Transfer Regulation Preserves Boundaries
December 1, 2015
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
The conversation, speculation and anticipation begin early each July, building to a crescendo on the last day of the month. It’s the Major League Baseball trade deadline, which has come to overshadow the actual games, rendering numerous teams as quitters with more than a third of the season remaining.
Imagine a similar scene affecting not just one sport, but all sports, a month before each school year begins. Marquette is talking to Grand Haven about a left tackle. Port Huron needs a competitive cheer flyer. Detroit Pershing is looking for a point guard.
Why not? With an increasing number of school-of-choice districts statewide, those students with the means to do so could change jerseys each year.
Thankfully, MHSAA member schools agree to be bound by the rules and regulations of the Association, perhaps none more important to the pursuit of athletic equity than Regulation I, Section 9: the Transfer Regulation. Oft-changed, expanded, misinterpreted, and – at times – circumvented, the MHSAA Transfer Regulation attempts to identify and penalize athletically motivated enrollment decisions.
Origins of the rules involving transfers date to 1925, but the continual evolution has been necessitated by the erosion of geographic boundaries which once defined home turf in school sports.
One recent addition to this vital section of the MHSAA Handbook is commonly referred to as the “links” rule for athletic-related transfers, which went into effect prior to the 2014-15 school year.
“If I could summarize a global opinion from the phone calls I take from administrators around the state, it’s this: ‘enough is enough,’” said MHSAA Associate Director Tom Rashid, explaining the impetus for the most recent codicil. He estimates that 75 percent of the multitude of phone and written correspondence he entertains involves transfer issues and waiver requests.
The most recent changes include links from non-school and previous school teams; international student enrollment, and enhanced subvarsity participation. Those components, an overview of the Regulation and expansion to its current breadth and depth, and possible modifications for the future will serve to illustrate the rule’s importance to high school sports in Michigan, keeping the games local and community based, allowing people to root for the home team.
Rule That's Transferred Through the Decades
From the first Constitution of the MHSAA in 1924 through the most recent modifications in the 2015-16 Handbook in which nine pages are dedicated to student transfer issues, a regulation has been in place to govern athletic participation for students changing schools. While exceptions and details have grown, the basic premise has largely stayed the same. In 1924, students changing schools were required to sit one semester prior to participating in athletics, even those returning home from military schools such as Culver Academy in Indiana. Over the years the rule was weakened by allowing the two school principals to make exceptions. As one might imagine, such authority proved too whimsical from situation to situation, and even-handed governance became problematic. Eventually, Michigan’s association of principals asked the MHSAA for a more stringent rule which was adopted in the early 1980s, closely resembling its current form.
“The transfer/residency rule is a legally and historically tested but still imperfect tool to control athletic-motivated transfers and other abuses. It is a net which catches some students it should not, and misses some students that should not be eligible,” said MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts. “This is why all state high school associations have procedures to review individual cases and grant exceptions.”
As the old adage states, “There is an exception to every rule.” Or, in the case of the MHSAA Transfer Regulation, 15 of them, in an attempt to not penalize students who change districts for legitimate circumstances unrelated to athletic participation (See the “Exceptions” inset below).
Perhaps the most oft-used exception of the Transfer Regulation is that which involves full and complete residential changes, in which the “Rule of Four” is then applied. When a student meets the residency requirement, he or she has immediate eligibility at the school of the new residence or closest nonpublic or charter school closest to the new home in drivable roadway miles. The fourth option is eligibility at the former school after the move.
“This ‘Rule of Four’ provides a geographic boundary for nonpublic and charter schools to even the playing field with the public school whose new student-athletes also must abide by a boundary,” Rashid said.
Other exceptions involve more extenuating circumstances, and even one which is not an exception at all in the case of first-time 9th-graders, who are eligible for the first day of activity in any sport at the school in which they enroll. The exceptions fall under three main categories: Residency, School Status and Student Status, as a way of simplifying the rule.
There are many common reasons for changing schools which are not exceptions to the “sit out” period. Among these non-exceptions are “school-of-choice” enrollment after starting the 9th grade, returning to the school of residence after attending as a school-of-choice student, guardianship, being unable to afford tuition, transferring because the former school does not offer a sport or sports, or cancels a sport team. These students are not eligible for approximately one-half the school year.
Rashid conducts in-service meetings around the state each fall, in addition to hosting multiple training sessions at the MHSAA building each year for new athletic directors. Regulation 1, Section 9 receives heavy emphasis, and if attendees have one take-away from each session, it should be this: “When in doubt, sit them out and find out.”
“The energy and efforts of this office to educate administrators on the transfer rule which has become more complicated have helped to insure eligibility for those who qualify,” Rashid said. “There’s no substitute for experience, and our veteran ADs statewide are quite familiar with the rules. We attempt to give the new ADs a basic understanding and encourage them to contact our office for clarification on any issue, at any time. Our darkest days are when ineligible athletes participate and schools are required to forfeit contests.”
When schools believe they have compelling cases, requests for waivers are submitted for review by the MHSAA Executive Committee on a monthly basis. The vast majority of these requests involve the Transfer Regulation, although numbers have been on the decline in recent years. The 2007-08 school year saw 372 waiver requests for the Transfer Regulation hit the MHSAA office, with 275 cases being approved. During 2014-15, 300 such requests were received, and 213 were approved.
The recent decline can be attributed to a number of factors.
“Our Executive Committee does a wonderful job of reviewing and deciding the multitude of waiver requests while maintaining this rule which has existed for some time,” Rashid said. “The minutes of each meeting are public, and schools will often check to see if similar cases have been approved before they go through with a request to MHSAA staff.
“I don’t think there’s been a decrease in students changing schools, but there’s better communication between MHSAA staff and schools pertaining to the rule, which might tend to decrease the number of requests for waiver.”
The apex of waiver requests might have correlated with the number of students who took advantage of Michigan’s school-of-choice landscape as its popularity grew near the turn of the century, which led to a misunderstanding of enrollment versus athletic eligibility.
In 1996, the state of Michigan made it easier for parents to choose their child's school from among those in their own and neighboring public school districts. By 2001 according to the Michigan Department of Education, 283 out of 554 districts were participating in Michigan's state schools-of-choice plan, and, without a doubt, it was the first time many were exposed to the MHSAA’s Transfer Regulation for athletic eligibility.
“Our transfer rule is sometimes difficult for the public to grasp due to school-of-choice laws,” Rashid said. “Often times, the public has school-of-choice mentality regarding enrollment. But there is a difference between enrollment and athletic eligibility. I feel badly for those who move and expect immediate eligibility at the new school without understanding the consequences. School-of-choice legislation both respects and permits MHSAA transfer rule ineligibility.”
In fact, the MHSAA transfer rule provided for choice in athletics well before it was available in Michigan education. Long before school of choice was popularized, the MHSAA transfer rule allowed first-time 9th-graders the choice of attending any school in Michigan which would allow them to enroll, and have immediate athletic eligibility. Subsequent changes in enrollment would result in at least one semester of ineligibility for interscholastic athletics unless the student's circumstances complied with one of the 15 stated exceptions.
“As school-of-choice options were expanded for students' enrollment, it has had no effect on the rules governing athletic eligibility,” said Roberts. “Those introducing and passing the bills did not want the legislation to provide a free pass for more students to change schools for sports, and effectively undermine the intended positive educational purposes of expanded parental choice in public education.”
School of choice is here to stay, certainly. However, according to a recent article in Bridge Magazine, families aren’t always finding the grass greener in neighboring school yards.
According to the story: “In 2012-13 alone, 26,305 students transferred from their home districts to school-of-choice districts (in Michigan, grades K-12). That same school year, 16,138 transferred out of school-of-choice districts, most of whom likely returned to the schools they would attend by residency.”
All of the instability keeps MHSAA member school administrators and MHSAA staff on their collective toes. Societal change continues to keep one of the oldest MHSAA rules at the forefront, and also drives further evolution of the rule.
With school of choice, the instance of a student’s changing schools for athletic reasons has increased and become more difficult to pinpoint. Add the increasing dependence on non-faculty coaches within schools and the related increased profile of non-school youth sports programs, and it’s the perfect storm for swelling athletic transfer issues.
Recent years have also thrown an additional curveball into the arsenal. Not only are students from neighboring communities roaming the hallways on the first day of school, but students from foreign countries have posed increased eligibility concerns.
“During the most recent decade, increasing numbers of students from foreign countries have been enrolling in U.S. schools on F-1 visas, and without being placed by approved programs,” Roberts said. “And once again questions related to unscrupulous placements and competitive balance emerged.”
Both festering issues addressed in the preceding paragraphs have led to the recent and more stringent Transfer Regulation modifications.
Mending Fences with Stronger Links
As Roberts alluded to in discussing the origins of the Transfer Regulation, it is a dragnet which serves the membership well, yet can never catch all intended targets, while sometimes reeling in those with legitimate cases. Over time, the gate can be weakened or exposed in some areas, and it’s time to reinforce the links.
On May 5, 2013, the MHSAA adopted a rule – known appropriately as the “links” rule – which advocates believe is more straightforward than the athletic motivated section of the Transfer Regulation and is a needed next step to address increasing mobility of students between schools. The rule took effect in August 2014 and links certain described activities to a longer period of ineligibility after a transfer. It intends to catch some of the most overt and egregious of transfers for athletic reasons.
“This rule was born of frustrations expressed to the MHSAA staff by coaches associations in wrestling and basketball,” Rashid said. “Kids were consistently changing schools after non-school, offseason contact with individuals from other districts. Under the old rule, they’d sit half the year, then play the second half, which includes the state tournament.
“It is also born from the most well publicized, ridiculous situations where students were transferring into the schools of a former coach or personal trainer who was newly hired,” Rashid said. “Except for an occasional instance when the rule hits home, ADs file this under ‘enough is enough’ and so many administrators have applauded the efforts.”
In general terms, this portion of the transfer rule Section 9(F), increases ineligibility for transfers not meeting a stated exception from 90 school days to 180 in situations as follows:
If a student has played on a team at one high school and transfers to another where he or she is ineligible, the period of ineligibility is extended to 180 scheduled school days if, during the previous 12 months, this student ...
- Participated at an open gym at the high school to which the student has transferred.
- Participated as an individual or on a non-school team or activity coached, coordinated or directed by any of that high school’s parents, administrators or coaches in the sport involved (this rule is sport-specific) for either gender. This includes summer basketball teams with school coaches if a student participated prior to registering to attend that school.
- Has a personal sport trainer, conditioner or instructor who is a coach at the high school to which the student has transferred.
- Transfers to a school where his or her previous high school coach is now employed.
Unlike Section 9(E), this new Section 9(F) does not require one school to allege athletic motivation. If one of the four athletic related links exists, the student is ineligible for 180 scheduled school days.
After just one year in practice, the “links” component has shown strength.
“I think it’s had a few effects. I know from my phone conversations that it has certainly deterred some students from changing schools,” Rashid said. “It has clearly increased awareness of people who participate in non-school programs and then change schools. It’s heightened awareness of recruiting, which is the basis of the rule, and school-shopping because of sport.
“The rules can serve best in advance of a transfer to discourage changing schools for sports. We encourage ADs to inform prospective transfer students and parents of the anti-recruiting rule and all parts of the transfer rule before they attempt to change schools.”
Maxing Out the Visa
As difficult a task as it is to police meanderings from school district to school district throughout Michigan, the influx of enrollment from other countries adds an entirely new level of complexity.
Responding to the growing number of international exchange students taking classes in Michigan schools and the potential effect on equity in school sports, the MHSAA Representative Council adopted new rules for 2014-15 intended to treat J-1 and F-1 visa students similarly and to minimize the disparate impact of Federal Law on public schools in comparison to non-public schools.
“Until recently, foreign exchange students were primarily here on J-1 visas; they ‘journeyed’ here and ‘journeyed’ back after one year,” Rashid said. “We’ve seen a growing number of F-1 students who can have only one year in a public school, but then have multiple years at non-public schools. So our rule invoked two years ago said we are going to treat both types of exchange students the same. Play one year, then sit one year, no matter what kind of school.”
For those asking how many individuals this could possibly affect, consider this: the state of Michigan ranked second nationally in the number of exchange students hosted by its schools in 2014-15, and in years prior was No. 1 by a long shot. More than 2,500 students were here on F-1 or J-1 visas a year ago, a significant number indeed.
The tipping point for taking action was the 2013-14 school year when several high-profile situations occurred involving F-1 visa students, some of whom received the maximum penalty for a violation of undue influence (the anti-recruiting rule) – a calendar year of ineligibility.
The penalty has since increased to up to four years of ineligibility for a student or four years of suspension for a coach or disconnection of an adult associated with the school. The undue influence rule applies to all students, grades 7-12 including international students.
The key changes (applicable to international students not enrolled [attending classes] in an MHSAA member school during the 2013-14 school year) include:
- The automatic exception which allows immediate eligibility for first-time-ever 9th-graders does not apply to international students.
- Only those international students (J-1 or F-1) enrolled under Transfer Rule Exception 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12 or 13, or placed through an MHSAA “Approved International Student Program,” can have varsity eligibility.
- Those international students who are placed through an MHSAA Approved International Student Program are immediately eligible for one academic year and then ineligible for one academic year (“Play One, Wait One”).
- Other international students have no varsity eligibility. After the normal (approximately one semester) waiting period for transfer students, local schools may provide those students subvarsity eligibility, regardless of grade level and previous sports experience and without MHSAA Executive Committee approval.
A list of approved AISP organizations appears on MHSAA.com.
Subvarsity Clause Encourages Participation
One of the unintended consequences of the subvarsity component for transfers was that it failed to account for smaller schools or individual sports in which no freshman or JV teams existed. The most recent iteration of the rule now provides eligibility for such students.
As a result of changes made for 2015-16, a transferring 9th- or 10th-grade student, who has never played in a high school scrimmage or game and is granted an Executive Committee waiver in advance of participation, may now be eligible in individual varsity heats, matches or races on a non-scoring basis. Previously, subvarsity eligibility was only for team sports with 9th-grade or JV teams. This expansion, with an approved waiver for a student who meets the above criteria, would permit some non-scoring involvement in cross country, golf, swimming & diving or track & field on a non-scoring basis where there is no separate JV team. This would not apply to relay teams in swim or track if they will be scored within the varsity race.
Eyes Forward
The three modifications related to the Transfer Regulation put into action during the last two years illustrate just how volatile, mobile and unstable boundaries and communities have become. Another way to look at it is how expansive a rule has become to regulate a part of the world that has become so small.
With that in mind, while the recent actions purport to quell the most egregious transfer eligibility issues currently brought to light, state association leadership must keep heads up and eyes forward for potential concerns on the horizon.
“There may be a large percentage of the MHSAA’s constituents who do not believe the links rule goes far enough; that this should be applied to all transfer students, not merely those whose transfer does not fit one of the 15 stated exceptions which allows for immediate eligibility,” Roberts said. “That could become the MHSAA’s next step in fighting one of the most aggravating problems of school-based sports today.”
Rashid points out that some states require that their executive staffs sign off on all transfers. For smaller states, that might be practical, but he fears that task would be unwieldly for the MHSAA, which has more than 700 member high schools.
Like Roberts, Rashid also can see a push coming for one year of ineligibility for all transfers not meeting prescribed exceptions, but warns of possible complications.
“Would such a step lead to more litigation and would it also net some who simply want to be part of a team?” he asks. “Would it also invite ineligibility for those who change schools for socialization issues? It sometime feels like the tail wagging the dog. I’d like more hard data. How many transfers are there overall, and how many transfers are even involved in athletics and to what extent?”
Future discussion could involve a combination of thoughts, according to Rashid, including a rule which is sport-specific. That is, transfers may become eligible for any sport after half a year, except for sports which they played at the former school at the varsity level. In those sports, the period of ineligibility would be a full year. Some would like to tighten the new links rule by applying 180 days of ineligibility to a transfer who has a sports connection to the new school (link) even if the student meets an exception or changes residence.
Those are topics for another day, but ones which the MHSAA is sure to keep in the forefront as it discusses and monitors the most recent upgrades – just as its leadership has done since 1924.
15 Exceptions for Immediate Eligibility
8 RESIDENCY EXCEPTIONS
- Student moves with the people he/she was living with previously (full & complete)
- Not living with either parent moves back to them +
- Ward of the Court, placed with foster parents
- Students from an Approved International Student Program (AISP on F-1 or J-1 visa) placed with host family in district. Play 1 year, wait 1 year. Non-AISP may have subvarsity only for all years without waiver after sitting out (through Martin Luther King Day or Aug. 1 depending on when enrolled)
- Married student moves into school district
- Student moves with or to divorced parent +
- An 18 year old moves without parents +
- A student resides in a boarding school +
5 SCHOOL STATUS EXCEPTIONS
- School ceases to operate, not merged (Handbook Int. 64 & 90)
- School is reorganized or consolidated
- School Board orders safety or enrollment shift transfer
- Achieved highest grade available in former school
- New school established; enrolled on first day
2 STUDENT STATUS EXCEPTIONS
- Incoming 9th-grader not here on an F-1 or J-1 visa
- Expelled student returns under pre-existing criteria
+Four exceptions are allowed once in grades 9-12.
Transfers and Subvarsity Status
The Executive Committee has the authority to approve immediate eligibility at the subvarsity level for transferring 9th or 10th-grade students (after entering 9th grade, before completing 10th grade) who have not previously participated in an interscholastic scrimmage or contest in any MHSAA sport at the high school level (whether MHSAA member schools or not) and who do not qualify for one of the 15 stated exceptions to the transfer regulation and have transferred for reasons having nothing to do with athletics, discipline or family finances and would not require Executive Committee evaluation or comparison of school demographics or curriculum.
Note: Subvarsity eligibility under this Section permits participation in the following scrimmages or contests (but not in MHSAA tournaments):
- Non-varsity team sports: Teams consisting primarily of 9th- and/or 10th-graders and against other teams primarily of 9th-and/or 10th-graders.
- Individual sports subvarsity level: Races or heats, designated as subvarsity for all participants in that heat or race and not scoring within a varsity meet.
- Individual sports without a subvarsity level: On a non-scoring basis in the same events and even in the same heats/foursomes/rotations of those events designated as varsity level competition. Participation in relays would not be permitted if it is intended that the relay score within a varsity contest.
- In 1, 2 and 3 above:
- This is not an opportunity for ineligible students to participate; it is only for those students who are eligible by rule or by MHSAA Executive Committee action.
- This does not require schools to conduct non-scoring events or sub-varsity competition.
- This does not create opportunities for “exhibitions” in sports where such is not permitted.
A Day in the Life of High School Sports
December 12, 2011
A pile of shoes clutters a doorway. A man teaches algebra to 9th-graders who have the weekend on their minds. A woman screenprints another T-shirt in her basement. A man brooms dead flies from a countertop.
Riverting scenes, for sure.
Yet, people around Michigan pay $5 for these, and other activities on a routine basis, weekend after weekend, during the school year without knowing it. Until now.
Join us for a day (or two) in the life of high school sports.
Introducing the cast
Carly Joseph’s cross country race doesn’t begin in the starting box. Eric Hartley’s whistle to signal the opening kickoff doesn’t begin his day. Vicky Groat doesn’t start coaching her volleyball team with the first serve. And Leroy Hackley’s daily duties do not begin by turning the key to the football stadium gate.
These are moments the spectators wait for; why they pay admission. But, the events are just the end product – and a miniscule part – of a daily intersection of paths, people and preparation played out in scenes like these throughout every community in the state on any given day.
Vicky Groat
Athletic Director
Varsity Volleyball Coach
Battle Creek St. Philip HS/
St. Joseph Middle School
Vicky recently finished her 14th season as the Tigers’ volleyball coach and is in her fourth year as athletic director for both the high school and middle school. She’s a 1985 graduate of St. Philip, and played volleyball for her mother, Sheila Guerra, who coached the Tigers to nine MHSAA titles. Like Guerra, Groat is a member of the MIVCA Hall of Fame, and has coached six MHSAA?Class D championship teams. She played volleyball and basketball at Kellogg Community College before finishing her studies at Central Michigan.
Eric Hartley
MHSAA Football Official
Math Department Head,
Lansing Everett HS
Eric is a 1980 Lansing Everett grad who earned teaching degrees at Western Michigan University and Michigan State University and began teaching math at Everett in 1986. He has been the math department head for 12 years and teaches four classes with one planning period. After a brief foray into coaching, Eric became a registered football and basketball official in 1990, and worked MHSAA?Football Finals in 1994, 1998 and 2002.
Leroy Hackley
Athletic Director
Jenison HS
Leroy is in his seventh year as athletic director at Jenison, following five years in the same position at Byron Center HS. He heads a department which sponsors 23 sports. In a school of 1,475 students, 45 percent participate in at least one sport. Leroy also was an MHSAA?registered official for 27 years, and still officiates collegiate basketball.
Carly Joseph
Junior, Class of 2013
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Carly is three-sport athlete at Notre Dame Prep and a member of the MHSAA?Student Advisory Council. She runs cross country and pitched on last spring’s District-winning softball team. Her third sport is unique in the high school setting. Carly started the school’s competitive school snowboarding team, and spends the winter competing against other high school students in boarder cross. Carly is also involved in NDP’s Varsity Club and the NHS.
It begins at sunrise ...
6:45 a.m.
Eric Hartley is in his classroom at Everett High School early today. The end of the first marking period is near, and he needs to post grades and prepare for upcoming parent conferences prior to first period Senior Math class at 7:40. Today’s lesson: “Linear Combinations.”
The previous night was spent the same way this evening will be; on a football field armed with a whistle and flag.
“We were at Dansville,” Hartley says. “Rained a bit, but nothing too bad. It was decent football, and only one game, as opposed to the two we might get on other Thursdays.”
Another game looms on the horizon a half-day away. But first, there is a day’s worth of classes to teach, as the bell sounds for first hour.
7:50 a.m.
Leroy Hackley settles into his office at Jenison, coordinating calendars with Assistant AD Todd Graham and Secretary Moni Marlink. Today’s activities include a subvarsity football doubleheader and a swimming & diving meet, while MHSAA Division 4 Tennis Finals and a water polo tournament during the weekend add additional responsibilities to the routine calendar of events.
“I realize how good we have it here,” Hackley says. “I’ve got a full-time assistant and full-time secretary, and we all complement one another so well. Todd’s a taskmaster who loves to handle the paperwork, Moni is on top of tasks like rosters, game programs, certificates and eligibility and I can focus on schedules, contracts and parents.”
8:00 a.m.
Senior Math students at Everett are checking their first grades of the fall and working on graphs while Hartley makes the rounds assisting students and answering questions.
He began first hour the same way he would start each of his classes that day, encouraging students’ parents to attend teacher conferences the following week. Extra credit would be awarded to students whose parents made it to the conference. Aware that athletic events and an area-wide high school “Battle of the Bands” could create conflicts on conference night, Hartley requests phone calls or emails from parents who plan to attend such approved school-related endeavors in lieu of the conferences.
“Today, we try to do everything possible to keep parents involved and informed on student progress,” Hartley explained. “And, when there are other school activities going on and they are supporting their kids at those events, we should recognize that too.”
Of course, not every scenario can be anticipated in today’s ever-shrinking world. At the end of the period, Hartley is approached by a foreign exchange student who indicates his sponsor family is away in Cuba. And so, before 8:30 a.m., Hartley’s officiating skills click in and he makes a quick ruling, citing the same “rule book” reference that will afford the others credit via an email or phone call.
8:15 a.m.
It’s between classes at Jenison High School, and Hackley rushes from his desk to a prime spot in the hallway between the administrative and athletic offices where the pedestrian flow is swift and plentiful. Once there, he delivers his first high-five of the day, but it’ll be far from his last. Hackley might lead the state in high-fives, and is unabashedly the Wildcats’ biggest cheerleader.
“I like to come out between classes and ‘press the flesh,’” Hackley says, beaming.
And the assault begins.
“How’s that knee going?”
“Gonna cheer on our guys tonight, right?”
“Nice job last night!”
The last stragglers make it to the next class, and it’s time to take a visitor on a tour of the facility which, by the way, would be the envy of many a small college.
The tour begins with a stop at the girls swimming & diving donut table, a regular fixture in the corner of a hallway on this day of the week, with proceeds going to the swim team. After a brief stop in the gym and accidental participation in a “speedball” game, it’s off to the football and soccer fields, then a check on the tennis courts, 16 of them with bleacher seating. It’s little wonder the MHSAA?Finals have made the school a regular destination.
9:40 a.m.
Second period trigonometry – complete with some elements of the Pythagorean Theorem mixed in with today’s free-space trig session – comes and goes, and for the first time Hartley begins to think about the night’s football assignment at Fowlerville.
As the crew’s referee, he typically sends emails to his crew and the host athletic director each Sunday confirming arrival time, gametime, travel plans and facility availability.
As gameday closes in, he admits there is a different feel to the day in the classroom, although many of the elements are applicable inside and outside the walls.
“Classroom management, discipline and dealing with kids correlates directly to game management, enforcement of penalties and dealing with coaches,” Hartley said. “It’s managing students and working with administrators both in class and on the field. Like the games, some classes involve mostly teaching and run smoothly. Others require more management, control, discipline and then, ‘Oh yeah, I have to fit in some teaching too.’”
As the wind whips outside, and rain pelts the classroom windows, he wonders if it might not be a better day for basketball.
With the game hours off, but the next class just minutes away, he tunes his laptop to 70s music on Sirius/XM radio and gets the next lesson ready on his Smartboard. A neighboring teacher comes in to borrow pencils; there might not be a need for chalk anymore, but pencils have not been replaced.
9:50 a.m.
Having answered and cleared his email to start the day, Hackley returns from his rounds to find 24 more emails. Most are routinely answered. One will take some coordination with the choir teacher.
“We have a conflict with a choir performance and the last football game of the year,” he says. “We have some cheerleaders who also are in choir, so we need to arrange to have them cheer half the game and get them back for the performance.”
That’s not the only juggling act of the day. Superintendent Tom TenBrink calls shortly before 10 a.m. to discuss impending O-K Conference divisional realignments, not an easy process when 51 schools are involved.
“We are in the Red with Hudsonville, Rockford and East Kentwood and have asked to be relieved from the Red,” Hackley said. “We are one of the smallest schools by far. Travel might be further in other divisions, but we need to be where the enrollments and competition are more equitable.”
It’s not as simple as a vote of ADs. The ADs have advisory votes, the principals have votes to approve plans, then it goes to school boards.
Once again, Hackley is appreciative of his footing at Jenison.
“We – superintendent, principal and I – talk all the time and we are all in the loop. The communication is a real plus for me being an advocate for our kids, because I know it’s not like that at a lot of places,” Hackley said.
10:40 a.m.
Hartley is accustomed to throwing a lanyard around his neck during his avocation of officiating, but he puts one on early today for fourth-hour trig. One of the students in this class has a hearing disability and sometimes is accompanied with a signer for assistance. Today, the student brings a small amplifier for Hartley to wear during the class.
“That’s the first time I’ve been given that to wear,” he said. “Sometimes the student doesn’t have the assistant there either. It depends on the complexity of the classes that day.”
Across the state at Jenison, Marlink has printed programs for the evening’s football and swimming events, and is on her way to Subway to order food for the weekend’s tennis and water polo tournaments. En route, she’ll stop at the football field to drop off a supply of pop before returning to the office.
Graham is preparing money boxes for the ticket gates, when Hackley prepares an email to alert students and staff of special parking procedures and bus routes affected by the MHSAA?Tennis Finals.
Junior high cross country coach and high school teacher Karina White stops by and says, “Thanks for the help yesterday.”
Hackley explains that the high school had no activities so he went to help administer the junior high meet. One gets the feeling this is routine.
11:25 a.m.
Hackley takes a brief moment to look up the Culpepper (Virginia) Football Association online, where he tracks the early football careers of his 3rd, 4th and 5th-grade nephews. The phone cuts his research short, however, as a caller asks where to find MHSAA?Tennis Finals seedings and results for the coming weekend. This is an easy one for Hackley, as he’s the one who will be sending files to the MHSAA during the event.
Noon
Lunchtime is more like crunchtime back in Lansing for Hartley, who has the whole process timed to the minute, as if the play clock were running down on a quarterback.
“Got about 27 minutes by the time all is said and done,” he says on a brisk trip to McDonald's. The meal is ordered to-go, and eaten back in the classroom just before the bell for his final class of the day.
Hackley, meanwhile, has a bit more time and heads to Grand Rapids-area Italian favorite Vitale’s for some dine-in pizza, where an altogether different situation unfolds on the big-screen TVs.
An attempted bank robbery in small-town Ravenna dominates the local channels and the conversation. The ensuing chase and chain of events has closed down a portion of I-96 near Walker, prompting a phone call to Hackley’s son, Mitch. Mitch is a freshman at Muskegon Community College, who comes home to assist on the chain crew at home football games, and I-96 is the quickest route. In this case, Mitch will be traveling East, the opposite direction of the blockade, but Hackley calls nonetheless to advise his son.
12:55 p.m.
While Hackley has recently completed another round of high fives in the Jenison hallway, challenging a football player to test the limits of his scoreboard, Hartley has his own challenge in front of him. He needs to bring out his game management officiating skills a bit early to take control of his Algebra 1 class, made up mostly of freshmen who can smell the weekend.
“One teacher talking, 35 students learning right now. People talking now will be asking questions later, which I will not answer,” he warns, and the chatter subsides through the end of the period.
Perhaps it was a bit of foreshadowing, as it won’t be the last time he’ll need to address behavior on this day.
1:30 p.m.
As if on cue from Hackley’s earlier comments regarding communication up and down the administrative chain of command, Superintendent TenBrink drops by the office to deliver updated news on the O-K realignment.
Moments later, Mitch arrives from Muskegon and gets some last-minute instruction from Dad prior to his work at the stadium.
Hartley’s teaching duties have been completed for another week, but he’ll stay in the classroom a bit longer to tend to his first marking period grades, just as he had done at the beginning of the day.
2:00 p.m.
Hackley goes through a checklist, surfs for a weather forecast, gets a printed itinerary from Marlink for the weekend, then grabs the money boxes and programs and heads toward the field.
On the way, the door to the music room is open and a female student vocalist is performing a stirring solo number. Hackley pauses to watch through its conclusion and applauds. The students and instructor turn to acknowledge Jenison’s No. 1 fan.
After unlocking the bathrooms and getting the money to the concessions booth, Hackley sets up the officials room, chats with the athletic trainer, and then heads up to the press box where unwanted guests had been seeking refuge from the coming colder weather.
Flies – maybe a hundred – lay dead on the countertops, while a few buzz slowly against the windows certain to meet the same fate. Unfazed, Hackley simply grabs a broom and says, “I’m glad I came out a little early,” then sweeps them up and leaves the windows open a bit just in case the few living pests want to try their luck back outside.
2:45 p.m.
Carly Joseph, a junior at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, exhales at the sound of the final school bell and utters, “I’m exhausted.” It’s been a long academic week with a course load that includes three AP and two honors classes.
But, Joseph also runs cross country, and this week has already featured a meet on Tuesday and more than 40 miles run during practice. Another practice is on the horizon, one last tune-up for a huge invitational scheduled for Carly and her teammates the next day.
In Lansing, it’s time for Hartley to guide his own “students,” as he heads home for a couple hours before meeting his crew for the trip to Fowlerville. At home, he will make sure sons Trevor and Austin get their homework done.
“I push them to get it done on Fridays after school, because on Saturdays and Sundays they officiate youth football with me, so their time is limited,” Hartley says.
4:00 p.m.
Joseph’s Notre Dame Prep team is headed to Holly High School’s cross country invitational Saturday morning, but first, it gets in one last practice. An easy four-mile run followed by eight progressive strides down the football field marks the shortest practice of the year.
It’s a good time for the short workout, because Joseph and her teammates have dinner plans in Clarkston. The team heads to Carly’s house for a pasta dinner prepared by her parents.
5:00 p.m.
Vicky Groat sends her Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball team home following a two-hour practice, its final preparation for Saturday’s 34th Battle Creek All-City Tournament. Groat has set her players free for the night. They have a curfew of 10 p.m., and although she calls on occasion to keep them honest, she won’t this time. There are other preparations for the next day’s tournament that will keep her busy into the evening, as we’ll see later.
At a parking lot in Okemos, Hartley’s crew gathers for a short ride to Fowlerville, which has a conference battle with Haslett. At this point, there is more talk of the weather than the game, as 30 mile-per-hour winds, rain, and temperatures in the 30s promise to make things uncomfortable.
6:15 p.m.
Eighty shoes are piled high just inside the front door of the Joseph house, as 40 Notre Dame Prep runners and coaches gather for the meal. Kids have seized every room in the house, and as one would expect, there’s rarely a quiet moment. Mrs. Joseph serves platefuls of penne, lasagna, salad, rolls and a brownie (or two). Clearly, it is a scene that would dispel the myth that distance runners don’t eat.
In Fowlerville, Hartley and his crew walk from the locker room to the playing field which, remarkably, is in great shape for the amount of rain it’s taken on. The crowd is sparse for Senior Night, as the officials meet with each coach and then conduct the coin toss.
8:00 p.m.
In a modified game of Twister, dozens of people search Shoe Mountain as two-by-two the shoes clear the Joseph house. Suddenly, all is quiet. The Joseph family does some quick cleanup – including vacuuming brownie crumbs out of the carpet – and is able to relax.
At nearly the same time one county over, the mood is anything but serene. It’s time for serious game management as temperatures on the field are beginning to heat up the atmosphere. The Fowlerville-Haslett football game is getting chippy after each play, and Hartley quells the extracurriculars by calling both coaches to the field to discuss matters in the middle of the second quarter. The impromptu summit works, as kids get back to football as it’s meant to be played.
9:00 p.m.
Lights are out for Joseph, with tomorrow’s race in Holly one of the biggest of the year.
The lights are on, however, in Groat’s basement. She wants her team to look good for the All-City Tournament, but she’s not reviewing opponents’ tendencies or diagramming offensive sets. At the moment, she is screen-printing shirts in her basement. St. Philip will debut new red jerseys Saturday. Oh, by the way, Groat also is in her fourth year as the school’s athletic director.
9:49 p.m.
Hartley and Co. head out of Fowlerville High School – roughly 15 hours after his day began – through an empty hallway to an empty parking lot. Haslett pulled away in the second half for a 40-21 win, and another week was in the books for this crew.
The next two days are ones which Hartley relishes, the opportunity to pass along his passion for officiating while mentoring his sons.
Hackley also is calling it a day in Jenison, but the night’s sleep will be fast with the MHSAA Tennis Finals and the water polo invite the next day. The “to-do” list Marlink prepared for him during the day has Saturday’s first item slated for 7 a.m.
11:30 p.m.
Right about now, Groat is probably thankful she’s not coaching a football team, as she completes the last of her team’s shirts. At this point, Saturday is only 30 minutes away.
5:31 a.m.
The alarm goes off in Joseph’s room – it’s race day. After a breakfast of maple brown sugar granola cereal, whole wheat toast and orange juice, she heads to the school for a 7 a.m. bus departure. “I’m our seventh runner, but one of our team strengths is our depth. I have to keep pushing those ahead of me to help the team succeed,” Joseph explains.
7:00 a.m.
While Joseph and her teammates board the bus bound for Holly, tennis courts at Jenison will begin to come to life shortly. Before they do, Hackley (left) is off to Ida’s Bakery to pick up a dozen cinnamon rolls and danishes, followed by a stop at Subway to grab 15 box lunches for tournament officials at the MHSAA?Tennis Finals.
Since it’s Saturday, Hackley and Graham arrive early to pick up trash, replace bags, and open the restrooms. “Saves on maintenance overtime,” he says.
7:45 a.m.
The Notre Dame Prep cross country team arrives at Springfield Oaks County Park, and a long line of busses greet them at the gate. After a short wait, the team de-boards, finds the perfect camp spot and sets up three canopy tents for all the varsity and JV runners. Once their spot is staked out, the varsity girls head out for a warm-up run.
8:05 a.m.
Groat arrives at Pennfield High School, followed over the next 10 minutes by her players. Some of the team’s tournaments mean waking up at 5:45 a.m. for a 7 a.m. departure. This invitational, close to home, has afforded everyone another hour of sleep. Groat is plenty familiar with the All-City. At the end of this day she’ll leave with her sixth championship as St. Philip’s coach. And she was a senior on the 1985 team that won the school’s first All-City title under Groat’s mother, Sheila Guerra.
8:55 a.m.
Joseph and her teammates report to the starting chute, perform some last-minute stride-outs, take off layers of clothing, and grab attention with their unique team cheer. “Everyone always stares at us as we do the cheer, but it helps loosen us up right before the race begins,” Joseph said.
They’re lined up three-deep in the starting box, and at 9 a.m. sharp, the gun sounds and 113 runners take off.
About 100 miles southwest, Groat and the Tigers are ready for the first match of the day vs. Harper Creek. Following warm-ups, the team gathers in a circle for a pre-match prayer – the same one they’ve said before matches for five years. Some girls were in charge of bringing hair ribbon for the team, others had other tasks. Senior Megan Lassen was to find an inspirational quote, and before the huddle breaks she reads it off her hand to her teammates. The match starts at 9:03.
To the northwest, the courts at Jenison again become a hub of activity, as teams vie for the MHSAA?Division 4 title.
9:18 a.m.
In Holly, Rachele Schulist of Zeeland West (the reigning MHSAA Division 2 Cross Country champion) crosses the finish line first, with Notre Dame Prep’s Sara Barron in second. Joseph finishes in 22:41 (sixth on her team) as the Irish run their best team race of the year.
9:37 a.m.
St. Philip finishes the first match of pool play with a 25-12, 25-17 win over Harper Creek. It’s a good sign for a few reasons – Harper Creek is a solid program coming off a District title in 2010, and Groat has to run a home football game kicking off in nine hours. It’s “Parents Night” for the football players, and she’s banking on volleyball being done by 4 p.m. in case she needs to make a pick-up at the florist on the way to setting up.
10:26 a.m.
After beating Pennfield, 25-18, to open the second round of pool play, the Tigers fall in the second game, 26-24. This is a rarity – despite playing a number of much larger schools throughout the fall, St. Philip began the tourney with a 37-3-1 record. Groat doesn’t say much to her players afterward – by design. She expects them to prepare themselves without her giving an additional push. Sometimes it’s hard to not jump in, but she can tell after this split it isn’t necessary.
“By the looks on their faces, they knew they weren’t ready to go,” Groat said. “In Game 2 we didn’t play very well, and Pennfield had the intensity there. Our girls knew they didn’t come ready to play. I didn’t have to say it.”
11:30 a.m.
Teams congregate in the pavilion area for the awards ceremony at Springfield Oaks. Pontiac NDP hasn’t won a trophy in a few years, but fortunes have changed today and 
the girls are excited to accept the fourth-place team trophy.
“I can’t wait to show (NDP Athletic Director) Ms. Wroubel. We’ll find a place for it in the trophy case,” Joseph said.
With the great finish today, it’s hard not to talk about making the MHSAA Finals in November.
11:48 a.m.
The Tigers get a bye and then lunch break back-to-back. So after nearly an hour-and-a-half they begin warming up for their third pool play match, against Battle Creek Central. During the bye, St. Philip players kept score or served as line judges for other matches, while Groat talked with parents and watched a little bit of Lakeview – the Tigers’ eventual championship match opponent.
12:15 p.m.
Joseph returns to Clarkston for some homework and rest, but her sporting weekend is far from over. She’ll head to Roseville the next day for three games with her travel softball team, including two where she’ll be on the mound. And then she’ll cap off the weekend with a 12-mile run, get ready for school on Monday and repeat the cycle.
1:36 p.m.
St. Philip has swept Central and Lakeview to finish pool play, and changes into the new red jerseys Groat finished the night before. Next up is a semifinal match against Harper Creek – which the Tigers win in two games. They’ve bounced back while maintaining the cool demeanor of their coach.
“We always just take deep breaths, because if we get riled by anything, we get nervous,” St. Philip junior Amanda McKinzie said. “She’s usually pretty calm about it, which is always helpful. She probably has to hold back pretty hard, because if we start losing, it’s kind stressful.” 
2:27 p.m.
The final begins. By 3:07 p.m., the Tigers have won 25-22 and 25-5 to clinch their fourth-straight All-City title. The Pennfield split might have been a blessing in disguise.
“Sometimes a loss is good for a program. It kind of woke us up,” Groat said. “It can’t happen Oct. 31 (when Districts begin).”
3:24 p.m.
Groat leaves Pennfield for St. Philip to prepare the public address announcements for the football game and pick up flowers, the money box, water and checks for the officials who will work that night. Earlier in the day she’d secured someone to take tickets – her niece, also a former volleyball player – and by 5:45 she’s on her way to Battle Creek Central’s C.W. Post Stadium, less than half a mile from St. Philip and the home field for the Tigers.
3:37 p.m.
The MHSAA receives Hackley’s final email of the weekend after he’s entered data for the Division 4 Tennis Finals. Hackley comments on the great finish that came down to the last match, as Ann Arbor Greenhills claimed the title by one point over runners-up Lansing Catholic and Kalamazoo Christian. The bus routes can go back to normal at Jenison once again on Monday.
9:20 p.m.
Groat’s athletic director duties are done for the night. She picks up a pizza and gets home to Marshall by 10 p.m. It was a busy day, but despite being tired she needs time to wind down before going to sleep at midnight.
Sunday
The day of rest finally is here. For Hackley and Hartley, it means a 9 a.m. meeting at the MHSAA office in East Lansing, where the two attend a mandatory Michigan Community College Athletic Association Women's Basketball Officiating staff meeting. Both work women’s basketball in their “spare” time. Hartley will then be off to another football field to work youth ball again with his sons.
Joseph, meanwhile, is off to Roseville for the softball tripleheader. One thing is for sure: with her daily running regimen, her legs are more than up to that task.
For Groat, it’s a little more low-key, as friends come to her house to watch the Detroit Lions game. But volleyball still owns a time slot in the day – that night, Groat will update her team’s season stats.
Like virtually every other official, administrator, coach and student-athlete around the state, none even stop to think about the frenetic pace. In Groat’s case, there is a little extra motivation. The memory of her mom – who died in 2006 – is never far off.
“I put a little more pressure on myself. I don’t want to let the legacy down,” Groat said. “My driving force is to not let her down and I don’t want to let the kids down. It’s a great opportunity for them to play and make lasting memories.”
In turn, the memories are passed on to countless supporters in communities throughout the state.
Websites and scoreboards display the winners, losers and some statistics. The power is supplied by the people in school sports – whether behind the scenes or on center stage – who simply seem to be wired a little differently.
For that, we all are thankful. One might even agree it’s worth the price of admission.
–Compiled by MHSAA?staff members Rob Kaminski, Andy Frushour and Geoff Kimmerly