Survey Shows Multi-Sport Participation Holding Steady, Led by Consistent High Achievers

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

December 14, 2023

The MHSAA's fifth Multi-Sport Participation Survey, conducted this spring for the 2022-23 school year, showed for the second-consecutive year that 44 percent of athletes at member high schools participated in more than one sport, and with several schools retaining high rankings in their respective Classes for the percentage of their athletes playing multiple sports.

Early and intense sport specialization has become one of the most serious issues related to health and safety at all levels of youth sports, as overuse injuries and burnout among athletes have been tied to chronic injuries and health-related problems later in life.

This past year’s survey showed 44.7 percent of athletes at MHSAA member high schools participating in two or more sports, a slight increase from the 44.3 percent who were multi-sport athletes in 2021-22 – and 1.9 percent higher than the percentage measured with the first survey in 2017-18.

For 2022-23, 47.5 percent of male athletes and 41.2 percent of female athletes played multiple sports. Class D has enjoyed the highest percentage of multi-sport athletes over all five years of surveys, this time at 62.5 percent, followed by Class C (59.0), Class B (49.6) and Class A (36.9).

Similar results for overall sport participation and multi-sport participation relative to enrollment size were seen by further breaking down Class A into schools of fewer than 1,000 students, 1,000-1,500 students, 1,501-2,000 students and more than 2,000 students. For both sport participation as a whole and multi-sport participation specifically, the smallest Class A schools continued to enjoy the highest percentages, while percentages then decreased for every larger size group of schools. This has remained consistent over the last five surveys.

Since 2018-19, the survey also has shown a slight increase in three-sport athletes across all four Classes and overall with 12.6 percent of athletes at MHSAA member high schools playing at least that many in 2022-23.

In early 2016, the MHSAA appointed a Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation as part of a continued effort to promote and protect participant health and address the issues leading to early sport specialization. The annual Multi-Sport Participation Survey was among results of the task force’s work.  The 2022-23 Multi-Sport Participation Survey received responses from 85.2 percent of member high schools, a few tenths more than in 2021-22 in setting a survey response record for the second-straight year. (No survey was conducted for 2019-20 as spring sports were canceled due to COVID-19.)

The MHSAA Task Force also recommended measuring multi-sport participation in MHSAA member schools to recognize “achievers” – that is, schools that surpass the norm given their enrollment and other factors that affect school sports participation.

Battle Creek Harper Creek, Detroit Cody and Grand Rapids Northview have appeared among the top 10 percent of their respective Classes four of the five years the survey has been conducted. Several more have appeared among the top 10 percent of their Classes three of the five years: Athens, Decatur, Detroit Douglass, East Grand Rapids, Gibraltar Carlson, Hamtramck, Hillsdale Academy, Holland Calvary, Kinross Maplewood Baptist, Livonia Franklin, Manton, Marquette, New Baltimore Anchor Bay, Ovid-Elsie, Parma Western, Warren Fitzgerald, Warren Lincoln and Warren Michigan Collegiate.

In Class A, Sterling Heights (85.7 percent) and Grand Rapids Union (84.0) posted the highest percentages of multi-sport athletes in 2022-23, with Livonia Franklin (73.1) and Battle Creek Harper Creek (71.3) also reaching 70 percent. In Class B, three schools achieved at least 80 percent multi-sport participation –Warren Michigan Collegiate (85.2), Detroit Cody (84.2) and Battle Creek Pennfield (81.5).

Class C saw eight schools reach 80 percent – Jackson Lumen Christi (92.5), Delton Kellogg (92.3), Decatur (86.2), Muskegon Western Michigan Christian (84.0), Indian River Inland Lakes (83.3), Detroit Crockett Midtown Science & Medicine (82.4), Martin (80.6) and LeRoy Pine River (80.0). Two Class D schools responded at higher than 90 percent multi-sport participation – Coldwater Pansophia Academy with 100 percent for the second-straight year and Carney-Nadeau (94.0) – followed by Brighton Livingston Christian (88.9), Carsonville-Port Sanilac (88.6) and Holland Calvary (87.0).

The full summary report on the Multi-Sport Participation Survey is available on the Multi-Sports Benefits page of MHSAA.com

Novi Principal, Past MHSAA Council VP Carter to Receive Inaugural Hampton Award

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 4, 2024

Nicole Carter grew up in a family of educators, aspired to become one herself, and has dedicated her career to providing opportunities in all facets of education – including educational athletics – to all students through her vision and inspiration. To celebrate Carter’s continuing contributions especially to underrepresented groups in school sports, she has been selected as the inaugural honoree of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Nate Hampton Champion of Progress in Athletics Award.

The Hampton Award was created by the MHSAA’s Representative Council to honor Nate Hampton, who retired in 2021 after serving in education and educational athletics for 50 years, including the last 32 years as an MHSAA assistant director. Honorees have championed the promotion and advancement of opportunities for women, minorities and other underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, while serving as an administrator, coach, official, educator or school sports leader in Michigan.

Carter, in her 10th year as principal at Novi High School, was selected as the first recipient of the Hampton Award by the Representative Council at its Fall meeting in December and will be recognized during the Boys Basketball Finals on March 16 at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

“As an advocate and strong proponent of athletics, I understand wholeheartedly the impact they have on the whole child,” Carter said. “This is a surreal moment for me, and I’m truly honored to be the recipient of this award, keeping in mind the impact Nate Hampton had on athletics in the state of Michigan over several decades – it’s very humbling.”

Carter began at Novi in 1999, teaching for eight years before moving into administration as dean of student activities for three years and then assistant principal for three. She became principal with the 2013-14 school year and leads a staff of 140 in educating more than 2,100 students.

While leading one of the state’s largest and most highly-regarded high schools – and one of Michigan’s most diverse, with her students’ families speaking more than 70 languages at home – Carter has provided her expertise through several more efforts. She served four years on the MHSAA Representative Council, from 2019-23, and as its vice president for the 2022-23 school year. She has served on the MHSAA’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and volleyball and classification committees, and presented at the annual Women In Sports Leadership Conference on social and emotional skill building. She also has served as president of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association.

“Nicole Carter serves with the mindset of providing opportunities for all students as the principal at one of the largest and most diverse high schools in Michigan, and students statewide benefitted from her leadership during her time as part of the Representative Council and Executive Committee,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “No matter the topic or details of a situation, Nicole looks at it from a rational point of view in deciding what’s best for kids. She continues to emphasize that academics must be the highest priority in a student’s education, and she can provide that perspective with a wider lens as someone with a strong background in and understanding of the role of athletics.”

Service through education is a tradition in Carter’s family. Her grandfather Charles Butler Nuckolls served as a principal in Kentucky for 40 years prior to desegregation. Her father Gene Nuckolls also spent 40 years in education, including as principal of Saginaw High School and assistant superintendent for Saginaw Public Schools, while Carter’s mother Shirley Nuckolls dedicated 40 years as a teacher, assistant principal and guidance counselor within the Saginaw district.

Carter’s selection for the Hampton Award is something of a full-circle moment for her family. Gene Nuckolls hired Hampton as supervisor of athletic and physical education for Saginaw Public Schools in 1987. 

Carter was named Michigan High School Principal of the Year in 2022 by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) and Michigan Association of Student Councils and Honor Societies (MASC/MAHS). She additionally has been recognized as a Diversity Champion as part of The Community House honor roll recognition program, and was selected as an African American Educator of the Year by the Michigan Lottery in 2016. She also was recognized in 2017 by the Oakland County Coordinating Council Against Domestic Violence.

Drawing from her athletic background and perspective, Carter noted that she strives to be a coach and mentor – as well as a teacher of teachers and students as principal at her school.

She also has continually looked to create inclusive opportunities during her tenure, citing Novi’s Special Olympics Unified Sports program as a significant point of pride for the school.  

“I always lead from the lens of equity and inclusion and accessibility, and I’m always trying to identify opportunities for students to find their place,” Carter said. “Ensuring every single student in our school has a sense of belonging is one of my top priorities as principal.”

Carter is a 1993 graduate of Saginaw Heritage, where she played basketball, soccer and softball. She earned bachelor’s degrees in political science, with a minor in English, and secondary education from Michigan State University in 1999 and her master’s in curriculum and instruction from MSU in 2001. She also has an educational leadership degree from Oakland University. Carter taught civics/economics and U.S. government and politics at Novi before moving into administration.

PHOTOS courtesy of Novi Community School District.