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2015 Bush Awards Honor 4 Veteran ADs
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 8, 2015
Four athletic directors with a combined 103 years of service to high school athletes – Kalamazoo Hackett’s Michael Garvey, Livonia Churchill’s Marc Hage, Pewamo-Westphalia’s Barry Hobrla and Saginaw Heritage’s Peter Ryan – have been named recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Allen W. Bush Award for 2015.
Al Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to prep athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to men and women who are giving and serving without a lot of attention. This is the 24th year of the award, with selections made by the MHSAA's Representative Council.
“All four of this year’s honorees have been leaders in Michigan’s educational athletic community for more than two decades, making impacts both easily visible and behind the scenes with their guidance and expertise,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “We are grateful to all four for their service and pleased to honor them with the Bush Award.”
Garvey, in his 21st school year as an athletic director, made some of his earliest educational impacts on the wrestling mat and was named the Michigan Wrestling Association’s state Coach of the Year in 1990 after leading Lawton to the Lower Peninsula Class D championship. He began his educational career at Marian Central Catholic in Woodstock, Ill., in 1981, then came to Lawton in 1985 and served there as athletic director from 1994-99. He then served as athletic director at Delton Kellogg from 1999-2006 and at Otsego from 2006-2010. He is finishing his fifth school year as Hackett’s athletic director.
Garvey is an active member of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He has served on the faculty for the NIAAA’s Leadership Training Institute and as Michigan’s coordinator for the program, and also as the MIAAA’s 2nd vice president and as co-commissioner of the Kalamazoo Valley Association.
He’s been named a Regional Athletic Director of the Year by the MIAAA and received its George Lovich State Award of Merit. He’s a long-serving member of the MHSAA’s Wrestling Committee and has hosted numerous tournament events, and also has served as an MHSAA official for more than two decades registered for wrestling, baseball, softball, basketball, track & field and cross country. Garvey completed high school at The American School in London, England, and earned bachelor and master’s degrees from Western Michigan University.
“Mike Garvey is able to draw from his experiences as a successful coach and teach others to lead and achieve,” Roberts said. “His contributions to the MHSAA have been ample as a tournament host and knowledgeable voice on the Wrestling Committee, as he’s able to bring a valuable perspective of someone who has worked on the mat and in the athletic director’s role as well.”
Hage previously worked as an advertising account executive before making a decision to instead teach and coach. A graduate of Livonia Churchill, he returned in 1990 after also teaching at Holt and Berkley. He became Churchill’s athletic director in 1996. Hage has been a member of the MIAAA and NIAAA since becoming an administrator, and twice was named the MIAAA’s Athletic Director of the Year for his region. He also has received the Lovich State Award of Merit.
Hage served as president of the former Western Lakes Activities Association and then the current Kensington Lakes Activities Association while also hosting numerous MHSAA tournament events. He has served as an instructor and presenter at MIAAA conferences and also for the Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
He also remains active in a number of community efforts and previously served as coordinator of Special Olympics at Michigan State University and of the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart in Southfield, and as an instructor in lifeguarding and water safety for the American Red Cross. He earned bachelor’s degrees in communications and later physical education and a master’s in education from Michigan State University, and also studied at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
“Marc Hage continues to be a valuable advocate for high school athletics, not only in his community but on a statewide level,” Roberts said. “His contributions to school sports at various levels have been numerous and influential, especially during his tenures as president of multiple leagues and as a presenter to his colleagues.”
Hobrla has served as an athletic director for 29 years at Algonac, Lake Central, Ind., at Lowell from 1994-2013, and currently at Pewamo-Westphalia. He’s also served as a registered official for basketball, cross country and track & field.
Lowell added teams for girls soccer, ice hockey, boys and girls bowling, and boys and girls lacrosse while under Hobrla’s leadership. He also served as a host for MHSAA Finals in boys soccer from 1995-2006, track & field for three seasons and cross country for two.
Hobrla has served as an instructor for the MHSAA’s Coaches Advancement Program and also the National Federation Interscholastic Coaches Education Program. He served on a number of MIAAA committees and on its executive board from 2008-13, and was named a regional Athletic Director of the Year in 2006. Also while at Lowell, Hobrla served on committees for Cascade Township Parks & Recreation and the Lowell Area Trailway. He earned both bachelor and master’s degrees from Michigan State University after graduating from Lansing Everett High School.
“Barry Hobrla has worked to expand opportunities for student-athletes, and always keeps their interests in mind,” Roberts said. “As an instructor for the Coaches Advancement Program, and through his various leadership positions with the MIAAA, he continues to pass on this proper perspective for school sports to his colleagues in the field.”
Ryan is in his 17th year with Saginaw Township Community Schools and 24th total as an athletic director. He previously served for Alma from January 1992-March 1993 and Portland from April 1993 through August 1997 before moving on to Saginaw Heritage.
A member of the MHSAA Representative Council, Ryan was named Athletic Director of the year in 2008 by the MIAAA, which also named Heritage an Exemplary Athletic Program in 2003. Ryan was an Athletic Director of the Year finalist in 2009 for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association, and was named Midwest Athletic Director of the Year in 2010 by the National Association of Sport & Physical Education.
Ryan served on the MIAAA Executive Board from 2003-07 and as its president in 2006-07, and served as MIAAA president in 2005. He’s also served on the MHSAA’s Audit and Finance Committee and hosted more than 150 tournaments during his tenures as an athletic director. Ryan also has served as the Saginaw Valley League executive director since 1999. He remains a board member for the Dow Event Center Arena, Theater and First Merit Park Amphitheater, and on the sport and recreation committee for the Saginaw Chamber of Commerce. Ryan graduated from Iron Mountain High School and then with bachelor and master’s degrees from Central Michigan University.
“Pete Ryan’s leadership and influence in educational athletics have been commendable, and his expertise in a wide range of topics has made him someone we can turn to on a variety of subjects,” Roberts said. “I watched as he served effectively during the early years of his career, and have been thankful for his contributions as he’s continued on and served with our Representative Council.”
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Participation Data Published for Abbreviated 2019-20 School Year
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 26, 2021
Data collected from Michigan High School Athletic Association schools for the annual national participation study has been published, noting that comparisons of overall participation and Spring sports data to past years must include the context that Spring sports teams had not begun competition before sports were halted March 16, 2020, and eventually canceled, and that reporting for those sports may be incomplete.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) did not publish results of its national survey for the 2019-20 school year. However, the data collected for MHSAA sports has been posted to the MHSAA Website; results from the 2000-01 school year to present may be viewed at www.mhsaa.com by clicking on Schools > Administrators > Sports Participation Listing.
A total of 274,126 participants competed or had begun practices in MHSAA-sponsored sports during the 2019-20 school year. The overall MHSAA participation totals count students once for each sport in which they participate, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
Boys participation fell 2.7 percent to 157,323, and girls participation also decreased, by three percent to 116,803. However, both measures include totals received for Spring sports, which saw reduced participation reported in eight of nine sports offered and the majority by significant percentages indicating the effect of the COVID-19 stoppage.
However, data collected for the Fall and Winter revealed mostly consistent comparisons with eight sports showing increases in participation from 2018-19 and 11 showing decreases (not counting girls tennis, which is played in Fall in the Upper Peninsula but by the great majority of the state’s teams in the Lower Peninsula during Spring). Girls and boys bowling both set participation records with the girls total of 3,134 athletes up 1.3 percent over the previous season and the boys total of 4,495 up 3.8 percent over 2018-19.
Girls alpine skiing and wrestling enjoyed the second-largest percentage increases in participation in 2019-20 of three percent each, girls skiing to 786 athletes (the sport’s most since 2004-05) and wrestling to 9,777 participants. Volleyball bounced back from a dip in 2018-19 with an increase of nearly a percent to 19,248 participants, and boys swimming & diving similarly bounced back with a 1.1-percent increase to 5,059 participants. Girls golf (0.6 percent, 3,610 total participants) and boys tennis (1.3 percent, 6,339 athletes) also saw increases despite Upper Peninsula seasons in those sports not being played. Girls lacrosse, with 3,224 participants, was up 1.4 percent and set a record despite the sport being halted prior to the start of competition.
Of the 11 Fall and Winter sports that saw decreases in participation from 2018-19, eight were by 1.6 percent or less. Football, with 34,339 participants during the 2019 season, remained the most-played sport despite a 3-percent decrease from the previous year. Boys track & field (21,650) and boys basketball (21,016) had the next-highest totals of participants reported. Volleyball (19,248) remained the most popular girls sport by participation, followed by girls track & field (16,274) and girls basketball (15,133).
The following chart shows participation figures for the 2019-20 school year from MHSAA member schools for sports in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament:
BOYS |
GIRLS |
|||
Sport |
Schools (A) |
Participants |
Schools (A) |
Participants (B) |
Baseball |
658/4 |
16,455 |
- |
0/4 |
Basketball |
737/3 |
21,005 |
729 |
15,133/11 |
Bowling |
418/15 |
4,469 |
407 |
3,134/26 |
Competitive Cheer |
- |
- |
361 |
6,567 |
Cross Country |
671/2 |
9,457 |
669 |
8,066/11 |
Football - 11 player |
560/87 |
32,628 |
- |
0/100 |
8-player |
93/16 |
1,591 |
- |
0/20 |
Golf |
531/66 |
5,729 |
351 |
3,610/132 |
Gymnastics |
- |
- |
102 |
666 |
Ice Hockey |
295/10 |
3,261 |
- |
315/11 |
Lacrosse |
171/10 |
5,305 |
122 |
3,224/14 |
Skiing |
116/2 |
916 |
114 |
786/3 |
Soccer |
503/16 |
14,195 |
484 |
12,429/69 |
Softball |
- |
- |
648 |
12,657 |
Swimming & Diving |
274/22 |
4,987 |
273 |
5,474/72 |
Tennis |
310/18 |
6,304 |
340 |
8,621/35 |
Track & Field |
696/1 |
21,645 |
694 |
16,274/5 |
Volleyball |
- |
- |
720 |
19,248 |
Wrestling |
492/216 |
9,376 |
- |
0/401 |
(A) The first number is the number of schools reporting sponsorship on the Sports Participation Survey, including primary and secondary schools in cooperative programs as of May 15, 2020. The second number indicates the number of schools that had girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys.
(B) The second number indicates the number of additional girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys and entered in boys competition.
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.