Bowling, Boys Lacrosse Set Fan Records
October 10, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Bowling and boys lacrosse tournament events again drew record-breaking attendance totals during the 2018-19 school year as a total of 1,385,710 fans attended MHSAA postseason competitions for which attendance is recorded.
The MHSAA Bowling Tournament – including Regionals and Finals for girls and boys – set an attendance record for the eighth consecutive season last winter with 14,507 fans, including a record 10,124 for Regional competition. Boys lacrosse, which also begins postseason play at the Regional level, set a record for the third straight season this spring with 13,854 fans – with records also at the Regional level of 8,894 fans and Quarterfinal round with 1,911.
The MHSAA annually tracks attendance for all sports except golf, skiing and tennis – for which admission typically is not charged.
The 2018-19 grand total saw a decrease of just less than a half percent from 2017-18. While boys tournament event attendance was down 1.1 percent, or nearly 11,000 fans, girls tournament event attendance saw a 1.3-percent increase to 448,735, nearly 6,000 more fans than the year before.
A total of 17 sports saw increases in attendance for at least one round of tournament play. Three girls sports – basketball, competitive cheer and soccer – plus baseball saw increases in attendance for three rounds of the postseason. Girls volleyball, softball, boys basketball, football, ice hockey and both the team and individual wrestling tournaments saw attendance rise for at least two rounds of play compared to 2017-18.
Seven sports saw overall attendance increases from 2017-18. Girls Basketball, thanks in part to its best Regional attendance since 2001-02, was up 3.5 percent for the entire tournament with 164,166 fans. Cheer, with 27,697 fans for its postseason, was up 6.4 percent. Girls Soccer, with 27,689 fans, was up 1.5 percent for its entire playoffs.
Baseball saw overall postseason attendance increase 5.4 percent to 47,116 fans, and team wrestling was up 5.0 percent with 30,626 fans – including its highest total (15,089) for District competition since 2011-12. Girls and boys cross country – run together on the same days at the same sites – continued its recent surge with more than 19,000 total fans for the third straight season, its total of 19,799 last fall an increase of 1.1 percent from the previous year.
Despite a slight decrease in overall playoff attendance of 1.2 percent, football again drew the most fans of any MHSAA postseason with 348,585. That total was highlighted by a 12.7-percent increase at the Pre-District level for the 11-player tournament and a 22.8-percent jump for the Semifinal round, with 11 and 8-player games counted together. The Semifinals drew their most fans since 2014-15.
Boys basketball was the next most attended sport with 310,696 fans at postseason games, a decrease of just a quarter of a percent from 2017-18. The boys basketball attendance was highlighted by its best Regional turnout in four years and its best Quarterfinal attendance since 2012-13.
Basketball was the most attended girls sport for postseason play, with volleyball (105,128) also reaching six figures for the sixth straight year. Volleyball enjoyed its highest Regional and Quarterfinal attendance both since 2015-16.
MHSAA Representative Council Makes Adaptive Track Events Permanent at Winter Meeting
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 2, 2024
The permanent addition of adaptive track & field events for Regional and Finals competitions highlighted actions taken by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its Winter Meeting, March 22 in East Lansing.
For the past two years (2022 and 2023 tournaments), the MHSAA has provided a pilot program for wheelchair track & field athletes during its postseason meets with adaptive 100, 200 and 400-meter races and shot put. The proposal to make these events permanent for Regionals and Finals was brought to the Council by the MHSAA Track & Field Committee.
The Council also approved a Softball Committee recommendation permitting schools to play District Semifinal and Final games on either a Thursday or Friday (instead of Saturday) if all participating teams agree to the schedule change. If any school in the bracket does not approve the change, the default District Tournament day will remain Saturday. This opportunity will take effect with this spring’s 2024 MHSAA Softball Tournament.
Additionally, the Council approved MHSAA Tournament officials fees for the next four school years beginning with 2024-25 and including increases in all sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason competition.
The Winter Meeting also frequently serves as an opportunity for the Council to discuss items expected to come up for action at its final meeting of the school year, scheduled for May 5-6, and discussion of three topics continued after previously being discussed during the Council’s Fall Meeting in December.
The Council discussed a Football Committee recommendation that would cap enrollment of 11-player schools participating in Division 8 at 250 students. The proposal was made in order to protect those smallest 11-player schools from playing much larger opponents during the MHSAA Playoffs as the enrollment dividing line between Division 7 and 8 has continued to trend upward as more small schools have switched to the 8-player format. While the Council voted to not approve this proposal to take effect with the 2024-25 school year, the Council did vote to discuss the proposal again at its May meeting with possible implementation for 2025-26 if approved.
The Council also continued its past conversation on the start and end dates of winter seasons and the possibilities of moving up both or keeping the same current start date and moving up the end by one week. The Council reviewed results of a recent survey of MHSAA membership on the topic.
Also among ongoing topics of discussion were possible new and emerging sports, including girls field hockey, boys volleyball, water polo and indoor track & field for girls and boys, and girls flag football.
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.