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Our Own Worst Enemies

September 26, 2017

The early history of school sports was in four phases. It began as activities that students alone would organize. Then schools saw the need to supervise. Then schools created statewide high school athletic associations to standardize. Then a national federation of those state associations brought an end to corporate and college efforts to nationalize school sports. All of this between the U.S. Civil War and World War II.

The entire history of school sports has had one overriding narrative. Inherent in the struggles that defined each phase of the early history, and every decade since, has been the struggle between those who believe competitive athletics is an asset for schools intent on educating students in body, mind and spirit, versus those who believe interscholastic athletic programs are a distraction at best and, at worst, damaging to the character development of students. There is much evidence to support both sides of this long debate.

Sometimes, the advocates for school-sponsored sports have been, and are, their own worst enemies. What the advocates of school sports must realize is that the more they do to enlarge the scope of school sports ... more games, longer seasons, further travel, escalating hype ... the more they prove that the opponents of school sports have been correct.

As they encourage the chasm between athletics and academics and between school sports' haves and have-nots to widen; as sports teams are outfitted in uniforms that are fancier and funded for travel that is further, while classroom resources are fewer; as sportsmanship declines and athletic transfers increase; the so-called “progressive” thinkers help make the case that competitive athletics is bad for students, schools and society.

Opposition to escalation in school sports is not old fashioned; it's the only way to assure the future of sports in schools ... the only way to save school sports from itself.

Attendance on the Rise

December 23, 2016

One of the features of school sports that is unmatched by non-school youth sports travel teams is that school events usually draw crowds of spectators. Not just family members, but classmates and citizens of the local community are drawn to attend school sports events.

Among proof of the enduring importance and high profile of school-sponsored sports is that Michigan High School Athletic Association tournament attendance continues to climb despite all the distractions of modern society. Here are highlights reported by the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Geoff Kimmerly in October:

  • Girls postseason events set a record for attendance for the third straight school year in 2015-16, and overall tournament attendance spiked to its highest total of the last five years.

  • Total attendance for 2015-16 was 1,484,095 fans, an increase of 6.8 percent over the previous year. Girls attendance was 473,241 fans, an increase of 10,141 (or 2.2 percent) over the record total from 2014-15. Boys attendance was 1,010,854 fans, a four-year high helped notably by an increased football crowd in 2015.

  • The third straight girls record showing got a boost from girls competitive cheer, which set an overall attendance record for the 13th straight season with 39,906 fans and also set attendance records at the Final (19,993) and District (12,867) levels. The track & field and bowling tournaments, which include attendance for girls and boys events combined, also set overall records. Track & field broke a 2011-12 record with 37,773 fans overall and a Regional record of 22,413, and bowling set an overall attendance record for the fifth straight season with 13,919 fans and a Regional record of 9,948.

  • Football attendance rebounded significantly after a snowy opening weekend in 2014 resulted in the lowest playoff attendance since the 256-team 11-player field was introduced in 1999. Overall football attendance jumped to a three-year high of 389,897, a 25.4 percent increase from the 2014 postseason and with increases seen at the Pre-District, District and Regional levels.

  • Ten more tournament series showed increases in total attendance over the 2014-15 school year: girls gymnastics (2.0 percent), girls softball (2.8 percent), baseball (0.5 percent), girls swimming & diving (12.7 percent), boys swimming & diving (14.6 percent), boys basketball (1.5 percent), girls and boys cross country (combined, 2.1 percent), boys soccer (2.4 percent), team wrestling (1.6 percent) and individual wrestling (1.7 percent) all saw increases in overall attendance from the previous school year. Girls Volleyball fell just shy of equaling the previous year’s record, drawing 110,638 fans, a decrease of 293 from the 2014 season but still the second-most since records first were kept in 1990-91. Girls volleyball did, however, set attendance records at the Regional (26,445) and Semifinal (4,765) levels of the tournament.

  • The Boys Basketball Finals draw of 47,407 was a five-year high and a 16.9 percent increase from 2014-15. The Girls Basketball Finals drew 22,301 fans, the most for a Semifinals/Finals weekend since 2004-05 and an increase of 12 percent over 2014-15. Girls basketball’s overall tournament attendance of 169,523 was a decrease of 1.2 percent from 2014-15, but still the second-highest attendance for the sport since 2005-06.

  • Overall girls softball attendance increased for the third straight year to 44,515, the highest total since the record-setting spring of 1994-95.

  • Team Wrestling Regionals reached a seven-year high and individual wrestling’s rise was fueled by increases at all three levels of that tournament, including five-year highs at the Regional and Final levels.

  • Boys Soccer Finals drew 4,906 fans, the most for that event since 2007-08.

Not included in these figures are those who attend MHSAA tournaments in golf, skiing and tennis for which admission typically is not charged and likely pushed the total attendance over 1.5 million for the 2015-16 school year.