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Upon Further Review ...
May 12, 2017
A veteran track & field coach wrote critically that the Michigan High School Athletic Association has erred by not implementing numerous proposals of his state coaches association over the years. So this year I was an even more careful than usual observer of the fate of proposals from coaches associations and our own coach-dominated sport committees.
Some proposals from coaches associations don’t even make it to a vote at the MHSAA sport committee level. Others fail to get an affirmative vote, while still others are passed by the committee as a recommendation to the MHSAA Representative Council.
Each of the sport committee recommendations that is received by the time of the League Leadership meeting in mid-February is presented to the league administrators in attendance so they will be aware of what’s flowing in the pipeline toward the MHSAA Representative Council for a vote. It is intended that these sport committee recommendations will be discussed at meetings by each league, and that the MHSAA staff will be notified of questions or concerns that any proposal generates.
MHSAA staff – most often Associate Director Tom Rashid – take some of the proposals on the road, to both league meetings and Athletic Director In-Service programs, where experienced practical minds praise some proposals and poke holes in others.
Many of the recommendations are also discussed at the March conference of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, and some are made “Position Statements” on which the MIAAA members vote at the conclusion of their conference. It’s interesting to observe that some recommendations that passed coach-dominated sport committees with unanimous support fail to receive 50 percent support by the athletic directors as they make a more circumspect review of the issue.
All along the way, the MHSAA staff is watching, listening, and learning. We learn, for example, that some proposals have negative unintended consequences, that other proposals lack sufficient research or even essential facts, and that in both cases, approval should be denied or at least delayed for more complete development and study.
That was a major theme of this past week’s Representative Council meeting when many committee proposals were, if not derailed, at least detained for later departure. For example:
A proposal to revise the limited team membership rule for 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders that would allow during the school season up to two dates of non-school participation in all sports except football was tabled in order to gather more membership input.
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A proposal to alter the three-decade-old MHSAA Baseball Tournament schedule was delayed to consider the effects of and questions raised by the pitching limitation rule that is new this year – a late requirement of the national rules committee.
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A proposal to seed and bracket District and Regional Basketball Tournaments raised more questions than answers and did not advance.
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A proposal to require observers in each group at all Lower Peninsula Boys and Girls Regional and Final Golf Tournaments was at least slowed.
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A proposal to require two days rest between the Semifinal and Final games of soccer Regionals received a yellow card, even though the proposal has good intentions and is part of an evolving package of proposals to make that sport a healthier experience – with more attention to practice and training and less competition.
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A national soccer committee rule change regarding the color of undergarments was delayed indefinitely by the Council, to avoid both unnecessary confusion and new costs.
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A proposal to allow additional teams to advance from Regionals to Finals in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Tennis Tournaments was not adopted – perhaps a good idea in good weather, but problematic in bad.
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Membership Renewal
May 23, 2017
Unlike classroom courses of our schools, the interscholastic athletic program requires opponents; and to help promote a level playing field for competition, the interscholastic athletic program requires some organization to provide a forum to assist in developing competitive standards and to help assure they are maintained. For many years, many schools have worked through the Michigan High School Athletic Association to establish a common set of rules, for the orderly administration of an interscholastic athletic program, which promotes academic integrity and competitive equity.
According to Michigan Attorney General Opinion #4795 of 1977, any local board of education that desires to do so may voluntarily join the MHSAA by adopting the rules of the association and agreeing to enforce those rules with respect to its schools. Institutional control remains the key to this organization.
MHSAA membership is free of charge, and there is no entry fee to participate in MHSAA tournaments. But while MHSAA membership is free of costs, it’s not free of responsibilities. The expectations of member schools include:
- Educating student-athletes, staff and other involved personnel about MHSAA rules and procedures.
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Monitoring compliance year-around.
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Investigating possible violations and reporting findings.
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Administering penalties.
Each school district that agrees to these responsibilities must say so by means of an annual board of education resolution. The resolutions have just been mailed to all superintendents for the 2017-18 school year.
Each school district that wishes one or more schools to participate in MHSAA tournaments and benefit from MHSAA services must schedule on its board of education agenda the adoption of the MHSAA Membership Resolution. The Resolution should be signed in sufficient time to prevent a lapse in membership (before August 1). A lapse in membership, even though for only a week, can create unnecessary problems should there be claims under the $1,000,000 accident medical insurance plan or the concussion care gap insurance or if eligibility rulings are to be made during that period.