'Check-in Champ' App Rewards Fans
January 10, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association and SuperFanHigh, a leading fan loyalty and engagement company, have launched a mobile app that will allow students, faculty, alumni, community members and all fans to earn prizes and college scholarships by showing support for high school basketball teams.
To participate, fans simply need to download the “Check-in Champ” app for free from the Apple iTunes or Google Play online stores and then check in at high school girls and boys basketball games they are attending this season. SuperFanHigh will track these check-ins and provide standings of fans who attend the most events statewide beginning Tuesday, Jan. 10. Fans “checking in” accrue points toward prizes including a total of $5,000 in college scholarships sponsored by MI Student Aid.
“The ‘Check-in Champ’ contest provides an exciting opportunity for our schools to promote their regular-season girls and boys basketball games,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “We’re eager to see how this will build more excitement at games, both during the regular season and the MHSAA tournament, and we’re appreciative of MI Student Aid for adding significant incentive for students and their families who support their classmates and communities.”
For the remainder of this Michigan high school boys and girls basketball season, fans who attend games will earn points. When registering on the app, fans must select their favorite school. Schools will be divided by Class: A, B, C and D. A $3,000 scholarship will be awarded to the fan who earns the most points overall across all four classes, and $500 scholarships will be awarded to fans who earn the most points in each class.
Only student fans will be eligible to use the college scholarships; however, fans who are not students may still compete for the scholarships and designate them for specific students should they win the contest. All fans, including those who are not students, will be able to earn app “badges” as they accrue points, and the top 100 point-getters will receive shirts printed to celebrate their accomplishment in the contest.
“We are excited about partnering with the MHSAA to launch this new app,” said Anne Wohlfert, Director of the Student Financial Services Bureau at the Michigan Department of Treasury. “We are pleased to offer $5,000 in scholarship dollars to the students who attend the most games. This joint venture aligns with our goals to provide high school students and their families with student financial resources and information.”
The app provides other information for students and fans including their selected schools’ boys and girls basketball team schedules, MHSAA news and an opportunity to share photos through a ‘fan cam.’ Participants may accrue bonus points by answering MHSAA basketball trivia questions and promoting their “check-ins” on social media.
SuperFanHigh is a division of its parent company, SuperFanU and provides fan experiences for more than 300 high schools and colleges/universities across the country. The company is leading the market in developing innovative platforms that allow the communication and marketing between students/fans and schools to be more engaging and efficient.
“We know that our partnership with MHSAA will yield lots of excitement this year across the state of Michigan,” says Kayla Mount, co-founder and COO of SuperFanU.
7 Elected to Representative Council
November 9, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Elections were completed recently to fill positions on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s legislative body, its Representative Council, with six current members receiving re-election and a seventh selected to complete the term of a retiring administrator.
Kingsford athletic director Al Unger will continue to represent Class A and B schools in the Upper Peninsula, and Gobles athletic director Chris Miller will continue to represent Class C and D schools from the southwestern section of the Lower Peninsula. Adrian Madison athletic director Kristen Isom was re-elected to represent the Class C and D schools from the southeastern section, while Bear Lake athletic director Karen Leinaar was re-elected to continue as one of two at-large statewide representatives.
Alvin Ward, administrator of athletics for the Detroit Public School League, will continue to represent the Detroit Public Schools, and St. Ignace superintendent Don Gustafson was re-elected as one of two junior high/middle school representatives. In addition, Portage Northern athletic director Chris Riker was elected to complete the second of a two-year term representing Class A and B schools in the southwestern section. He will take the place of Fred Smith, who recently retired as athletic director at Benton Harbor.
The Representative Council is the 19-member 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 Council meets three times annually, and five members of the Council convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools.
Additional elections took place to select representatives to the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee. Escanaba athletic director Nick Nolde was elected to represent Class A and B schools, and Ishpeming Westwood athletic director Jon Beckman was elected to represent Class C schools. Rapid River athletic director Rick Pepin was elected to represent Class D schools.
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.