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MHSAA Membership

May 9, 2016

May is the month that begins membership renewal in the Michigan High School Athletic Association, when the 2016-17 Membership Resolution is mailed to school districts across the state.

New for 2016-17 is that schools may join the MHSAA at the 6th-grade level and up (not 7th). This change, resulting from a 561 to 87 vote by member school principals last October, has three obvious benefits:

  1. Makes it easier for small schools to include 6th-graders in their counts and on their 7th- and 8th-grade teams.

  2. Makes it easier for districts where 6th-graders are in buildings with 7th- and 8th-graders to participate on those junior high/middle school teams.

  3. Allows all districts, but requires no districts, to provide athletic opportunities for 6th-graders under the auspices of the MHSAA (on separate teams or with 7th- and 8th-graders).

Membership in the MHSAA is optional. It is a choice schools make through their local governing boards. Schools may conduct a comprehensive program of interscholastic athletics and may participate against MHSAA member schools in regular-season competition without joining the MHSAA.

Membership in the MHSAA is free of charge. There are no membership dues. While MHSAA tournaments are limited to MHSAA member high schools in good standing, there are no tournament entry fees for qualifying schools. Catastrophic Accident Medical Insurance and Concussion Care Insurance is purchased by the MHSAA and provided free of charge to all eligible student-athletes in grades 6 through 12. It applies to all levels of MHSAA sports in both practice and competition.

The expectations of member schools include:

  • Educating student-athletes, staff and other involved personnel about MHSAA rules and procedures.

  • Monitoring compliance year-around.

  • Investigating possible violations and reporting findings.

  • Administering penalties.

The Massachusetts Model

August 19, 2016

Late last spring the veteran executive director of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, Bill Gaine, spent a half-day at the offices of the Michigan High School Athletic Association to share insights about ways state association staff can serve the mission of educational athletics. Here are some of my notes from that experience:

  • “Steal and build.” At the MIAA, the approach has been to steal the good ideas of others and build upon those ideas.

  • “Marry student life with academic life.” The MIAA leadership tries to make an intentional, purposeful connection between the after-school and school programs of MIAA schools.

  • “Connect rhetoric with policies and programs. You can’t have just policies or only programs; you must have both.”

Over 18 years, five pillars of policy and programs have evolved for the MIAA: Health and Wellness in 1984, Sportsmanship in 1993, Coaches Education in 1998, Student Leadership in 2001, and Community Service in 2002. All constituents get the whole package all the time, according to Gaine; and there is an MIAA staff person in charge of each pillar.

The “5 Pillars” is the curriculum the MIAA teaches athletic directors, with specific lesson plans. Gaine says, “The AD is the school’s curriculum coordinator for educational athletics.”