Changing Culture
August 21, 2012
It has made good sense that the MHSAA limit its attention to those matters of schools that are related to sports, and leave to others the problems and programs that involve all students and the entire school. But for several subjects, this general rule needs exceptions. For example . . .
Over the years we have introduced tobacco, alcohol and other drug use awareness programs through school sports programs, noting that student-athletes can be the leaders to most efficiently change the attitudes of the larger student population. This has met with modest success; but there are troubling studies that indicate male athletes are actually more likely than other students to use and abuse alcohol. So today we can justify the use of resources on tobacco, alcohol and other drug education not only because it is helpful for reaching other students, but also because the sports program itself needs this attention.
In the wake of a hazing tragedy in the marching band program of one university and the sexual abuse tragedy in the football program of another, I have been convicted to think more about programs under our watch here at the MHSAA and to think about how local school sports programs can be involved in improving the safe culture of our schools, which from time to time even here in Michigan have witnessed embarrassment and heartbreak.
Here at the MHSAA we are reviewing and plugging holes in our policies and procedures for MHSAA events where adults and students directly interact, which occurs much more now than a decade ago. This includes everything our Student Advisory Council does, our Women in Sports Leadership Conference and other student leadership events, as well as the locker room and lodging policies for MHSAA tournaments. It is likely that many local schools are years ahead of us on such policies, and we will learn and borrow from them.
Where schools might do more is to address bullying, hazing and all other forms of harassment; and it may be that – as with tobacco, alcohol and other drug education – sports not only can be used as a vehicle for changing the culture of schools, sports may also have a special need for the attention, and for a change in culture.
The Fourth Option
February 27, 2018
Throughout the years, schools of this and every other state have identified problems relating to school transfers. There is recruitment of athletes and undue influence. There is school shopping by families for athletic reasons. There is jumping by students from one school to another for athletic reasons because they couldn’t get along with a coach or saw a greater opportunity to play at another school or to win a championship there. There is the bumping of students off a team or out of a starting lineup by incoming transfers, which often outrages local residents. There is the concentration of talent on one team by athletic-motivated transfers. There is friction between schools as one becomes the traditional choice for students who specialize in a particular sport. There is imbalance in competition as a result. And there is always the concern that the athletic-motivated transfer simply puts athletics above academics, which is inappropriate in educational athletics.
All states have developed rules to address the problems related to school transfers. In some states, it is called a “transfer rule” and in other states a “residency rule,” because linking school attendance to residence is one of the most effective tools for controlling eligibility of transfers. None of the state high school association rules is identical, but all have the intention of helping to prevent recruiting, school shopping, student bumping, team friction, competitive imbalance and sports overemphasis. The goal of promoting fairness in athletic competition and the perspective that students must go to school first for an education and only secondarily to participate in interscholastic athletics is paramount.
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. This is why all state high school associations have procedures to review individual cases and grant exceptions; and why all state high school associations have procedures to investigate allegations and to penalize violations where they are confirmed.
Over the years, state high school associations have considered four options to handle transfers. The first two options are the easiest courses: either (1) let schools decide themselves about transfers, as Michigan once did, but this leads to inconsistent applications and few states now subscribe to such an approach; or (2) make no exceptions at all, rendering all transfer students ineligible for a period of time, but this becomes patently unfair for some students and no state high school association subscribes to that extreme, although it would be easy to administer.
The third option – the ideal approach, perhaps – would be to investigate the motivation of every transfer and allow quicker eligibility or subvarsity eligibility to those which are not motivated by athletics, but this is very time consuming if not impossible to administer. No state high school association has sufficient staff and money to consider every detail and devious motive of every transfer.
This is why a fourth option has been most popular with most state high school associations. This is a middle ground which stipulates a basic rule, some exceptions (we have 15 exceptions in Michigan), and procedures to consider and grant waivers – a primary role of the Michigan High School Athletic Association Executive Committee.