Making (Health) Histories Every Year
July 23, 2015
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
Tom Minter, recently retired from the MHSAA as assistant director, wore many hats while serving the Association and donned official’s gear in numerous sports outside of business hours.
But one of his finest refereeing efforts might have come during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years when he guided approximately 60 individuals representing 25 medical and professional organizations through an arduous process to upgrade the antiquated Physical Form to what is the standard today: the Pre-participation Physical Examination/Health History Form.
The form highlighted Stage 1 of the MHSAA’s 4 Hs of Health and Safety – Health Histories – and the current form is much more comprehensive, answering questions previously not asked during the quicker, more brief, evaluations.
Sudden cardiac death claims the lives of more than 300 Michigan children and young adults between the ages of 1-39 years annually. Yet, many of these deaths could be prevented through screening, detection, and treatment. One such way to detect high risk conditions that predispose to SCDY is through pre-participation sports screening of student-athletes, and the current physical form provides a mechanism.
While much more detailed, schools report that parents are more than willing to take the extra time and effort to complete the lengthier version.
“When the expanded form came out, people kiddingly made comments about its length; yet in today's day and age everyone understands we need all the information we can cultivate regarding health histories of our student athletes,” said Mark Mattson, athletic director at Traverse City Central.
Down state, feelings have been similar. “We don’t have a problem at all here,” said Anna Devitt, athletic secretary at Hartland High School. “Our parents take care of it, and haven’t balked at the length at all.”
Both agree, and are joined by many others across the state, that the next logical step is for the form to be converted to a fillable, online document so that records can be accessed by those in need via mobile, laptop or desktop.
Thus, in the “No H left behind” mantra that the MHSAA has assumed, an electronic option of the Health History form is in the early planning stages.
“As an increasing number of our schools strive to be ‘paper-free,’ or at least as much so as possible, it is time to re-invent the delivery method for perhaps our most downloaded or distributed document,” MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts said. “Once again, as we move forward with our ‘Heart’ initiative for the coming school year, we are also intent on bringing other projects up to speed.”
The masses are certainly enthused.
“That would be heavenly. An online version that would prevent people from submitting the forms until all the required information was in place would be fantastic,” said Mattson, who has had to turn back, or hold out students while waiting for completed forms, whether at Marquette, Maple City Glen Lake, or his current post in Traverse City. “It’s always been the same; people move too quickly and overlook required fields. It would prevent two things: one, having to hold kids out while waiting for a signature, and two, prevent parents from having to drive in to the athletic office to sign or fill in that last field. We’d know we were getting a completed form.”
At Hartland, where athletic director Jason Reck created an online emergency contact form, a system is in place which allows coaches, administrators and trainers to share necessary data for all student-athletes in addition to the MHSAA forms.
“Our parents love the online emergency contact form, and we require them to fill it out every season, not just once a year,” Devitt said. “Sometimes an athlete gets injured during one season and the next season's coach wants to know about it.”
The information on the form is populated into an Excel spreadsheet which Reck, Devitt, the school trainer and all coaches can access. They can tailor the data by sport and pull it to their mobile devices.
“We’re trying to go completely paperless, and the MHSAA physical form would be another step,” Devitt said. “Our parents and doctor’s offices would love it.”
Flynn, Guzzo & Thayer Named 2021 Bush Award Recipients
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 18, 2021
Birmingham Groves’ Thomas Flynn, St. Joseph’s Kevin Guzzo and Bay City Western’s Michael Thayer are leaders of Michigan high school athletic programs who have put education and providing a positive student experience at the forefront of their work, while also becoming known among colleagues for their guidance and assistance to others striving to build the same foundations at their schools.
To recognize not only their work within their districts but their impacts on many other leaders in athletic administration, Flynn, Guzzo and Thayer have been named recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Allen W. Bush Award for 2021.
Al Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to school athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to people who are giving and serving without a lot of attention. This is the 30th year of the award, with selections made by the MHSAA's Representative Council.
Flynn has begun his 21st year as Birmingham Groves High School athletic director and 32nd overall at the school after beginning as a teacher. He has served as a host of MHSAA Tournament events in team and individual wrestling, girls and boys diving, girls and boys tennis, girls and boys basketball, baseball and softball, football, ice hockey, volleyball and girls and boys soccer. Flynn also has served on MHSAA Committees for wrestling, gymnastics, swimming & diving, tennis and various officials topics. He made Groves the home of all Metro Detroit Officials Association meetings and has received recognition for his service to the Oakland County Wrestling Officials Association.
Flynn has served as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer for the Oakland County Athletic Directors Association, and as the Region 11 representative for the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). A certified athletic trainer, he also is a longtime member of the National Athletic Trainers Association. The MIAAA named Flynn a Regional Athletic Director of the Year in 2012.
He graduated from Hillsdale High School in 1984, then earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with an emphasis on sports medicine from Grand Valley State University in 1990. He received a master’s in sports administration from Wayne State University. Flynn also has served on the Birmingham Bloomfield Community Coalition.
“Tom is a guy who is willing to do anything to assist the MHSAA. He’s hosted an Individual Wrestling District for 20-plus years, and that’s far-and-away the most difficult event to host – and he wants to do it every year,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “Tom is not afraid to do the dirty work, but he’s also not afraid to speak up, and that’s something I’ve always admired and appreciated about him.”
Guzzo has begun his 26th year with St. Joseph Public Schools and 18th as athletic director after previously serving as a coach and teacher. He earned his elite certification in the MHSAA Coaches Advancement Program in 2014 and has served as a CAP instructor and as an instructor for the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) Leadership Training Institute. He also has served as chairperson representing the MIAAA on the Five State Exchange Committee. A frequent contributor as well to MHSAA Committees for sports, officials, classification and site selection, Guzzo recently contributed as part of the MHSAA Multi-Sport Task Force.
He received his certified athletic administrator (CAA) designation from the NIAAA in 2007 and was named an MIAAA Regional Athletic Director of the Year in 2015.
Guzzo graduated from Bessemer High School in 1991, then earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics at Western Michigan University in 1995 and master’s in math education from WMU in 2001. He has been active in the St. Joseph Lions Club, First Tee of Benton Harbor and the local Senior PGA Tournament Committee.
“Kevin has become a real leader in the southwestern corner of the state, and in many rooms has grown into a veteran voice of reason on many topics and issues,” Uyl said. “He’s taken what he’s learned over the years and incorporated it into his teaching as a Coaches Advancement Program instructor, and we are thrilled that we have many beginning coaches who one of their first mentors is a person like Kevin through CAP.”
Thayer has begun his 25th year as an athletic director and also serves as an assistant principal at Western. He served at Merrill Community Schools from 1995-2007 before arriving at Western with the start of the 2007-08 school year. He also is a frequent MHSAA Tournament host and has been a valued voice on a variety of MHSAA Committees, including the Multi-Sport Task Force and selection committee for the MHSAA-Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards. Additionally, he has served as the MIAAA’s historical records chairperson and as part of its public relations committee.
He is active with the NIAAA and Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) and National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). He was selected for a Regional Athletic Director of the Year Award by the MIAAA in 2017, and also that year received the MIAAA’s George Lovich State Award of Merit.
Thayer graduated from Muskegon Orchard View High School in 1986, then earned his bachelor’s degree in business teaching from Central Michigan University in 1990 and master’s in educational administration/school principalship from CMU in 2003. He also is a CAP elite-certification graduate. He has served as a trustee for Thomas Township – with membership in the Michigan Township Association – and been active in the Shields Lions Club.
“Mike has been one of the true leaders of the Saginaw Valley League for a long time, and he’s really become the point guard of that league over the last five years,” Uyl said. “If ever someone should be defined for quiet, steady leadership, it’s Mike Thayer. It’s always about substance with Mike. He’s as reliable an athletic director as there is in the country.”