NFHS's Gardner Announces Retirement
January 9, 2018
Special from NFHS
Bob Gardner, executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) since May 2010, has announced his retirement, effective Aug. 1, 2018. Gardner notified the NFHS Board of Directors of his retirement plans at the NFHS Winter Meeting on Jan. 3 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Gardner is the fifth full-time executive director of the NFHS, following H.V. Porter (1940-58), Cliff Fagan (1958-77), Brice Durbin (1977-93) and Bob Kanaby (1993-2010).
Gardner’s eight-year run as head of the national organization for high school athletics and performing arts activities will conclude a 48-year career in secondary education, including the final 18 years on the NFHS staff in Indianapolis.
Since assuming duties as NFHS executive director in 2010, Gardner has vigorously promoted the values of high school activity programs and expanded opportunities for participation by boys and girls nationwide. During his eight years as executive director, participation in high school sports has increased by almost 400,000, including the expanded opportunity for students with disabilities in high school sports.
Gardner has led the organization’s focus on risk minimization in high school sports, with particular emphasis on concussion awareness, and has brought a heightened national presence to the work of the NFHS and its member state associations. In addition to the continual expansion of the NFHS Learning Center during his tenure, Gardner is credited with starting the NFHS Network, the first-of-its-kind digital coverage of high school sports with more than 25,000 events covered during the 2016-17 school year.
In addition, during his eight years as chief executive of the organization, operating revenue for the NFHS increased by $4 million.
Ironically, Gardner’s entire 48-year career was spent in the state of Indiana. He was a teacher and coach at three schools for eight years and also served as an athletic director for a period of time. In 1978, Gardner became principal of Milan Junior-Senior High School, followed by a stint as superintendent of the Milan Community Schools.
After serving on the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Board of Directors during his time at Milan, Gardner joined the IHSAA staff in 1985 as assistant commissioner. He served 10 years in that role prior to becoming commissioner in 1995.
During his five years as IHSAA commissioner, Gardner led the change in the IHSAA football playoffs to permit participation by all schools, negotiated the association’s largest corporate sponsorship agreement in history with Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and led the transition to multiple classes in team sports.
Gardner joined the NFHS staff in 2000 as chief operating officer and served in that position for 10 years prior to becoming executive director. During this time, he chaired the NFHS Rules Review Committee and was responsible for day-to-day operations of the organization.
Gardner earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Evansville (Indiana) and his master’s and education specialist degrees from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He has served on the Board of Directors for USA Football, USA Basketball and the Indiana Sports Corporation. He is a member of the Indiana High School Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Following the March 1 application deadline, finalists for the position will be interviewed by the NFHS Board of Directors April 17-18 in Indianapolis, with the new executive director expected to begin duties Aug. 1.
2022-23 School Year Classifications Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 28, 2022
Classifications for Michigan High School Athletic Association elections and postseason tournaments for the 2022-23 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. 9. 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 September 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 2022-23, 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 (March 28). 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.
Several MHSAA Finals champions awarded so far during the 2021-22 school year are assigned to different divisions for 2022-23. In 11-player football, Detroit Martin Luther King will move to Division 4 after winning Division 3 in the fall, with Hudson moving to Division 7 after winning Division 8 this past November. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian won the Lower Peninsula Division 4 girls cross country championship in the fall but will compete in LP Division 3 next season. Dearborn Divine Child’s girls golf team, winner of the LP Division 2 title in the fall, will move to LP Division 3 next season. The East Grand Rapids girls swimming & diving team will move back into LP Division 2 after winning LP Division 3 in the fall.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s baseball, the reigning Division 2 champion but playing in Division 1 this upcoming season, will move back into Division 2 for 2023. Richmond softball, which won Division 3 last season and remains in that division for this spring, will move to Division 2 for 2023.
Visit the respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website at https://www.mhsaa.com/sports to review the divisional alignments for all MHSAA-sponsored tournament sports.
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 2022-23, there are 187 member schools in Class A and Class C and 188 member schools in Class B and Class D.
Effective with the 2022-23 school year, schools with 814 or more students are in Class A. The enrollment limits for Class B are 388-813, Class C is 183-387, and schools with enrollments of 182 and fewer are Class D. The break between Classes A and B decreased 21 students from 2021-22, 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 2021-22 school year.
The new classification breaks will see 32 schools move up in Class for 2022-23 while 24 schools will move down:
Moving Up from Class B to Class A
Battle Creek Harper Creek
Cadillac
Detroit Henry Ford
New Boston Huron
Owosso
Plainwell
Sault Ste. Marie
Sparta
Spring Lake
Moving Down from Class A to Class B
Dearborn Divine Child
Detroit East English
Detroit Martin Luther King
Fowlerville
Garden City
Marysville
Pinckney
Moving Up from Class C to Class B
Adrian Madison
Blissfield
Brooklyn Columbia Central
Buchanan
Canton Prep
Clinton Township Clintondale
Dearborn Heights Star International
Detroit Voyageur College Prep
Elk Rapids
Grayling
Hart
Quincy
Sanford Meridian
Moving Down from Class B to Class C
Benzie Central
Coloma
Comstock
Detroit Communication Media Arts
Ecorse
Jonesville
Michigan Center
Otisville LakeVille Memorial
Shelby
Watervliet
Moving Up from Class D to Class C
Bellevue
Plymouth Christian Academy
Eau Claire
Fowler
Indian River Inland Lakes
Ironwood
Jackson Prep
Muskegon Heights Academy
New Buffalo
Ubly
Moving Down from Class C to Class D
Adrian Lenawee Christian
Breckenridge
Detroit Benjamin Carson Science & Medicine
Grand Traverse Academy
Lawrence
Rogers City
Warren Michigan Math & Science
New Postseason-Eligible Tournament Schools in 2022-23
Escanaba Holy Name Catholic
Farmington Hills Huda School
Center Line Prep
Battle Creek Academy
Enrollment Breaks by Classes – 2022-23
(Number of schools in parentheses)
Class A: 814 and above (187 schools)
Class B: 388 – 813 (188)
Class C: 183 – 387 (187)
Class D: 182 and below (188)
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.