Rep Council Wrap-up: Winter 2014
March 24, 2014
The addition of a training requirement for first-time high school varsity coaches and football practice policy changes focused on player safety highlighted actions taken by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its annual Winter Meeting on March 21 in East Lansing.
Raising expectations for coaches’ preparedness is one of four current thrusts of the MHSAA’s ongoing focus on health and safety issues in school sports. The Council voted to require every individual hired for the first time as a varsity head coach at an MHSAA member high school after July 31, 2016 to have completed the MHSAA’s Coaches Advancement Program (CAP) Level 1 or Level 2. CAP is a six-level MHSAA-administered educational regimen that aids coaches in their growth and development as they advance in the field of educational athletics.
This is the third action the Council has approved over the last year to enhance the preparation of coaches with respect to health and safety issues. The first action, adopted in May 2013, requires all assistant and subvarsity coaches at the high school level to complete the same rules and risk minimization meeting requirement as high school varsity head coaches beginning with the 2014-15 school year. The second, adopted during the Fall Meeting in December, requires all varsity high school head coaches have a current CPR certification beginning with the 2015-16 school year.
By adopting a series of football changes, the Council also advanced a thrust toward revising practice policies and game rules to improve player safety in all sports. The practice policy changes were proposed by a Football Task Force made up of coaches, administrators and MHSAA staff which met throughout 2013. The following were approved by the Council:
- During the first week of practice of the season, only helmets are allowed the first two days, only shoulder pads may be added on the third and fourth days, and full pads may not be worn until the fifth day of team practice.
- Before the first regular-season game, schools may not schedule more than one “collision” practice in a day. A collision practice is defined as one in which there is live, game-speed, player-versus-player contact in pads involving any number of players.
- After the first regular-season game, teams may conduct no more than two collision practice days in any week, Monday through Sunday.
- No single football practice may exceed three hours, and the total practice time for days with multiple practice sessions may not exceed five hours. Neither strength/weight training activities nor video/classroom sessions are considered practice for the purposes of the three or five-hour limits.
Additional details and explanations of the new football practice policies are found on the Football page of the MHSAA Website.
The Council also approved a series of proposals regarding the eligibility of international students, who by an estimate from the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET) numbered more than 3,800 in Michigan in 2012. The Representative Council approved a change to a portion of the MHSAA’s transfer regulation to refer to international students, not merely “foreign exchange” students, and also approved a proposal that would grant an international student athletic eligibility at an MHSAA school only if that student is placed through an Approved International Student Program accepted for listing by CSIET or approved by the MHSAA.
Those international students placed through an Approved International Student Program would be eligible for a maximum of the first two consecutive semesters or three consecutive trimesters at any secondary school in the United States, after which the student is ineligible for interscholastic athletic competition at any MHSAA member school for the next academic year. International students who do not meet one of the residency exceptions recognized by the MHSAA or are not enrolled through an Approved International Student Program may become eligible to participate at the subvarsity level only.
Continuing its examination of athletics at the junior high/middle school level, the Council also approved changes to allow for longer competitions in two sports. The length of quarters in basketball may be increased from six minutes to a maximum of eight minutes, and the length of quarters in football may be increased from eight minutes to a maximum of 10 minutes.
The Representative Council is the 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 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.
2018 Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 19, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2017-18 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, in its 29th year, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament.
Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 736 scholarships have been awarded.
Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, six female and six male; eight scholarships will be awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships will be awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships will be awarded to Class D student-athletes, two female and two male. In addition, two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in its classification, and could have more than one finalist. Saline has four finalists this year, while Negaunee, Rochester and Saginaw Swan Valley each have three. Seventeen schools each have two finalists: Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Chelsea, East Grand Rapids, Ferndale, Grand Rapids Christian, Harbor Springs, Kingsford, Ludington, Marshall, Northville, Okemos, Paw Paw, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Saranac, Sault Ste. Marie and Troy.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.63, while the average of the application pool was 2.20. There are 65 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but two of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 396 schools which submitted applicants, 39 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,422 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the MHSAA Website.
The applications were judged by a 64-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 6, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 13 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 20. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Final, March 24, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale) and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more — protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders
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.
2017-18 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
BOYS CLASS A
Kobie Mueller, Ann Arbor Huron
Adam Good, Auburn Hills Avondale
Jacob Willemsen, Byron Center
William Marano, Dearborn Edsel Ford
Anthony Joseph, DeWitt
Ben Forstner, East Grand Rapids
Anthony Kim, Grand Blanc
Nicholas Weigle, Grandville
Yzrael Silguero, Holland
Danny deForest, Holland West Ottawa
Joseph Corner, Holt
Luke Rambo, Marquette
Aditya Middha, Midland Dow
Paul Cheng McKinley, Okemos
David Paquette, Petoskey
Michael Robert Melaragni, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Cole Johnson, Rockford
Anthony G. DeKraker, Saline
Aidan Delfuoco, Saline
Reagan Miller, Saline
Emmett Turner, Saline
Hunter Gandee, Temperance Bedford
Nathan Frazier, Warren Cousino
Nick Seidel, West Bloomfield
GIRLS CLASS A
Maggie Wood, Battle Creek Lakeview
Emily Rooney, Birmingham Seaholm
Susannah Deems, East Grand Rapids
Kelly Ann Giles, East Kentwood
Olivia Perkins, Farmington Hills Harrison
Maria Poortenga, Grand Rapids Christian
Sarah Van Dyke, Grand Rapids Christian
Breanna Probst, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Lauren Sickmiller, Grosse Pointe North
Samantha Hild, Holly
Talia Naomi Edmonds, Kalamazoo Central
Tess Scheidel, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg
Grace VanArendonk, Muskegon Mona Shores
Kendall Dillon, Northville
Roan Haines, Northville
Anushka Murthy, Okemos
Hallie C. Roman, Port Huron Northern
Kendall Jordan, Rochester
Karlyn Kelley, Rochester
Jenna Norgrove, Rochester
Anna Fischer, St. Joseph
Meghan Monaghan, Troy
Megan Worrel, Troy
Julie Smith, Walled Lake Northern
BOYS CLASS B
Jackson Lund, Big Rapids
Lucas Misra, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Patrick J. Bertoni, Chelsea
Justin A. Lyle, Dowagiac
Jacob Keener, Ferndale
John Stellard, Ferndale
Vincent Goyette, Flint Powers Catholic
Anthony Harris, Frankenmuth
David Ameriguian, Grosse Ile
Sawyer Perpich, Kingsford
Caleb Schoon, Ludington
William Rayner, Marshall
Thomas Otten, Paw Paw
Anthony Reo, Paw Paw
Hunter Goldensoph, Saginaw Swan Valley
Troy Joseph Distelrath, St. Clair
GIRLS CLASS B
Kate Cao, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Caroline Hirth, Chelsea
Hannah Shorkey, Essexville Garber
Katelyn Brown, Jonesville
Jordyn Kriegl, Kingsford
Mackenzie Luce, Ludington
Mackenzie Horn, Marshall
Grace VerHage, Otsego
Celia C. Gaynor, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Lauren Neiheisel, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Megan Brooks, Saginaw Swan Valley
Emily Buska, Saginaw Swan Valley
Valeta A. Gage, Sault Ste. Marie
Mackenzie M. Kalchik, Sault Ste. Marie
Izabella Marie Taylor, Three Rivers
MacKenzie Desloover, Yale
BOYS CLASS C
Jack Avery Harris, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Parker Hayes, Beaverton
Matthew Harazin, Bridgman
Ilhan Onder, Calumet
Joseph R. Claramunt, Harbor Springs
Thomas Kelbel, Harbor Springs
Evans Brown, Kalamazoo Hackett
Eric Vandefifer, Montrose
Luke Skewis, Negaunee
Colton Yesney, Negaunee
Ben Hogan, North Muskegon
Bryant Kieft, Watervliet
GIRLS CLASS C
Shelby Trevino, Beal City
Kendall Gassman, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart
Kelleigh Keating, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart
Ellen Charlotte Laurenz, Breckenridge
Rachel Nesburg, Charlevoix
Morgan Hartline, Marcellus
Clara Johnson, Negaunee
Emily Spitzley, Pewamo-Westphalia
Halie Robinson, Royal Oak Shrine Catholic
Kendahl Grace Overbeck, Saranac
Emma Pachulski, Saranac
Melody Antel, Saugatuck
BOYS CLASS D
Nicholas Burlingame, Ashley
Brendan Delaney, Gaylord St. Mary
Peter Kalthoff, Hillsdale Academy
Andrew Pechette, Kinde-North Huron
Andrew Hager, Mio
Jeremiah Torrey, Onekama
Aaron Jacob Fahrner, Owendale-Gagetown
Thomas Hursey, Suttons Bay
GIRLS CLASS D
Katelyn Smith, Akron-Fairgrove
Corra Hamilton, Athens
Madison Kadlec, Bellaire
Ciera Weber, Fowler
Laura Lyons, Lake Linden-Hubbell
Stephanie Schuman, Lawrence
Ellie Haan, McBain Northern Michigan Christian
Sophie Ruggles, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart