Guild and Guide
December 2, 2016
Today is the first meeting of the full Michigan High School Athletic Association Representative Council of the 2016-17 school year. This is the meeting that tees up some of the topics for action by the Council in March and May.
Posted on the meeting room wall will be banners that remind Council members of the over-arching topics previously identified for 2016-17:
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- Define and Defend Educational Athletics
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Promote and Protect Participant Health and Safety
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Serve and Support Junior High/Middle School Programs
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Recruit and Retain Contest Officials
If we are to make any headway on these topics during this school year and beyond, then we must see the MHSAA’s role is to be both a guild and a guide.
On my bucket list for personal travel is a trip to the mountains of Peru where for a week my wife will weave and I will hike. She will be with a guild that allows her to learn more about her craft, while I’ll be on a high altitude trail to Machu Picchu with a guide that keeps me from getting lost or discouraged.
In similar ways, the MHSAA must be an organization that provides opportunities for people to learn the art of athletic administration and then both points the way and steadies the step of coaches and administrators. We must help new officials get started and stay with it. We must aid and direct team captains and other student leaders.
The MHSAA Model
December 30, 2015
At the conclusion of every school sports season – fall, winter and spring – I sign stacks of checks to MHSAA member schools for their hosting of or participation in MHSAA season-ending tournaments. Some are very small checks, some are very large amounts, and none is quite enough.
Each time I perform this task, I am reminded how differently school sports operates in Michigan compared to non-school sports.
Unlike most non-school organizations, the MHSAA does not require teams to pay membership dues.
Unlike most non-school organizations, the MHSAA does not require entry fees to its postseason tournaments.
Unlike most non-school organizations, we try to reimburse tournament hosts and participating teams for at least a portion of their necessary tournament expenses.
Parents may shell out hundreds and even thousands of dollars for their children to join non-school teams and to enter non-school events; but that’s not the MHSAA model.