Statement on Spectators, Winter Contact Sports
January 22, 2021
Second Half
The following statements are attributable to Mark Uyl, executive director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, in response to today’s announcements by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) on the topics of spectators and Winter contact sports.
Governor Whitmer and MDHHS announced that sports arenas with capacities of at least 10,000 spectators may allow up to 500 to attend events. However, no additional tickets will be sold for today and Saturday’s 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field.
“We have been planning these Finals for weeks to include immediate family, and unfortunately this isn’t a process we can adjust midstream,” Uyl said. “Distributing more tickets would put stress on those plans and Ford Field staffing, and force schools to make more hard decisions on who will be able to attend, but at the last second instead of with prior planning.”
Governor Whitmer and MDHHS also announced that Winter contact sports – including MHSAA activities in girls and boys basketball, competitive cheer, ice hockey and wrestling – must remain non-contact through Feb. 21. The previous emergency order was set to expire at the end of January and would’ve allowed those sports to begin contact activities Feb. 1.
“We found out about this decision at 9:30 a.m. like everyone else, and we will address it as quickly as possible after taking the weekend to collect more information,” Uyl said. “We did not anticipate this delay in winter contact practices and competition, and today’s announcement has created many new questions.
“Obviously, this is disappointing to thousands of athletes who have been training with their teams over the last week and watching teams in other states around Michigan play for the last two months.”
Parade of Champions 2014-15
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 22, 2015
A total of 90 schools won one or more of the 127 Finals team championships awarded by the Michigan High School Athletic Association during the 2014-15 school year – with five programs winning the first MHSAA team titles in any sport for their respective schools.
The Detroit Western International boys basketball, Armada boys bowling, Detroit Loyola football, Birmingham Roeper boys soccer and Romeo girls volleyball teams all brought home the first MHSAA team championships in their schools’ histories.
A total of 32 teams won their first MHSAA titles. A total of 48 champions were repeat winners from 2013-14 – and 16 of those won for at least the third straight season. The Birmingham Brother Rice boys lacrosse team has the longest title streak of 11 seasons, while the Battle Creek St. Philip volleyball team has won ninth straight titles for the second-longest streak overall and longest among girls programs.
Marquette claimed the most championships, seven, winning in Division 1 boys skiing, Upper Peninsula Division 1 boys cross country and girls cross country, Upper Peninsula boys swimming & diving and girls swimming & diving, and Upper Peninsula Division 1 boys track & field and girls track & field. Three schools won four titles apiece – Birmingham Seaholm, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Ishpeming – and four schools won three titles apiece: Birmingham Brother Rice, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Rockford.
Sixteen of the MHSAA's 28 championship tournaments are unified, involving teams from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, while separate competition to determine titlists in both Peninsulas is conducted in remaining sports.
For a sport-by-sport listing of MHSAA champions for 2014-15 - Click Here (PDF)
PHOTO: The Romeo volleyball team hoists its Division 1 championship trophy, the first MHSAA Finals trophy won by the school in any sport.