23rd WISL Conference Set for Feb. 4-5
January 11, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first, largest and longest-running program of its type in the country, the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Women In Sports Leadership Conference will take place Feb. 4-5 at the Crowne Plaza Lansing West.
The 23rd edition of the conference again will feature three keynote speakers and a variety of workshops. The program annually attracts upwards of 500 participants, most of them high school female student-athletes. High school students, coaches and administrators are invited to find registration information on the MHSAA Website.
Cost is $50 for students and $60 for adults, not including lodging for those intending to stay overnight in Lansing. A registration form for lodging also is available on the MHSAA Website.
The theme for this WISL Conference is “LEAD: Embrace the Challenge” – and the opening address will be delivered by U.S. national team volleyball setter Alisha Glass, who starred at Leland High School and led the Comets to the Class D championship as a senior in 2006. She continues to hold four MHSAA records including for career kills (3,584) and aces (937) and went on to start all four seasons as a setter at Penn State, leading the Nittany Lions to three straight NCAA Division I championships. Glass then led the U.S. national team to the 2014 world championship and the 2016 Olympic bronze medal. She will speak on 21st century leadership responsibilities and daily leadership opportunities student athletes may encounter.
The winningest coach in NCAA softball history, University of Michigan’s Carol Hutchins, will speak on the importance of leadership and continually sharpening those skills at the WISL Banquet during the evening of Feb. 4. Hutchins, a graduate of Lansing Everett High School and Michigan State University, has built a 1,527-491-5 record over 33 seasons and also is the winningest coach in Michigan athletic department history. Hutchins joined the Wolverines staff as an assistant in 1983 and took over the program as head coach in 1985. She led Michigan to the College World Series championship in 2005 and a runner-up finish in 2015. Hutchins played both softball and basketball at Michigan State and helped the Spartans to the 1976 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national softball championship. She also holds a master’s degree from Indiana University.
Michigan State University women’s volleyball coach Cathy George will challenge participants to “find the leader in you” throughout life during the morning of Feb. 5. George recently completed her 13th season at MSU and 31st overall as a college head coach by guiding the Spartans to the NCAA Elite Eight. Her 256 wins at MSU are the most in program history, and she has a career record of 621-398 – counting also 11 seasons leading Western Michigan University, five at University of Texas-Arlington and two at North Dakota State. Her MSU teams have made the NCAA Tournament seven straight seasons. As an athlete, George was a team captain and three-time all-league selection at Illinois State, helping the Redbirds to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Workshops offered during the WISL conference include topics on coaching, teaching and learning leadership, sports nutrition and performance, injury prevention, promoting team chemistry and roles and responsibilities of captains. A complete itinerary is available on the MHSAA Website.
The WISL Banquet will include the presentation of this year’s Women In Sports Leadership Award. The winner will be announced later this month.
Follow the #WISL hashtag on Twitter to learn more about the conference’s activities.
Rep Council Considers Several Topics During Fall Meeting for 2023-24 Work
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 7, 2023
The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association began examining several topics during its Fall Meeting, Dec. 1 in East Lansing – including start and end dates of the winter calendar, possible new transfer rule exceptions and emerging sports – that will shape its work during the winter and spring meetings of this 2023-24 school year.
Generally, the Council takes only a few actions during its Fall Meeting, with topics often introduced for additional consideration and action during its meetings in March and May. The Council did take three actions this time as part of larger conversations expected to continue over the next six months.
The Council joined staff discussion on the start and end dates of winter seasons and the possibility of moving up both, which was among topics surveyed as part of the Update Meeting poll completed by administrators during the MHSAA’s annual presentations across the state this fall. Staff will prepare a recommendation for Council to review at a future meeting regarding the 2025-26 school year and beyond.
MHSAA staff also provided a variety of transfer rule issues encountered over the last year, and Council discussed the possibility of adding transfer rule exceptions related to military transfer families, fulltime school employee transfers and students returning from a sports academy or prep school and seeking immediate eligibility. The Council did adopt a change for multi-high school districts (with at least three high schools) that include both boundary and non-boundary schools that more clearly defined where students at those schools have immediate eligibility.
The Council also discussed possible new and emerging sports, including proposals for MHSAA sponsorship received by the water polo and field hockey governing bodies and an anticipated proposal to add boys volleyball to the MHSAA Tournament lineup.
Several more conversations regarded MHSAA postseasons:
- The Council reviewed the work of the Football Task Force and considered a staff recommendation to have the Football Committee in January discuss possibly capping enrollment of Division 8 11-player schools at 250 students to incentivize schools within that group to play 11-player instead of switching to 8-player.
- MHSAA staff have identified four areas requiring financial increases – MHSAA Tournament officials fees, host schools compensations, manager honorariums and team reimbursements for Finals participants – and the Council discussed the importance of including these when the MHSAA Audit & Finance Committee meets in February to begin the 2024-25 budgetary process.
- The Council also discussed recommendations from the MHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee addressing possible requirements of emergency action plans and AEDs at MHSAA Tournament sites.
The Fall Meeting saw the appointment of Wyoming Godfrey-Lee Schools superintendent Arnetta Thompson and Freeland Middle School principal Jennifer Thunberg to two-year terms to the 19-person Council, the first terms for both. The Council also reelected Scott Grimes, superintendent for Grand Haven Area Public Schools, as its president; Brighton High School athletic director John Thompson as its vice president, and Vic Michaels, director of physical education and athletics for the Archdiocese of Detroit, as secretary-treasurer.
The Representative Council is the legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
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.