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Winter Rules Changes Focus on Safety
December 6, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Seasons are underway for teams participating in 12 winter sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments, with a continuing focus on safety highlighting rules changes taking effect with the first days of competition.
Beginning with ice hockey’s first games Nov. 14, six sports started play during the final weeks of November, while the rest will be underway by the end of this week; Wrestling on Dec. 7 and Boys and Girls Skiing on Dec. 10 will be the final winter sports to begin competition.
Basketball, wrestling and ice hockey are among sports with noticeable changes to enhance safety this winter. In basketball, a change has been made to further protect the free-throw shooter from being displaced immediately after attempting a shot. Players occupying marked free-throw lane spaces may enter the lane on the release of the ball but may not touch or cross the free-throw line extended, into the semicircle, until the ball is released and touches the ring or backboard. Other players not occupying marked lane spaces may not have either foot beyond the vertical plane of the free-throw line extended and the 3-point line which is farther from the basket until the ball touches the ring or until the free throw ends. Both are designed to keep the free-throw shooter free from contact and alone in the semicircle directly following the shot attempt.
Also in basketball, non-playing personnel including cheerleaders, media and school supervisors must remain outside the playing area during a timeout 30 seconds or shorter. Non-playing personnel also must remain throughout the game in the areas between the free-throw lines extended and sidelines, to provide a safer environment free of possible collisions for both playing and non-playing personnel.
Officials will be on the lookout in wrestling for a hold that could lead to a competitor being dropped to the mat after a lift without the ability to use his or her arms to break the fall because they are trapped as part of the hold. If a wrestler, from a standing position, is placed in a body lock with one or both arms trapped, the offensive wrestler is required to safely return that defensive wrestler to the mat through a variety of legal moves. Officials will stop the match if a lift is coming or imminent that would result in the defensive wrestler being unable to break his or her fall because of an arm trap.
Hockey contact to the head or neck area will be penalized with multiple levels of severity in 2016-17, depending on the extent and intent of that contact. If contact to the head or neck area is deemed to be direct – that is, with the initial force of the contact occurring to the neck or head area – that contact will be considered a flagrant foul and result in a major penalty or game disqualification. If the contact is deemed indirect – with the initial force of the contact beginning below the neck and progressing upward to the head or neck area – the result will be a minor penalty unless the indirect contact is deemed by officials to be flagrant, which again will result in a major or game disqualification.
Also of note in hockey, all players (excluding goaltenders) must now take a stationary position on all faceoffs before the puck is dropped. By eliminating motion prior to faceoffs, this rule change is designed to also eliminate any possible advantage gained by players previously working for better position.
The 2016-17 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls and Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 18, and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 25. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Boys Basketball
Districts – March 6, 8 & 10
Regionals – March 13 & 15
Quarterfinals – March 21
Semifinals – March 23-24
Finals – March 25
Girls Basketball
Districts – Feb. 27, March 1 & 3
Regionals – March 7 & 9
Quarterfinals – March 14
Semifinals – March 16-17
Finals – March 18
Girls & Boys Bowling
Team Regionals – Feb. 24
Singles Regionals – Feb. 25
Team Finals – March 3
Singles Finals – March 4
Girls Competitive Cheer
Districts – Feb. 17-18
Regionals – Feb. 25
Finals: March 3-4
Girls Gymnastics
Regionals – March 4
Team Finals – March 10
Individual Finals – March 11
Ice Hockey
Pre-Regionals – Feb. 27-March 3
Regional Finals – March 3-4
Quarterfinals – March 7-8
Semifinals – March 9-10
Finals – March 11
Girls & Boys Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 13-17
Finals – Feb. 27
Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving
U.P. Girls & Boys Finals – Feb. 18
L.P. Boys Diving Regionals – March 2
L.P. Boys Finals – March 10-11
Wrestling
Team Districts – Feb. 8-9
Individual Districts – Feb. 11
Team Regionals – Feb. 15
Individual Regionals – Feb. 18
Team Quarterfinals – Feb. 24
Team Semifinals & Finals – Feb. 25
Individual Finals – March 2-4
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MHSAA Details XC, Swim/Dive Tourneys
October 2, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Executive Committee of the Michigan High School Athletic Association has approved a series of modifications for this fall’s cross country and girls swimming & diving tournaments as part of efforts to reduce the possible opportunity for spread of COVID-19. The Committee also approved an expanded field for Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals made possible by a recent Executive Order announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The Executive Committee is comprised of officers of the larger Representative Council. The adjustments to these three sports’ tournaments received final approval during the Committee’s Sept. 30 meeting.
This season’s Lower Peninsula Cross Country Tournament will begin with an additional Pre-Regional round, which will divide traditional Regionals into smaller groups in order to limit field sizes per race site. A total of 18 Pre-Regional races per each of four Divisions will qualify the four top-placing teams and seven top individuals not on those teams to nine Regionals per Division. From Regionals, the top three teams and seven individuals not on those teams will advance to each of the Finals, which will be run Friday (Division 1 & 2) and Saturday (Division 3 & 4), Nov. 6-7, at Michigan International Speedway.
To again limit field size and mixing of schools, each Division of the Lower Peninsula Finals for both girls and boys will be run over two races – teams qualifying third from Regionals and all individual qualifiers will be in one section (or heat), with teams that qualified second or first at Regionals in a second section. Two Divisions – four girls and four boys races total – will be run each day of the Lower Peninsula Finals.
The only change for the Upper Peninsula Finals this fall is the three Divisions will be run at separate sites Oct. 24 – Division 1 at Marquette’s Presque Isle Park, Division 2 at George Young Recreational Complex in Iron River, and Division 3 at Pictured Rocks Golf Course in Munising. The format for Upper Peninsula Finals is unchanged from previous years.
Adjustments to this fall’s Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals were made to accommodate limits on individuals who may assemble together for indoor activities. All diving will take place Friday, Nov. 20, at three Lower Peninsula Finals sites to be determined. All qualifying divers will complete five dives, with the top 20 advancing to perform three more dives. From that second round, the top 16 will advance to perform their final three dives of the competition.
All swimming will be competed Saturday, Nov. 21, with timed championship races in every event instead of the traditional preliminaries and finals. Scores from the swimming and diving portions will be combined to determine final team finish.
The fields for the four Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals will expand to their traditional sizes after the Executive Committee previously approved a proposal to limit the fields due to outdoor gathering restrictions. With those gathering limitations eased Sept. 25 by Executive Order 183, Regionals will again qualify the top three teams and top three individuals not on those teams to Finals. As previously announced, the Girls Golf Finals will be contested this season with one 18-hole round instead of the traditional two rounds to eliminate any necessity of overnight trips. The four Girls Golf Finals will be played over Oct. 16-17 at the Forest Akers golf courses at Michigan State University.
Further details for all tournaments will be available on their respective sport pages of the MHSAA Website.
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.