Multi-Sport Survey Helps Set Benchmark
July 31, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
NOTE: This report includes a revision Aug. 3 to account for incorrect data for Jenison, which previously was listed with the second-highest percentage of multi-sport athletes in Class A. The updated data changed only two percentages updated below (*), and both by only one tenth of a percent.
Nearly 43 percent of athletes at Michigan High School Athletic Association member high schools participated in more than one sport during the 2017-18 school year, according to the first-ever Multi-Sport Participation Survey conducted this spring and inspired by the work of the MHSAA’s Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation.
Early and intense sport specialization has become one of the most serious issues related to health and safety at all levels of youth sports, as overuse injuries and burnout among athletes have been tied to chronic injuries and health-related problems later in life. In early 2016, the MHSAA appointed the Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation as part of a continued effort to promote and protect participant health and address the issues leading to early sport specialization.
While there is a growing amount of research detailing the negative effects of early sport specialization, there is little research on the prevalence of sport specialization, including at the high school level. This MHSAA survey received responses from 79.9 percent of member high schools and will be conducted annually to measure how multi-sport participation exists at schools of different sizes and also the progress being made to increase it at all schools.
“It’s now well-known that students who specialize in one sport year-round are prone to all kinds of health hazards. This is serious business; we have to find out the ways and means to promote the multi-sport experience,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “This survey will help us identify best practices. If I’m an administrator, and another school of the same size and same demographics has twice the multi-sport participation as my school, I want to know why. What are they doing to encourage that culture?”
From schools that responded to this year’s survey, 42.5 percent of students participated in athletics in 2017-18 – 46.3 percent of boys and 38.7 percent of girls. As anticipated, Class D schools enjoyed the highest percentage of athletes among the entire student body, at 55.2 percent, followed by Class C (50.1), Class B (45.1) and Class A (39.1*).
Of those athletes counted by responding schools, 42.8 percent participated in more than one sport – including 44.6 percent of boys and 40.6 percent of girls. Class D again enjoyed the highest percentage of multi-sport athletes, 58.1 percent, followed by Class C (55.2), Class B (46.7) and Class A (35.9*).
Similar results for overall sport participation and multi-sport participation relative to enrollment size were seen by further breaking down Class A into schools of fewer than 1,000 students, 1,000-1,500 students, 1,501-2,000 students and more than 2,000 students. For both sport participation as a whole and multi-sport participation specifically, the smallest Class A schools enjoyed the highest percentages, while percentages then decreased for every larger size group of schools.
The MHSAA Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation also recommended measuring multi-sport participation in MHSAA member schools to recognize “achievers” – that is, schools that surpass the norm given their enrollment and other factors that affect school sports participation. An achievement program is being developed for future years, and this year’s survey results will assist in setting a benchmark for that recognition.
In Class A, Marquette (82.6 percent), Grand Rapids Union (74.1) and Holland West Ottawa (74.0) posted the highest percentages of multi-sport athletes. In Class B, four schools achieved at least 80 percent multi-sport participation – Birch Run (87.1), Gladstone (83.8), Clawson (81.0) and Shepherd (80).
Class C saw 13 schools with more than 80 percent of its athletes taking part in more than one sport, led by Ubly (90.2 percent) and Detroit Southeastern (89.2). Four Class D schools responded at higher than 90 percent multi-sport participation – Brethren (95.4), DeTour (94.3), Jackson Christian (91.7) and Waterford Our Lady (90.8).
The full summary report on the Multi-Sport Participation Survey is available on the “Health & Safety” page of the MHSAA Website.
MHSAA 2023-24 School Year Classifications Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 6, 2023
Classifications for Michigan High School Athletic Association elections and postseason tournaments for the 2023-24 school year have been announced, with enrollment breaks for postseason tournaments posted to each sport’s page on the MHSAA Website.
Classifications for the upcoming school year are based on a second semester count date, which for MHSAA purposes was Feb. 8. The enrollment figure submitted for athletic classification purposes may be different from the count submitted for school aid purposes, as it does not include students ineligible for athletic competition because they reached their 19th birthday prior to Sept. 1 of the current school year and will not include alternative education students if none are allowed athletic eligibility by the local school district.
All sports’ tournaments are conducted with schools assigned to equal or nearly equal divisions, with lines dependent on how many schools participate in those respective sports.
For 2023-24, there are 750 tournament-qualified member schools. Schools recently were notified of their classification, and sport-by-sport divisions were posted to the MHSAA Website today (April 6). MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said schools may not subsequently lower their enrollment figure. However, if revised enrollment figures are higher and indicate that a school should be playing in a higher division, that school would be moved up.
Five MHSAA Finals champions awarded so far during the 2022-23 school year are assigned to different divisions for 2023-24. Division 6 champion Grand Rapids West Catholic will play 11-player football in Division 5 this upcoming season. The Holland Christian boys soccer team will be moving into Division 2 after winning the Division 3 Final in the fall, and East Grand Rapids’ girls swimming & diving program is headed back to Lower Peninsula Division 3 after winning in LP Division 2 this past season. A pair of cross country champions are on the move – LP Division 4 boys champion Wyoming Potter’s House Christian to LP Division 3, and Upper Peninsula Division 3 girls champion Munising into UP Division 2 – and the Grass Lake boys bowling team will compete in Division 3 next winter after winning the Division 4 championship last month.
Also set to change divisions among Finals runners-up from head-to-head sports are Cadillac volleyball (Division 2 to D1), Ann Arbor Greenhills boys soccer (Division 4 to D3), Mendon 8-player football (Division 2 to D1) and three 11-Player Finals runners-up – Caledonia (Division 1 to D2), Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (Division 2 to D3) and Muskegon (Division 3 to D2).
Visit the respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website to review the divisional alignments for all MHSAA-sponsored tournament sports. Click the “SPORTS” menu above to access the page for each sport, then the “Assignments” link on the selected sport page and then “DIVISION LIST” to see the 2023-24 division.
Traditional classes (A, B, C, D) – formerly used to establish tournament classifications – are used only for MHSAA elections. To determine traditional classifications, after all counts are submitted, tournament-qualified member schools are ranked according to enrollment and then split as closely into quarters as possible. For 2023-24, there are 187 member schools in Class A, Class B and Class C, and 189 member schools in Class D.
Effective with the 2023-24 school year, schools with 807 or more students are in Class A. The enrollment limits for Class B are 380-806, Class C is 177-379, and schools with enrollments of 176 and fewer are Class D. The break between Classes A and B decreased eight students from 2022-23, the break between Classes B and C decreased 11 students, and the break between Classes C and D is six students fewer than for the 2022-23 school year.
The new classification breaks will see 21 schools move up in Class for 2023-24 while 24 schools will move down:
Moving Up from Class B to Class A
Bay City John Glenn
Fowlerville
Garden City
Lansing Eastern
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
Tecumseh
Moving Down from Class A to Class B
Detroit Henry Ford
Detroit Mumford
Harper Woods
Plainwell
Sault Ste. Marie
Spring Lake
Moving Up from Class C to Class B
Ann Arbor Greenhills
Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
Hartford
Ishpeming Westwood
Kent City
Mason County Central
Pinconning
Moving Down from Class B to Class C
Blissfield
Clawson
Clinton Township Clintondale
Detroit Northwestern
Elk Rapids
Fennville
Sanford Meridian
Stockbridge
Moving Up from Class D to Class C
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian
Benton Harbor Countryside Academy
Detroit Crocket Midtown Science & Medicine
Grand Traverse Academy
Martin
Munising
Rudyard
Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary
Moving Down from Class C to Class D
Eau Claire
Fowler
Jackson Prep
L’Anse
Marcellus
Merrill
Mesick
Morenci
Muskegon Heights Academy
St. Ignace
New Postseason-Eligible Tournament Schools in 2023-24
Waterford Oakside Prep
Enrollment Breaks by Classes – 2023-24
(Number of schools in parentheses)
Class A: 807 and above (187 schools)
Class B: 380 – 806 (187)
Class C: 177 – 379 (187)
Class D: 176 and below (189)