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Seeding Thoughts

December 9, 2014

The 2014 MHSAA Update Meeting Opinion Poll asked for constituent attitudes about two ideas for seeding MHSAA tournaments; and each idea received support from approximately two-thirds of more than 500 survey respondents.
The slightly more popular idea is to seed at the highest level of team tournaments where all finalists are gathered in one place, as we do at present for the MHSAA Team Wrestling Tournament.
Nearly as popular is the idea to seed at the lowest or entry level of team tournaments, placing the best two teams of each of the geography-based entry level tournaments (usually the District level, sometimes the Regional level) on the top and bottom lines of the tournament bracket, followed by a blind draw to fill the other bracket lines.
There is nothing inherently good or bad about seeding. It’s possible that seeding is good for one sport, but not another. If it can be done without too much controversy and if it has the potential to increase crowds without increasing travel costs for schools and the MHSAA, then seeding may make sense.
The constituents involved in one sport may see value in seeding, while those in another sport may not. Different decisions have been made in boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse; the same may occur in softball vs. baseball, for example.
The route to seeding is through the MHSAA Classification Committee for general review and through each respective sport committee for detailed analysis and development of specific proposals to the Representative Council.

The Western Way

September 29, 2015

When he was in elementary school, my younger son Luke often traveled with me on MHSAA business. Today, Luke is living in Shanghai, China, where he is the principal of an elementary school for Chinese children.

The parents of these Chinese children want their youngster (it’s usually an only child) educated in the western way so the child can get into a western high school and college.

Those parents want their children speaking English. But much more than that, they want their children thinking critically and creatively. And they want their children engaging in extracurricular programs that teach teamwork and leadership.

Those parents want the kind of schools we operate in Michigan. They want the kind of programs we offer here.

We educate the whole child; and the whole world wants what we do.

Not only that – unlike most of the rest of the world, we not only educate the whole child, we educate every child. Most other countries don’t even try.