Presidents Converge on MHSAA Office

January 29, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Coaches serving over three seasons and in a variety of different sports can have a variety of perspectives when it comes to most topics, including MHSAA rules.

The Coaches Association Presidents Meeting, an annual event hosted Monday at the MHSAA office in East Lansing, allows an opportunity to gather that valuable input as our staff works through pressing issues at the start of each new year.

Presidents from high school coaches associations representing nearly all of our MHSAA-sponsored sports met in East Lansing for an inside look at some of our latest efforts and how that work could affect their sports and the coaches they serve. 

On the menu this time was an update on the MHSAA's drive to increase coaches health and safety training, followed by updates on recent research into how the association might better serve junior high and middle schools. 

The entrée was discussion on out-of-season coaching rules, and how or if they should be altered to allow high school coaches more contact with athletes during offseasons than currently allowed. 

This meeting allows for input on these topics, with the key, again, that the input comes from various sources who face differing circumstances but are all tied together under the umbrella of interscholastic athletics. Input from our coaches associations will be valuable as MHSAA staff and its Representative Council consider potential rules changes over the rest of this school year, and beyond. 

Noel Dean on Parental Expectations

July 9, 2012

At Lowell High, football parents who think their child should be playing more get an opportunity to convince coach Noel Dean of the same -- but must do so in a meeting with the parents of the player who would lose time in the process. 

Dean, who has led the Red Arrows to three MHSAA titles, recently spoke with the America Football Coaches Association about managing parental expectations and providing a wider view of his program and the decisions that must be made to parents who often see through a more narrow scope.

Click on the link below, and especially pay attention at the 2:30 mark as Dean talks about his strategy for discussing playing time.

AFCA Two Minute Warning