID's will be posted to the Internet within minutes, and conference standings would be instantaneously updated.

The ASN site is expected to be up and running for the first full weekend of the football season, which begins on Friday. The web site address for scores and standings is www.asn.net. As of September 1, a total of 150 schools had committed to take part in the program. More schools are expected to join in the future.

ASN will also be a resource for health and safety information related to high school sports. Other features will include, in the future, a password-protected environment for schools to obtain officials information.

The fundraising programs available through ASN include Internet connection services, sponsor advertising, sporting goods catalog sales and on-line auctions. Participating member schools will receive a portion of the proceeds through these programs, and the MHSAA will also direct a portion of the revenues towards sportsmanship or other educational campaigns.

"One of the greatest features of the ASN-MHSAA partnership is the ability of ASN to provide schools, the media and the public, with up-to-the-minute results of high school sporting events," said John Johnson, MHSAA communications director. "In the digital age, people want their information faster than ever, and with the cooperation of member schools, ASN can be the avenue through which information about high school sports can be obtained."

The MHSAA will also serve as the standards board for ASN, directing the tone and the content of the web site in a manner that is consistent with the mission of educational athletics.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 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 conducted in 12 sports for girls and 12 sports for boys which attract approximately 1.3 million spectators each year.