Voice of Athletes Heard, Recognized
March 17, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For more than 40 years, Escanaba’s Dan Flynn has served in just about every role possible in educational athletics. He’s lent his expertise to every group involved with sports at the high school level.
But above all, he’s made sure to advocate for those at the center of our games – the student-athletes taking part.
Flynn has coached, officiated and served as an athletic director, and also was a longtime member of the MHSAA Representative Council. In recognition of his contributions – and the voice he so often provided for those playing sports – Flynn has been named the 2014 recipient of the MHSAA's Charles E. Forsythe Award.
"My focus has been taking care of kids and helping kids have success. It's the essence of education, the essence of coaching," Flynn said. "The coaches help, the schools help, the parents help provide the programs. But the reason is the kids.”
The annual award is in its 37th year and is named after former MHSAA Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe, the Association's first full-time and longest-serving chief executive. Forsythe Award recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual's outstanding contribution to the interscholastic athletics community. Flynn will receive his honor during the break after the first quarter of the MHSAA Class A Boys Basketball Final on March 22 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
Flynn, 67, joined the staff at Escanaba High School as a teacher and coach in 1971 and eventually served as the varsity wrestling coach from 1973-84, varsity football coach from 1985-2011 and varsity boys track and field coach from 1992-2002. He also served as athletic director from 1983-96 and an assistant principal for five years.
Flynn also represented the Upper Peninsula as an elected member of the MHSAA Representative Council from 1988-2010 and worked on the Council’s Executive Committee.
“He’s a coach at heart. He was very student-athlete oriented in his thinking about MHSAA policies and programs and was a dependable voice to bring up the student perspective,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “While he spent his career in the Upper Peninsula, he was capable of thinking about the good for the state as a whole. We’re proud to honor Dan Flynn with the Forsythe Award.”
Before beginning at Escanaba, Flynn taught and coached at Ishpeming High School, including leading the wrestling program from 1967-71. He coached Ishpeming to an MHSAA Upper Peninsula wrestling championship in 1971 and then Escanaba’s wrestling team to six MHSAA U.P. titles in nine seasons. As an assistant football coach for the Eskymos he helped lead the team to the MHSAA Class A title in 1981 and a runner-up finish in 1979.
He also served as a track and field official for 42 seasons, and this fall returned to coaching as a football assistant at Marquette High School.
Flynn received an MHSAA Allen W. Bush Award in 2000 for his contributions to the association. He was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2001, the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
“It was awfully important to me that the kids across the state had a voice in the Representative Council,” Flynn said. “I thought I had something to say. And I was taught by some really good people, Jack Roberts, (associate directors) Jerry Cvengros and Tom Rashid, that I needed to listen to take care of people.”
His contributions to his community reach outside athletics as well. Flynn has participated in the Youth Assistance Program and American Heart Association in Delta County and as a CPR instructor for the Superior Upper Peninsula chapter of the American Red Cross.
Flynn grew up in Chicago and received his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Northern Michigan University in 1969 and a master’s from NMU in 1993, and played football for the Wildcats as an undergrad. He also studied at Utah State University and the University of Oregon.
Past recipients of the Charles E. Forsythe Award
1978 - Brick Fowler, Port Huron; Paul Smarks, Warren
1979 - Earl Messner, Reed City; Howard Beatty, Saginaw
1980 - Max Carey, Freesoil
1981 - Steven Sluka, Grand Haven; Samuel Madden, Detroit
1982 - Ernest Buckholz, Mt. Clemens; T. Arthur Treloar, Petoskey
1983 - Leroy Dues, Detroit; Richard Maher, Sturgis
1984 - William Hart, Marquette; Donald Stamats, Caro
1985 - John Cotton, Farmington; Robert James, Warren
1986 - William Robinson, Detroit; Irving Soderland, Norway
1987 - Jack Streidl, Plainwell; Wayne Hellenga, Decatur
1988 - Jack Johnson, Dearborn; Alan Williams, North Adams
1989 - Walter Bazylewicz, Berkley; Dennis Kiley, Jackson
1990 - Webster Morrison, Pickford; Herbert Quade, Benton Harbor
1991 - Clifford Buckmaster, Petoskey; Donald Domke, Northville
1992 - William Maskill, Kalamazoo; Thomas G. McShannock, Muskegon
1993 - Roy A. Allen Jr., Detroit; John Duncan, Cedarville
1994 - Kermit Ambrose, Royal Oak
1995 - Bob Perry, Lowell
1996 - Charles H. Jones, Royal Oak
1997 - Michael A. Foster, Richland; Robert G. Grimes, Battle Creek
1998 - Lofton C. Greene, River Rouge; Joseph J. Todey, Essexville
1999 - Bernie Larson, Battle Creek
2000 - Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo; Jerry Cvengros, Escanaba
2001 - Norm Johnson, Bangor; George Lovich, Canton
2002 - John Fundukian, Novi
2003 - Ken Semelsberger, Port Huron
2004 – Marco Marcet, Frankenmuth
2005 – Jim Feldkamp, Troy
2006 – Dan McShannock, Midland; Dail Prucka, Monroe
2007 – Keith Eldred, Williamston; Tom Hickman, Spring Lake
2008 – Jamie Gent, Haslett; William Newkirk, Sanford-Meridian
2009 – Paul Ellinger, Cheboygan
2010 – Rudy Godefroidt, Hemlock; Mike Boyd, Waterford
2011 – Eric C. Federico, Trenton
2012 – Bill Mick, Midland
2013 – Jim Gilmore, Tecumseh; Dave Hutton, Grandville
PHOTO: Dan Flynn coaches his football team at Escanaba before stepping down from that post after the 2011 season. (Photo courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)
Postseason, Playing Rules Modifications Taking Effect as Fall Practices Begin
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 4, 2023
A series of changes, including adjustments to postseason qualification in multiple sports and several playing rules, will take effect Monday, Aug. 7, as more than 95,000 athletes statewide are anticipated to begin the Fall 2023 season across nine sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Teams in girls and boys cross country, football, Lower Peninsula girls golf, boys soccer, Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving, Upper Peninsula girls tennis and Lower Peninsula boys tennis, and girls volleyball may begin practice Monday. Competition begins Aug. 14 for golf and tennis, Aug. 16 for cross country, soccer, swimming & diving and volleyball, and Aug. 24 for varsity football. Football teams at all levels must have 12 days of preseason practice – over a period of 16 calendar days – before their first game.
Qualification requirements for MHSAA Finals competition have been adjusted to provide more opportunities in two sports.
The Swimming & Diving Finals could enjoy larger fields this fall thanks to a change in the structuring of qualifying times. Moving forward, qualifying times will be determined based on the past five years of MHSAA race data, but also will account for past numbers of qualifiers in each swim race. This shift will allow for more athletes to advance to the Finals in events where fields have not been full over the previous five seasons.
In tennis, for the first time in Lower Peninsula play, a No. 1 doubles flight from a non-qualifying team will be able to advance from its Regional to Finals competition. To do so, that No. 1 doubles flight must finish first or second at its Regional, and the No. 1 singles player from that team also must have qualified for the Finals individually by finishing first or second in Regional play.
Also affecting MHSAA Tournament play, golfers now are required to participate in at least four competitions for the high school team prior to representing that school team in an MHSAA Regional or Final. Those four regular-season competitions may be 9 or 18-hole events.
A pair of significant changes have switched up the Finals schedules this fall in boys soccer and football. Instead of playing at multiple sites as in the past, all four Boys Soccer Finals will be played on the same day at the same site, Nov. 4 at Grand Ledge High School beginning with Division 4 and ending with Division 1.
The 11-Player Football Finals will start and finish a day later at Ford Field, concluding that sport’s season Saturday, Nov. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 26, instead of with the traditional Friday/Saturday schedule. This one-year adjustment is being made to accommodate the Michigan State/Penn State football game Friday, Nov. 24, at Ford Field.
Opportunities have been created as well beginning this fall for scheduling more out-of-state opponents in all sports, as teams are now able to play opponents from anywhere in the United States as long as those competitions are played in Michigan, contiguous states Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota or Wisconsin, or Ontario. All out-of-state opponents must be members in good standing of their respective high school athletic association, and any multi-team event including schools from outside of Michigan or those contiguous states/province must receive approval by the MHSAA and each state high school association with a team involved in order for MHSAA member schools to be allowed to participate.
Rules changes will be literally visible in two sports as more flexibility will be allowed by new wardrobe exceptions in cross country and girls volleyball. In volleyball, small, secured studs or posts now may be worn above the chin. In cross country, athletes may now wear temporary body adornment (painted or fastened) during competition, and runners also may now wear any type of head attire during racing.
As is annually true, a series of playing rule changes also take effect with the new season. The following are among the most notable:
- The most significant in football changes how the ball is spotted after penalties by the offense that occur behind the line of scrimmage. Previously, those were marked from the spot of the foul; now those penalties will be marked from the previous spot – the line of scrimmage where that play began. This change was made to eliminate excessive penalties on the offense when an infraction took place well behind the line of scrimmage.
- In volleyball, teams will stay on the same bench for the duration of a match unless officials determine a clear disadvantage exists for the bench on one side of the court. In that case, teams will exchange sides of the court after each set.
- Another pair of changes affect where volleyball coaches may be positioned during matches. Coaches may stand in a new coaching zone, now defined by the libero replacement zone extending beyond the end line and sideline extended. During dead-ball situations, one assistant coach also may stand within the coaching zone to provide instruction; only one assistant coach can stand at a time, but the assistant coach who stands may change throughout the match.
- Two officiating-related changes will be especially noticeable on the soccer pitch. Officials now may stop the clock to check on an injured player without that player being required to leave the match – previously that player would have to sub out. Also, categories for fouls have been redefined: careless (which is a foul but does not receive a card), reckless (a foul with a yellow card) and excessive force (foul with red card).
- In swimming, stroke modifications were made in the backstroke and breaststroke events.
The 2023 Fall campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals during the week of Oct. 2 and wrapping up with the 11-Player Football Finals on Nov. 25 and 26. Here is a complete list of fall tournament dates:
Cross Country
U.P. Finals – Oct. 21
L.P. Regionals – Oct. 27 or 28
L.P. Finals – Nov. 4
11-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 22
Pre-Districts – Oct. 27 or 28
District Finals – Nov. 3 or 4
Regional Finals – Nov. 10 or 11
Semifinals – Nov. 18
Finals – Nov. 25-26
8-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 22
Regional Semifinals – Oct. 27 or 28
Regional Finals – Nov. 3 or 4
Semifinals – Nov. 11
Finals – Nov. 18
L.P. Girls Golf
Regionals – Oct. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14
Finals – Oct. 20-21
Soccer
L.P. Boys Districts – Oct. 11-21
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 24-28
L.P. Boys Semifinals – Nov. 1
L.P. Boys Finals – Nov. 4
L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving
Diving Regionals – Nov. 9
Swimming/Diving Finals – Nov. 17-18
Tennis
U.P. Girls Finals – Oct. 4, 5, 6 or 7
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 11, 12, 13 or 14
L.P. Boys Finals – Oct. 20-21
Girls Volleyball
Districts – Oct. 30-Nov. 4
Regionals – Nov. 7 & 9
Quarterfinals – Nov. 14
Semifinals – Nov. 16-17
Finals – Nov. 18
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.