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
MHSAA Student Advisory Council Names Members from Class of 2026
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 6, 2024
Eight student-athletes who will be juniors at their schools during the 2024-25 academic year have been selected to serve two-year terms on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Student Advisory Council.
The Student Advisory Council is a 16-member group which provides feedback on issues impacting educational athletics from a student’s perspective, and also is involved in the operation of MHSAA championship events and other programming. Members of the Student Advisory Council serve for two years, beginning as juniors. Eight new members are selected annually to serve on the SAC, with nominations made by MHSAA member schools. The incoming juniors will join the group of eight seniors-to-be appointed a year ago.
Selected to begin serving on the Student Advisory Council in 2024-25 are: Itzel Albarran, Bronson; Harper Barnhart, Brownstown Woodhaven; Diamond Cook, Southfield Christian; Henry Ewles, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep; Cole Haist, Big Rapids; Frannie Keeley, Jenison; Trey LaValley, Romeo; and Ethan Stine, Bridgman.
Those eight new members were selected from 90 applicants. The first Student Advisory Council was formed for the 2006-07 school year. With the addition of this class beginning this summer, members will have represented 142 schools from 51 leagues plus independent schools that do not play in a league. Combined, the new appointees have participated in 10 MHSAA sports, and five will be the first SAC members from their respective schools.
The Student Advisory Council generally meets seven times each school year, and once more for a 24-hour leadership camp. In addition to assisting in the promotion of the educational value of interscholastic athletics, the Council discusses issues dealing with the 4 S’s of educational athletics: scholarship, sportsmanship, safety (including health and nutrition) and the sensible scope of athletic programs. There also is a fifth S discussed by the group – student leadership.
This school year, the Council handed out championship trophies at Finals events, led sessions during four Sportsmanship Summits and provided assistance at the Women In Sports Leadership Conference, provided feedback to the MHSAA Representative Council on proposed rule changes, worked on a mental health initiative, and wrote the script for a public service announcement on adult spectator sportsmanship that will be included in broadcasts beginning this upcoming school year.
The new additions to the SAC will join the Class of 2025 members who were selected a year ago: Cale Bell, Sault Ste. Marie; Drew Cady, Oxford; Macy Jenkins, Milford; Isaiah Kabban, Harbor Beach; Ella Knudsen, Leland; Kaylee Kranz, Clinton; Joey Spada, Kalamazoo Central; and Aynalem Zoet, Grandville Calvin Christian.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.