Clinic to Serve Voices of Our Communities
December 20, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Roger Smith was a senior at Lake Orion High School in 1993-94 when he got his first public address announcing opportunity, filling in for varsity boys basketball games after the longtime announcer decided to take a season off.
Tony Coggins was only a freshman when he grabbed the microphone for the first time – getting that chance when his dad, Flushing athletic director Dale Coggins, couldn’t find anyone else to announce middle school football games.
Steve Miller actually started as a game official during his senior year of high school at East Detroit, and is a college football official today – but with the PA bug keeping him in that part of the game as well.
All three have similar getting-started stories – they jumped in with little to no experience but with both feet, found mentors to emulate (including one in common, longtime MHSAA and Michigan State University voice Erik O. Furseth), and honed their craft over decades on their ways to becoming mainstays in their communities and regulars at MHSAA Finals in multiple sports.
Miller, Coggins and Smith will share those experiences and wisdom as instructors at the MHSAA’s Public Address Announcers Clinic on Jan. 6 at the MHSAA Office in East Lansing. The day will provide an opportunity not just for training, but for announcers statewide to come together and discuss the key contribution they make to high school sports all over our state.
“I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve done it enough years now too that I’ve had emergency situations and really odd requests,” Smith said. “I’m the only football announcer here (at Lake Orion), and I never get to get with my fellow colleagues. So it’s nice to have that network, to know there are other people out there who do it, and to learn from others and to see mistakes that I probably still am making and how to get better and situations I haven’t thought about.”
The clinic will use a curriculum developed by the National Association of Sports Public Address Announcers and focus on the role of the public address announcer, public address announcing expectations (school, state association and NASPAA), public address announcing philosophy, sportsmanship/NASPAA Code of Conduct, announcing Do's and Don'ts, scriptwriting and handling emergency situations.
Registration is limited to 75 attendees, but spots are available. Click for the registration form.
“The public address announcer helps set the tone for educational athletic events,” said John Johnson, MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties. “At the high school level, we expect our announcers to inform everyone of what’s happening – not to entertain them – and to be a welcoming and reassuring presence. This clinic provides information they can’t get anywhere else.”
Miller initially hoped to work in sports television growing up, then switched lanes to education. He teaches mathematics and applied technology at Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse, where he started doing PA in 1999 for girls basketball games.
Coggins’ middle school football debut came in 1985, and 33 years later he’s going strong. Now in his 18th year announcing where he teaches at Holly, Coggins lends his voice to football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, competitive cheer and swimming & diving events. Smith is in his 17th year back at his alma mater, where he teaches broadcasting. He primarily announces football and basketball although he’s helped with baseball, softball and swimming as well, using the opportunity to practice what he preaches to his students in the classroom.
“I have zero athletic ability whatsoever, which is interesting because my father was an all-state running back. But I enjoy being involved, and I've always been the one for history and statistics and knowing what's going on,” Coggins said. “This is a way for me to be involved. It's a way for me to use a talent I've been given; public speaking has always come pretty naturally for me.
“So I worked at my craft to get better. I got better from watching the people around me, from studying the people I like, and the people – if I saw someone I didn’t care for – I'd make a note and say to myself, ‘Don't do that.’ I take feedback from people very personally, and I mean that in a good way. If somebody takes the time to come up and say ‘You did this well; I think you should change this,’ that means they care about the program also. We all have the same goal in mind, and that's to make the experience good for the high school student and the parents, the fans, that come there.”
Miller began learning his craft by attending MHSAA championship events and paying special attention to Furseth, the longtime and legendary voice of Football and Basketball Finals. Nearly two decades after getting his start, Miller also is the voice of University of Michigan men’s and women’s lacrosse and has announced MHSAA Finals in multiple sports since 2005.
In 2012, he officiated the Division 1 Football Final at Ford Field, then moved to the press deck to announce the Division 3 Final that night.
“There are a lot of great examples of how to do this at this level, and also not great examples,” Miller said. “The biggest issue is just doing it the right way and knowing what’s expected at our level – being the informational voice instead of the cheerleader. I was fortunate; I took the lead from guys like Eric who knew that was what was expected. And it just wasn’t my personality or my style to start yelling and screaming.”
The conference registration fee of $75 includes the NASPAA’s second edition of “The Voice Above The Crowd” – the official public address announcing manual for amateur sports – plus a one-year membership in the NASPAA and lunch.
All three instructors are members of the NASPAA and continue to announce MHSAA Finals in football, basketball, baseball and softball.
“I’m super honored to be involved in those kinds of events, to be able to provide a soundtrack to some of the biggest moments in people’s lives,” Miller said. “Knowing I’m providing a service is big for me, and it’s kinda neat being the invisible voice … the invisible soundtrack that helps make the experience special for them.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Steve Miller calls a basketball game during an MHSAA Finals weekend at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University. (Middle) While officials regulate action on the court, announcers like Roger Smith (lower left) call the shots from the PA seat.
Postseason, Playing Rules Modifications Taking Effect as Fall Practices Begin
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 4, 2023
A series of changes, including adjustments to postseason qualification in multiple sports and several playing rules, will take effect Monday, Aug. 7, as more than 95,000 athletes statewide are anticipated to begin the Fall 2023 season across nine sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Teams in girls and boys cross country, football, Lower Peninsula girls golf, boys soccer, Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving, Upper Peninsula girls tennis and Lower Peninsula boys tennis, and girls volleyball may begin practice Monday. Competition begins Aug. 14 for golf and tennis, Aug. 16 for cross country, soccer, swimming & diving and volleyball, and Aug. 24 for varsity football. Football teams at all levels must have 12 days of preseason practice – over a period of 16 calendar days – before their first game.
Qualification requirements for MHSAA Finals competition have been adjusted to provide more opportunities in two sports.
The Swimming & Diving Finals could enjoy larger fields this fall thanks to a change in the structuring of qualifying times. Moving forward, qualifying times will be determined based on the past five years of MHSAA race data, but also will account for past numbers of qualifiers in each swim race. This shift will allow for more athletes to advance to the Finals in events where fields have not been full over the previous five seasons.
In tennis, for the first time in Lower Peninsula play, a No. 1 doubles flight from a non-qualifying team will be able to advance from its Regional to Finals competition. To do so, that No. 1 doubles flight must finish first or second at its Regional, and the No. 1 singles player from that team also must have qualified for the Finals individually by finishing first or second in Regional play.
Also affecting MHSAA Tournament play, golfers now are required to participate in at least four competitions for the high school team prior to representing that school team in an MHSAA Regional or Final. Those four regular-season competitions may be 9 or 18-hole events.
A pair of significant changes have switched up the Finals schedules this fall in boys soccer and football. Instead of playing at multiple sites as in the past, all four Boys Soccer Finals will be played on the same day at the same site, Nov. 4 at Grand Ledge High School beginning with Division 4 and ending with Division 1.
The 11-Player Football Finals will start and finish a day later at Ford Field, concluding that sport’s season Saturday, Nov. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 26, instead of with the traditional Friday/Saturday schedule. This one-year adjustment is being made to accommodate the Michigan State/Penn State football game Friday, Nov. 24, at Ford Field.
Opportunities have been created as well beginning this fall for scheduling more out-of-state opponents in all sports, as teams are now able to play opponents from anywhere in the United States as long as those competitions are played in Michigan, contiguous states Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota or Wisconsin, or Ontario. All out-of-state opponents must be members in good standing of their respective high school athletic association, and any multi-team event including schools from outside of Michigan or those contiguous states/province must receive approval by the MHSAA and each state high school association with a team involved in order for MHSAA member schools to be allowed to participate.
Rules changes will be literally visible in two sports as more flexibility will be allowed by new wardrobe exceptions in cross country and girls volleyball. In volleyball, small, secured studs or posts now may be worn above the chin. In cross country, athletes may now wear temporary body adornment (painted or fastened) during competition, and runners also may now wear any type of head attire during racing.
As is annually true, a series of playing rule changes also take effect with the new season. The following are among the most notable:
- The most significant in football changes how the ball is spotted after penalties by the offense that occur behind the line of scrimmage. Previously, those were marked from the spot of the foul; now those penalties will be marked from the previous spot – the line of scrimmage where that play began. This change was made to eliminate excessive penalties on the offense when an infraction took place well behind the line of scrimmage.
- In volleyball, teams will stay on the same bench for the duration of a match unless officials determine a clear disadvantage exists for the bench on one side of the court. In that case, teams will exchange sides of the court after each set.
- Another pair of changes affect where volleyball coaches may be positioned during matches. Coaches may stand in a new coaching zone, now defined by the libero replacement zone extending beyond the end line and sideline extended. During dead-ball situations, one assistant coach also may stand within the coaching zone to provide instruction; only one assistant coach can stand at a time, but the assistant coach who stands may change throughout the match.
- Two officiating-related changes will be especially noticeable on the soccer pitch. Officials now may stop the clock to check on an injured player without that player being required to leave the match – previously that player would have to sub out. Also, categories for fouls have been redefined: careless (which is a foul but does not receive a card), reckless (a foul with a yellow card) and excessive force (foul with red card).
- In swimming, stroke modifications were made in the backstroke and breaststroke events.
The 2023 Fall campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals during the week of Oct. 2 and wrapping up with the 11-Player Football Finals on Nov. 25 and 26. Here is a complete list of fall tournament dates:
Cross Country
U.P. Finals – Oct. 21
L.P. Regionals – Oct. 27 or 28
L.P. Finals – Nov. 4
11-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 22
Pre-Districts – Oct. 27 or 28
District Finals – Nov. 3 or 4
Regional Finals – Nov. 10 or 11
Semifinals – Nov. 18
Finals – Nov. 25-26
8-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 22
Regional Semifinals – Oct. 27 or 28
Regional Finals – Nov. 3 or 4
Semifinals – Nov. 11
Finals – Nov. 18
L.P. Girls Golf
Regionals – Oct. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14
Finals – Oct. 20-21
Soccer
L.P. Boys Districts – Oct. 11-21
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 24-28
L.P. Boys Semifinals – Nov. 1
L.P. Boys Finals – Nov. 4
L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving
Diving Regionals – Nov. 9
Swimming/Diving Finals – Nov. 17-18
Tennis
U.P. Girls Finals – Oct. 4, 5, 6 or 7
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 11, 12, 13 or 14
L.P. Boys Finals – Oct. 20-21
Girls Volleyball
Districts – Oct. 30-Nov. 4
Regionals – Nov. 7 & 9
Quarterfinals – Nov. 14
Semifinals – Nov. 16-17
Finals – Nov. 18
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 1.3 million spectators each year.