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Time and Money

March 29, 2016

Early in the current presidential campaign, several candidates postured to claim the support of Evangelical Christians. I found it all pretty phony. How do you know what’s really in a person’s heart?

I was once told that the best way to discern what may be in a person’s heart is to look at two indicators.

  1. Look at their calendar. How do they spend their time?
  2. Look at their checkbook. How do they spend their money?

Talk is cheap. What’s really important to a person is reflected in their calendar and checkbook (or credit card receipts): How do they spend their time and their money?

So, in this work of school sports, if we are truly committed to educational athletics, it will be obvious in how we – schools and the MHSAA – spend our time and money.

  • Do we daily spend time promoting and protecting our brand of youth sports?
  • Do we annually budget adequate funds for the purpose of designing, delivering and defending policies and programs that maximize the benefits of school sports to students, schools and society?

This will provide the proof of our commitment.

An Extraordinary Choice

May 11, 2018

A decade and a half ago when there was a vacancy on the staff of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, my colleague Randy Allen mentioned that I should take a look at an impressive young guy from southwest Michigan. A guy I had never met, or even heard of. A 29-year-old by the name of Mark Uyl.

I did take a look, and a second, and a third. Given his youth, I realized this might be the first person I would hire who not only would outlast me on the MHSAA staff, but who also would be both youthful enough and experienced enough to lead the MHSAA after me.

When, at the conclusion of the Representative Council’s spring meeting on Monday, MHSAA President Scott Grimes announced the selection of Mark Uyl to be the next MHSAA executive director, he said, “It was the easiest decision of the weekend.”

I consider the assembly of an outstanding MHSAA staff, and the swift succession of Mark Uyl to executive director, to be among the most significant contributions of my turn to lead the MHSAA.

Mark has the philosophy, people skills and practical knowledge of local school sports that made him the obvious choice. His connections and communication skills make him an extraordinary choice. He will do great things during his turn to lead this extraordinary organization.