Rally Champs 'Survive' Fun-Filled Forest
August 19, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As one of Michigan’s top high school swimming sprinters, Fenton senior Gabbi Haaraoja no doubt was in strong shape to start this summer.
But she and her Tigers teammates made sure to prepare for this month’s preseason “survival trip” with plenty of miles running and yards swimming a local lake.
All that training paid off during three days and two nights at Pigeon River Country State Forest near Vanderbilt as the team prepared for last week’s first day of practice and a run at a 10th-consecutive league championship.
And the Tigers have kicked off the title effort by being named winners of the MHSAA’s inaugural Prep Rally, a contest that was part of the MHSAA’s PLAY (Preparation Lasts All Year) initiative to encourage athletes to remain active during the offseason so they are prepared physically and acclimated to warm weather when practice begins in the fall.
“Being out in nature, it’s really pretty there. You appreciate it more,” Haaraoja said, then adding some tongue-in-cheek. “It definitely was fun. But it was a lot more work than what we were used to. I think I’m actually glad I’m a senior.”
Athletes from Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett and Beal City also were finalists. Participating athletes from Fenton’s girls swimming and diving team will receive tickets to an MHSAA Final of their choice, where they will be recognized for their achievement.
Fenton has taken similar training trips heading into all 14 seasons under coach Brad Jones. Others have included activities like canoeing and dune climbing, The last four years, the team journeyed to El Cortez Beach Resort in Oscoda for some time on Lake Huron together before practice began.
This season’s seniors asked to do something new. And it was a new experience for many in more ways than one.
The team left Aug. 11 and returned home two days later in time for the first day of practice. Jones took north 24 athletes, and some had never camped or slept outside. Six seniors made their fourth preseason trip with the team – but for 12 freshmen, this was their first experience as high schoolers.
That team demographic made this summer’s trip especially important for bonding. But it also had a desired effect physically – both heading into this fall and in setting preparation expectations for the future.
Pigeon River Country has 67 miles of trails, and the team hiked four or more miles between camp sites each day – making this the most physically taxing of the trips any of the Tigers had been on to start swimming and diving season.
“We were very up front that in August we’re taking this trip, and you need to be able to go 6-7 miles walking. We put that out there early on,” Jones said. “We have pretty good girls doing what they’re needing to do outside of (swimming) training. (But) we were pretty up front that you don’t put your backpack on and your hiking shoes on for the first time in August.”
Haaraoja said the hikes made it obvious quickly who had prepped during the summer and who needed to catch up. Seniors rotated throughout the line of teammates, so those who began a hike leading the group finished at the back with those working harder to keep in step.
Once in the woods, Jones split his athletes into four teams for a series of challenges that included building their own fires, cooking their own meals (they didn’t receive food until the fire was started) and breaking camp the next day. One trail ran past a small lake, and the athletes swam across it in a relay to earn more points. Another relay-type event involved filling buckets with water.
The challenge champions received ice cream.
“By the time we get home, everybody knows everybody else,” Jones said. “Once we get into training, the top girls are in one lane and the beginners are in another. So there’s not a lot of interaction. But this gives the whole team a chance to get to know each other.”
That’s the part Haaraoja said she’ll remember most fondly, while also appreciating the edge the added physical activity of the summer prep and trip should give the team this fall and in years to come.
“For the underclassmen, they realized where they should be at the beginning of the season next year so they don’t come into it completely out of shape,” Haaraoja said. “It helped our underclassmen learn what our goals were. They know what they’re working for.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Fenton's girls swimming and diving athletes take a moment for a photo during their three-day "survival trip." (Middle) The Tigers take a quick lunch break during a hike at Pigeon River Country State Forest. (Below) The Fenton athletes pose for one more photo wearing their "survivor" T-shirts. (Photos courtesy of Fenton coach Brad Jones.)
Participation Stays Above Enrollment Dip
July 13, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Enrollment in Michigan High School Athletic Association member high schools continued a trend of slight declines in 2016-17, but participation in sports held firm as records were set in three of the 28 sports for which postseason tournaments are sponsored by the MHSAA.
A total of 283,625 participants competed in MHSAA-sponsored sports this past school year, down 0.21 percent from 2015-16. However, this year’s decrease falls in line with a decrease in enrollment at member schools of 0.40 percent. The overall MHSAA participation totals count students once for each sport in which they participate, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
Despite a drop in girls enrollment of 0.60 percent in 2016-17, girls participation increased for the second straight school year to 119,937 participants, an increase of 0.55 percent. Boys overall participation fell 0.76 percent to 163,688 participants, slightly sharper than the drop in boys enrollment of 0.21 percent for the school year. However, eight girls sports and eight boys sports saw increases in participation in 2016-17.
Boys and girls lacrosse continued their record-setting climb, boys lacrosse with 5,114 participants to increase 3.3 percent from 2015-16 and break its record set in 2013-14. Girls lacrosse saw 2,814 participants, an increase of 1.4 percent from the previous year, to continue its streak of setting a participation record every season since becoming a sponsored tournament sport in 2005. Boys cross country also set a record for the second straight season, this time with an increase of 1.7 percent to 9,415 participants total.
Good news also came from girls basketball, which ended a string of 10 straight declines in participation with an increase of 2.2 percent in 2016-17 – those 15,896 participants were the most in the sport since 2013-14. The largest percentage increases by far in 2016-17 were seen in boys and girls skiing, which were up 16.4 and 14.4 percent, respectively, with 837 boys participants and 746 girls after both experienced decreases in participation the school year before.
A number of other sports also saw increases on both the boys and girls’ sides: swimming & diving saw a 5.2 percent increase for boys and 4.1 increase for girls, track & field saw a 2.4 percent increase for girls and 1.9 percent increase for boys, girls cross country joined its boys counterpart with a 1.0 percent increase in participation, and tennis saw a 2.8 percent increase for girls and 0.48 increase for boys. That boys tennis increase ended a string of seven straight years of declining participation.
Other sports to see increases in 2016-17 were girls golf, increasing for the second straight season, this time 2.9 percent to 3,561 participants; boys ice hockey, up 1.8 percent to 3,411 participants; and boys soccer up 0.38 percent to 14,630 participants.
Also of note in this year’s survey:
• The increase in participation for 16 sports during 2016-17 was compared to an increase in 15 sports for 2015-16 and only eight sports in 2014-15.
• After a significant slowing in participation decline in football over the previous three years, 2016-17 saw a decline of 4.6 percent, or 1,805 participants from 2015-16. The number of school-sponsored football programs remained consistent over the last two years – there were 642 in 2015-16 and 640 in 2016-17 (up from 630 in 2014-15). But there was a shift of programs from 11-player to 8-player; there were 15 fewer 11-player programs in 2016-17 than the year before, but 13 more 8-player programs.
• Of the 12 MHSAA sports that saw participation declines in 2016-17, three were by mere hundredths of a percent. Boys wrestling saw a decline of three participants total, girls gymnastics had two fewer participants and boys golf participation decreased by one person.
The participation figures are gathered annually from MHSAA member schools to submit to the National Federation of State High School Associations for compiling of its national participation survey. Results of Michigan surveys from the 2000-01 school year to present may be viewed by clicking here.
The following chart shows participation figures for the 2016-17 school year from MHSAA member schools for sports in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament:
|
BOYS |
GIRLS |
|||
SPORT |
SCHOOLS (A) |
PARTICIPANTS |
SCHOOLS (A) |
PARTICIPANTS (B) |
|
Baseball |
635/656/6 |
17,989 |
- |
0/9 |
|
Basketball |
722/735/1 |
21,263 |
690/725 |
15,896/4 |
|
Bowling |
363/381/10 |
3,792 |
341/369 |
2,926/24 |
|
Competitive Cheer |
- |
- |
334/349 |
6,720 |
|
Cross Country |
618/649/0 |
9,415 |
609/646 |
8,489 |
|
Football - 11 player |
580/592/87 |
36,460 |
- |
0/111 |
|
- 8-player |
60/61/11 |
1,130 |
- |
14 |
|
Golf |
496/526/59 |
6,170 |
329/342 |
3,561/100 |
|
Gymnastics |
- |
- |
72/88 |
636 |
|
Ice Hockey |
233/257/14 |
3,397 |
|
0/14 |
|
Lacrosse |
147/153/3 |
5,110 |
107/107 |
2,814/4 |
|
Skiing |
92/102/3 |
830 |
89/103 |
746/7 |
|
Soccer |
481/499/23 |
14,541 |
459/483 |
13,212/89 |
|
Softball |
- |
- |
616/646 |
13,641 |
|
Swimming & Diving |
243/274/12 |
4,919 |
256/283 |
5,600/60 |
|
Tennis |
293/309/9 |
6,085 |
327/341 |
8,920/21 |
|
Track & Field |
655/683/0 |
23,232 |
648/681 |
17,009/0 |
|
Volleyball |
- |
- |
704/720 |
19,067 |
|
Wrestling |
459/483/159 |
9,355 |
- |
0/2 |
(A) The first number is the number of schools reporting sponsorship on the Sports Participation Survey. The second number indicates schools sponsoring the sport including primary and secondary schools in cooperative programs as of May 22, 2017. The third number indicates the number of schools that had girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys.
(B) The second number indicates the number of additional g