2013-14 School Year Classifications Announced

March 20, 2013

Classifications for Michigan High School Athletic Association elections and postseason tournaments in traditionally classified sports (A, B, C, D) for the 2013-14 school year have been announced, with enrollment breaks for postseason tournaments set up by divisions to be posted Monday on the MHSAA Website.

Classifications for the upcoming school year are based on a second semester count date, which for MHSAA purposes was February 13. The enrollment figure submitted for athletic classification purposes may be different from the count submitted for school aid purposes, as it does not include students ineligible for athletic competition because they reached their 19th birthday prior to September 1 of the current school year and will not include alternative education students if none are allowed athletic eligibility by the local school district.

After all the counts are submitted, tournament-qualified member schools are ranked according to enrollment, and then split as closely into quarters as possible. For 2013-14, there are 756 tournament-qualified member schools and 189 schools in each class.

Effective with the 2013-14 school year, schools with 893 or more students are in Class A in MHSAA postseason tournament competition. The enrollment limits for Class B are 429-892; Class C is 207-428; and schools with enrollments of 206 and fewer are Class D. The break between Classes A and B decreased 18 students from 2012-13, the break between Classes B and C decreased 20 students, and the break between Classes C and D is 10 students fewer than the current school year.

The new classification breaks will see 24 schools move up in class for 2013-14, while 20 schools will move down.

Schools were recently notified of their classification. MHSAA Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts said schools may not subsequently lower their enrollment figure. However, if revised enrollment figures should be higher and indicate that a school should be playing in a higher class, that school would be moved up.

Schools have the option to play at any higher classification for a minimum of two years, but must exercise the option by April 15 for fall sports, August 15 for winter sports, and October 15 for spring sports.

MHSAA tournament sports that will be conducted in traditional classifications for 2013-14 are Basketball and Girls Volleyball. Football will use traditional classifications to determine playoff points. 

Sports which will compete in nearly equal divisions are: Baseball, Bowling, Girls Competitive Cheer, Lower Peninsula Cross Country, Lower Peninsula Golf, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Lower Peninsula Soccer, Skiing, Softball, Lower Peninsula Swimming and Diving, Lower Peninsula Tennis, Lower Peninsula Track and Field and Wrestling.  

Visit the respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website on Monday to review the divisional alignments.

The divisions and qualifiers for the MHSAA Football Playoffs will be announced on Selection Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. 

A complete list of school enrollments used to determine classifications for the 2013-14 school year can be found on the Enrollment & Classification page of the MHSAA Website.

Here is a complete list of schools changing classification for 2013-14. (Note: This list does not include schools opting up in class/division for tournaments, which can be found on the Administrators page of the MHSAA Website under Enrollment and Classification):


Moving Up From Class B to Class A

Haslett

Detroit Osborn

Warren Regina

South Lyon East

Middleville Thornapple Kellogg

Trenton

 

Moving Down From Class A to Class B

Coldwater

Fowlerville

Fruitport

Detroit Henry Ford

Inkster

Milan

Redford Union

Romulus

Detroit Southeastern

 

Moving Up From Class C to Class B

Dearborn Advanced Technology Academy

Ypsilanti Arbor Preparatory

Delton Kellogg

Harrison

Houghton

Detroit Plymouth Educational Center Prep

Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central

Detroit University Prep Science & Math

Grand Rapids Wellspring Preparatory

Detroit Westside Academy


Moving Down From Class B to Class C

Southfield Bradford

Farwell

Detroit Henry Ford Academy School for Creative Studies

Houghton Lake

Kalkaska

Lakeview

 

Moving Up From Class D to Class C

Beal City

Detroit Dr. Benjamin Carson HS for Science & Medicine

Kimball Landmark Academy

St. Ignace LaSalle

Mendon

Mio-Au Sable

Detroit Universal Academy

Pittsford


Moving Down From Class C to Class D

Albion

Detroit Collegiate Prep

Harper Woods HEART Academy

Marcellus

Stephenson

 

New Postseason Eligible Tournament Schools in 2013-14

Detroit Jalen Rose Leadership Academy

Detroit University Prep Science & Math

Grand Rapids West MI Aviation Academy

Kalamazoo Lakeside Academy

Marquette North Star Academy

Wetmore Munising Baptist


Enrollment Breaks by Classes – 2013-14

(Number of schools in parentheses)

Class A: 893 and above (189 schools)

Class B: 429 – 892 (189)

Class C: 207 – 428 (189)

Class D: 206 and below (189)

Participation Again Bests Population Rank

August 11, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

For the eighth straight year, Michigan ranked seventh nationally in high school sports participation, according to statistics for the 2015-16 school year released recently by the National Federation of State High School Associations. That level of participation continued to best Michigan’s national ranking for total number of residents of high school age, which remained ninth for the fourth consecutive year, and Michigan also again ranked ninth or higher in participation in 26 of 28 sports in which the Michigan High School Athletic Association conducts a postseason tournament.

Michigan’s participation ranking was based on a number of 295,436, with 126,160 girls and 169,276 boys taking part, and included sports in which the MHSAA does not conduct postseason tournaments. The totals count students once for each sport in which he or she participates, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.

The state’s girls participation remained seventh nationally for the fifth consecutive year, while the boys participation figure continued to rank sixth. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures from 2015, Michigan ranks ninth in both females and males ages 14 through 17.

For the second straight year, 13 sports bested the state’s overall national participation ranking of seventh by placing sixth or higher on their respective lists. Six Michigan sports improved in national ranking during 2015-16, while three sports dropped one position.

Michigan girls bowling, girls tennis and girls and boys skiing all improved from fourth to third in national participation ranking, while wrestling improved to seventh and gymnastics one spot to 11th. Michigan also moved up to eighth, from 11th, for 8-player football participation – significant because the state’s 11-player football participation ranking didn’t fall with that increase, remaining at sixth nationally.  

The three sports that fell in national rankings in 2015-16 still remained above population rank – competitive cheer from fifth to sixth nationally, girls track & field one spot to eighth and baseball also from seventh to eighth on its list.

The other Michigan sports that ranked sixth or higher all equaled their national rankings from 2014-15 and included boys basketball at sixth, boys bowling third, boys golf and girls golf both sixth, ice hockey fourth, boys tennis fifth and girls volleyball fourth. Other Michigan sports that equaled their 2014-15 national rankings were girls basketball at seventh, boys and girls cross country both also seventh, boys lacrosse eighth, girls lacrosse 13th, boys and girls soccer both ninth, softball seventh, boys swimming & diving ninth, girls swimming & diving 10th and boys track & field also seventh.

National participation in high school sports in 2015-16 set a record for the 27th consecutive year with 7,868,900 participants – an increase of 61,853 from the year before. After a decline the previous year, boys participation increased about 25,000 to an all-time high of 4,544,574, while girls participation increased for the 27th consecutive year with an additional 36,591 participants and set an all-time high of 3,324,326.

Track and field registered the largest increase in participants nationally for both boys and girls, with an additional 12,501 boys and 7,243 girls. Track and field ranked second to football in boys participants with 591,133, and remained the most popular sport for girls with 485,969 participants. In addition to track and field, six other top-10 girls sports registered increases nationally in 2015-16, including volleyball, soccer, softball, cross country, tennis and lacrosse. After track and field among the top 10 boys sports, soccer registered the largest gain with an additional 7,753 participants, followed by cross country (up 6,710), basketball (up 4,949) and baseball (up 2,248).

Football (1,083,308) remained the most-played high school sport overall and enjoyed an encouraging development. After a decline of nearly 10,000 participants in football the previous year, the number of boys playing 11-player football nationally in 2015 was almost identical to 2014 with a drop of just 309 from the 2014 total of 1,083,617.