Representative Council Authorizes MHSAA AD Mentorship Program at Winter Meeting
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 3, 2023
The creation of a mentorship network of past athletic administrators to assist those currently in the field was among actions taken by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its annual Winter Meeting on March 24 in East Lansing.
The “AD Connection Program” was approved for two pilot program years and will enlist six past administrators from across the state to serve as sources of support and input for current athletic directors in charge of programs across the more than 1,500 MHSAA-member high schools and junior high/middle schools. The program is set to begin with the 2023-24 school year and previously was approved by the MHSAA Audit & Finance Committee.
The Council also approved a revamping of the MHSAA’s series of annual awards presented to educational and athletic leaders, based on the work of an awards task force convened to restructure the awards process and rebrand the yearly honors to provide greater understanding of what they celebrate. Current awards include the Women In Sports Leadership Award, Charles E. Forsythe Award (for lifetime achievement), Allen W. Bush Award (for unsung contributions) and the Vern L. Norris Award (for leadership and mentorship in officiating). Additionally, the Council approved the creation of a Champion of Progress Award named for retired assistant director Nate Hampton, who ended his 32-year tenure at the MHSAA after the 2020-21 school year. The Champion of Progress Award will recognize those who provide leadership in the advancement of underrepresented groups in educational athletics.
The Winter Meeting also frequently serves as an opportunity for the Council to discuss items expected to come up for action at its final meeting of the school year, scheduled for May 7-8, and three topics received the majority of conversation.
The Council discussed work undertaken recently by a Football Task Force charged with examining regular-season scheduling issues and various playoff format ideas circulating in the school sports community. The task force was comprised of members of the Council, Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) leadership, Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) officers and MHSAA staff.
The Council was presented with feedback on CPR and AED requirements and the need for renewed emphasis on local Emergency Action Plans from the MHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC). Discussion of CPR requirements at the junior high/middle school level will be among agenda items at the May Council meeting.
MHSAA staff also provided results of the bi-annual survey of leagues and conferences that produced the range of regular-season officiating fees being paid for each sport. The Council discussed the effects, especially budgetary, on schools as they seek to secure local officiating for all levels of all of their sports.
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 1.3 million spectators each year.
24th WISL Conference Set for Feb 2-3
January 6, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first, largest and longest-running program of its type in the country, the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Women In Sports Leadership Conference will take place Feb. 2-3 at the Crowne Plaza Lansing West.
The 24th edition of the conference again will feature three keynote speakers and a variety of workshops. The program annually attracts upwards of 500 participants, most of them high school female student-athletes. High school students, coaches and administrators are invited to find registration information on the MHSAA Website.
Cost is $50 for students and $60 for adults, not including lodging for those intending to stay overnight in Lansing. A registration form for lodging also is available on the MHSAA Website.
The theme for this WISL Conference is “The Courage to Lead” – and the opening address will be delivered by two-time Olympic women’s soccer gold medalist Lindsay Tarpley. She led Portage Central to the MHSAA Division 2 championship as a sophomore in 2000, was named college soccer’s National Player of the Year in 2003 after leading University of North Carolina to the NCAA Division I title, and played for the U.S. national team until retiring in 2011. She will speak on setting high standards and challenging one’s self to be a leader throughout life.
Michigan State University women’s volleyball coach Cathy George will challenge participants to embrace a growth mindset and believe in themselves and their potential while speaking at the WISL Banquet during the evening of Feb. 2. George recently completed her 15th season at MSU and 33rd overall as a college head coach. Her 288 wins at MSU are the most in program history, and she has a career record of 653-429 – counting also 11 seasons leading Western Michigan University, five at University of Texas-Arlington and two at North Dakota State. She has taken 15 teams to the NCAA Tournament, including MSU to the Elite Eight in 2017 and Texas-Arlington to the Final Four in 1989. As an athlete, George was a team captain and three-time all-league selection at Illinois State, helping the Redbirds to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Michigan’s 43rd Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson will speak during the opening session Feb. 3 on expanding opportunities for girls and women as athletes, coaches, sport executives and leaders. She chairs Michigan’s Task Force on Women in Sports, which brings together local and national leaders to develop strategies that support and promote opportunities for girls and women in athletics, and is a founding board member and former CEO of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality. Benson is a graduate of Harvard University Law School and expert on civil rights law, education law and election law. As dean of Wayne State University Law School, she was the youngest woman in U.S. history to lead a top-100 accredited law school, and she became in 2015 one of the youngest inductees into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.
Workshops offered during the WISL conference include topics on coaching, teaching and learning leadership; sports nutrition and performance, and injury prevention; empowerment and goal-setting, and building team chemistry and program culture. A complete itinerary is available on the MHSAA Website.
The WISL Banquet will include the presentation of this year’s Women In Sports Leadership Award. The winner will be announced later this month.
Follow the #WISL hashtag on Twitter to learn more about the conference’s activities.