2020-21 Spring Sports Activity to Start March 22

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 22, 2021

The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association approved today an adjustment to the Spring 2021 schedule delaying the start of practices in those sports one week to March 22 and competition to March 26 to accommodate a later end to Winter sports this season. The calendar change should alleviate pressures on indoor facility usage and athletes changing seasons with Winter sports concluding up to two weeks later this school year after a delayed start due to COVID-19.

The Council based its decision in part on feedback from a survey of MHSAA member high schools, which saw 74 percent favoring a delay in Spring sports activity of at least one week. State coaches associations for Spring sports also were consulted. Generally, the great majority of Michigan schools are unable to begin consistent Spring sports outdoor activity and competition until early April.

All Spring sports tournament dates remain as originally scheduled, with MHSAA Finals in baseball, softball and girls soccer concluding the 2020-21 postseason June 19.

The entire Spring sports season was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. However, the Council approved an allowance for Spring teams to meet for voluntary practices over 16 contact days this past September and October. General conditioning with an unlimited number of students is currently allowed, with other out-of-season training (four-player workouts, open gyms/facilities) allowed to continue through March 21, with Council having eliminated the preseason downtime restriction for Spring sports this year.

MHSAA Spring Tournaments Soon to Begin as Calendar Turns to May

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 3, 2023

The wintery weather inevitably will loosen its grip across Michigan, and perhaps just in time with the first Michigan High School Athletic Association postseason events for this Spring 2023 season only a few weeks away and seeding for three of those tournaments soon to be announced.

Slightly more than 100,000 Michigan high school student-athletes participated in 2022 in spring sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason competition – baseball, girls and boys lacrosse, girls soccer, softball, girls and boys track & field, boys golf (Lower and Upper Peninsula) and girls golf (UP), and girls (LP) and boys (UP) tennis.

This spring’s tournaments will incorporate a few changes, with the most notable in girls lacrosse as the top two teams in every Girls Lacrosse Regional will be seeded and placed on opposite sides of the bracket for the first time. Seeds will be determined by using the MHSAA’s Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) formula, which takes into account success and strength of schedule and also is used currently to provide seeding information in boys lacrosse, girls and boys basketball, girls and boys soccer, and ice hockey. Only the top two teams in girls lacrosse will be seeded and separated; the other teams in each Regional will be placed on their brackets by random draw. Seeds and full brackets will be posted Sunday, May 7, on the girls lacrosse page of the MHSAA Website.

Golf, tennis and girls soccer also have changes that will be noticeable over these next seven weeks.

In golf, the maximum number of strokes allowed per hole during MHSAA Tournament play has been reduced from 12 to 10. Also, teams will be allowed two school-approved coaches to be present and actively coaching during postseason rounds.

In tennis, the number of players who may be seeded at No. 1 singles has been increased to seven if there are between 21-23 players in the field, and eight if the field includes 24 or more players at that flight. The No. 1 singles flight is the only flight that allows for individual qualifiers from Regional play, often making it larger than the other seven flights at the Finals.

In girls soccer, the two seeded teams at the District level will host their games if those games are not scheduled to be played at a prearranged host site. For these Districts, the No. 1 seed gets hosting priority, followed by the No. 2 seed, followed by the team on the top line of the bracket. Girls Soccer District brackets, with seeds, will be posted May 14 on the MHSAA Website.

Boys Lacrosse Regional brackets, which also are seeded, will be posted May 10 to the MHSAA Website.

The 2022-23 Spring campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Golf and Boys Tennis Finals on May 31 and June 1 and wraps up with Girls Soccer, Baseball and Softball Finals on June 17. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:

Baseball
Districts – May 25-June 3
Regional Semifinals – June 7
Regional Finals, Quarterfinals – June 10
Semifinals – June 15-16
Finals – June 17

Golf
LP Boys Regionals – May 29-June 3
UP Girls & Boys Finals – May 31 or June 1
LP Boys Finals – June 9-10

Boys Lacrosse
Pre-Regionals – May 12-17
Regionals – May 18-31
Quarterfinals – June 2-3
Semifinals – June 7
Finals – June 10

Girls Lacrosse
Pre-Regionals – May 18-22
Regionals – May 24-June 3
Semifinals – June 7
Finals – June 10

Girls Soccer
Districts – May 24-June 3
Regionals – June 6-10
Semifinals – June 13-14
Finals – June 16-17

Softball
Districts – May 24-June 3
Regionals – June 10
Quarterfinals – June 13
Semifinals – June 15-16
Finals – June 17

Tennis
LP Girls Regionals – May 17-20
UP Boys Finals – May 31 or June 1
LP Girls Finals – June 2-3

Track & Field
Regionals – May 18-20
Finals – June 3