MHSAA Building Named for Retiring Director

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

June 26, 2018

To recognize 32 years of leadership and service to Michigan educational athletics, the MHSAA Representative Council  has named its home office in East Lansing after longtime Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts, who will retire in August.

The dedication of the “John E. ‘Jack’ Roberts Building” was approved by the Council during its Spring Meeting, May 6-7 in Gaylord, with the fabrication and assembly of the lettering financed by several private donations.

The building, located at 1661 Ramblewood Drive in East Lansing, opened as headquarters for the Association on January 3, 1997. The 20,000-square-foot, two-story facility houses MHSAA staff offices and resources including a publications library, plus multiple conference spaces frequently used to host meetings not only for MHSAA business but by leagues, coaches associations and other groups joining people from across the state.

Roberts, who announced his retirement April 24, will conclude his tenure next month as the second-longest serving full-time executive director during the MHSAA’s 94-year history. He is the fourth person to serve that leadership role full time, following Charles E. Forsythe (1931-42, 1945-68), Allen W. Bush (1968-78) and Vern L. Norris (1978-86). Roberts currently is also the nation’s longest-serving executive director of a state high school athletic association.

“This is an entirely unexpected honor,” Roberts said, “and while I am proud of the building, I’m even prouder of the people who have worked in it.”

The metallic lettering announcing the building’s name was designed by Image360 of Brighton and placed on the façade at the center of the building below the large MHSAA logo facing the property’s parking lot.

John Peckham, then of Martin Property Development of East Lansing, oversaw the original Ramblewood project. The building was designed by Keystone Design and built by Granger Construction.

Prior to the move to its current offices, the MHSAA was housed at 1019 Trowbridge Road in East Lansing from 1976-96. The MHSAA moved to the Trowbridge location from a downtown Lansing office it had leased since 1958.

With his retirement upcoming, Roberts also will leave the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Board of Directors later this week during the Summer Meeting in Chicago. He also will conclude an extended term as board chairperson of the NFHS Network. Roberts previously served as an assistant director for the National Federation from 1973-80 and came to the MHSAA in the fall of 1986 from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which he served as executive vice president.

Assistant Director Mark Uyl was chosen by the Representative Council in May to succeed Roberts as MHSAA executive director.

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.

Kick Off Your 2022-23 with MHSAA.com's New Look, Enhanced Experience

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

August 1, 2022

Welcome to what we hope will be your best – and most welcoming experience yet – on MHSAA.com.

As part of the kickoff of the 2022-23 school year, the Michigan High School Athletic Association is reintroducing this redesigned website filled with enhancements we hope better tell the ever-inspiring story of school sports – while making it easier for visitors to learn how they can be part of these stories as they unfold.

Driving this new fan-focused MHSAA.com are the following:

  An opportunity to tell your stories, front and center. You’ll see them immediately on the front page of the website and on pages for all of our sports and schools. After 10 years, our “Second Half” website is gone, with that coverage of schools all over Michigan now moved to MHSAA.com.

  The ability to make schedule and tournament information easier to find. The navigation at the top of the site is designed to get you places in fewer clicks. And our pages for every sport will be updated frequently throughout the season and especially at tournament time with information on how to attend and watch your favorite teams compete.

  The probability you’re connecting with the MHSAA on your phone. The majority of our web traffic – 70 percent, in fact – is via a mobile device, and our website will be much easier to navigate moving forward.

Much of this will look familiar – just different, and hopefully more organized and easier to navigate.

Are we missing anything? To answer that question in advance, “Yes.” We will be working throughout the coming months to backfill much of the historical data that has made MHSAA.com a home for high school sports, while also positioning those results, records and more in a way our millions of visitors will be able to better enjoy them.

So please, stop by frequently and stay a while. What’s the best place to start? Check out the “I AM …” link at the top of this page, and dive in.