#BOTF VI: Finalists Ready for 'Battle'
January 9, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Last year’s champion is back. So is the first to hoist a Battle of the Fans banner.
And sticking with the familiar, two more past contenders are looking to take the final step and be named Michigan’s best high school student cheering section.
But watch out as well for a first-timer that has broken into the mix – and will host the first stop on this winter’s finalists tour.
Let the “Battle” begin.
Battle of the Fans VI, organized by MHSAA staff and its 16-member Student Advisory Council, will reward the cheering section that best creates the positive and festive atmosphere made possible when students show enthusiasm, togetherness and sportsmanship while rooting for their team. MHSAA staff and Student Advisory Council members will visit all five finalists for home boys basketball games during the second half of this regular season, with coverage and video from those visits and the announcement of the winner all to be published on Second Half.
Schools were invited in December to submit short videos, via YouTube, of their cheering sections in action. The winner will be announced Feb. 17, and video of all five sections will be played on the Breslin Center HD scoreboard during the Girls and Boys Basketball Finals in March. The champion and finalists also will be recognized during the Boys Semifinals on March 24.
This year’s group of finalists is mostly a mix of familiar contenders with a new hopeful joining in. Reigning champion Traverse City West is a finalist for the third time, as is Frankenmuth – the champion of the inaugural Battle of the Fans in 2012. Charlotte and Petoskey are finalists for the second time, while Boyne City is making its debut among the top five.
Although no Class D schools applied this year, the 24 entries were spread almost evenly over the other three classes – seven from Class A, nine from Class B and eight from Class C. Seven schools got at least one first-place vote and 16 received at least one top-five vote from members of the Student Advisory Council.
“We were thrilled to have our second-largest group of applicants in BOTF history, and we’re eager to visit some familiar stops and check out a new section as well,” said Andy Frushour, MHSAA director of brand management and advisor to the Student Advisory Council. “Traverse City West created some incredible momentum last year, and Charlotte just missed earning the championship. Frankenmuth and Petoskey bring years of tradition back to this contest, and Boyne City should be another fantastic addition while adding to the strong student section presence from northern Michigan.”
Video submissions included explanations on how each section met the following contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and overall fun.
Click the links below to see the videos submitted by the finalists:
Boyne City – Charlotte – Frankenmuth – Petoskey – Traverse City West
The finalists were chosen by the Student Advisory Council, and the winner will be selected by another Advisory Council vote based in part on activity on the MHSAA’s social media sites. All social media postings regarding Battle of the Fans VI should include the hashtag #BOTF. The MHSAA will post throughout the finalists tour on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites and Snapchat feed.
Finalists will be visited for the following home basketball games:
Jan. 13: Kalkaska at Boyne City
Jan. 20: Alpena at Traverse City West
Jan. 28: DeWitt at Charlotte
Feb. 1: Sault Ste. Marie at Petoskey
Feb. 3: Millington at Frankenmuth
Beaverton, Battle Creek Lakeview, Buchanan, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian and Rockford, listed here in alphabetical order, rounded out the top 10 in the vote to select the finalists.
This year’s applicants brought the total number of schools that have entered the contest at least once to 84, with Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard – a finalist in 2013 – the only school to apply all six years.
Traverse City West and Frankenmuth have applied four times, Petoskey three, Charlotte twice, and Boyne City was a first-time entrant this year. There were nine first-time applicants total, including Battle Creek Lakeview, Breckenridge, Fennville, Harbor Beach, Hart, Ogemaw Heights, Saginaw Heritage and Troy Athens.
Click to view all applications on YouTube.
The contest is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, which promotes Michigan's locally-produced dairy products and nutrition education. Rules plus links to past years’ coverage of the contest can be found on the BOTF page of the MHSAA website.
The Student Advisory Council is made up of eight seniors and eight juniors who each serve two-year terms. The Council acts as the voice of Michigan's student-athletes; it serves as a student sounding board for the MHSAA's Representative Council, assists in planning Sportsmanship Summits, Captains Clinics and other student leadership events; participates in a yearly focus group about the state of high school sports for Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and assists with medal ceremonies at MHSAA championship events.
MHSAA, NFHS Learning Center Team Up to Provide Online Student Leadership Series
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 10, 2023
Leadership always has been one of the most valuable and applicable life skills developed by student-athletes participating in educational athletics. To assist in that development, the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) and National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) have partnered to produce an online Student Leadership series designed to provide the latest research-based instruction to high schoolers throughout the United States.
The Student Leadership series is provided as part of the web-based NFHS Learning Center and includes two free courses focused on students – “Becoming a Leader” and “Leading Others” – with a third installment for coaches currently in production. All three are inspired by the latest research on how youth-aged athletes learn to lead.
This latest work builds on the MHSAA-produced “Captains Course” developed in 2015 with Michigan State University’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sports (ISYS). The “Captains Course” has been taken more than 100,000 times and is based on in-person “Captains Clinics” that MHSAA staff and ISYS conduct with thousands of students across Michigan each year.
Each student-focused segment of the new Student Leadership series takes 30-45 minutes to complete and includes frequent and quick activities designed to help students understand how they would apply leadership skills in real-life scenarios. Course instruction was created primarily in coordination with the MHSAA by a pair of nationally-recognized authorities on the subject: Jed Blanton, an assistant professor in kinesiology, recreation and sport studies at the University of Tennessee; and Scott Pierce, an associate professor in kinesiology and recreation at Illinois State University.
Both Blanton and Pierce have vast experience with youth athletics; both also formerly worked for the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and served as graduate assistants at the MHSAA during their time at MSU, playing large roles in more than a decade of research conducted through coordination with the MHSAA’s 16-member Student Advisory Council. High school administrators, student leaders, and other researchers and mental performance consultants also contributed to the lessons taught in these courses. The NFHS produced the content, including all of the visuals and digital features, and the student-focused courses went live on the NFHS Learn website in mid-summer.
“We’ve taken a good program, and made it even better,” said MHSAA Assistant Director Andy Frushour, who coordinates the Association’s student services programs. “This is a program we do in person in Michigan, but our reach now is across the country – and these courses are free, hopefully allowing us to contribute to the development of even more student leaders.”
The “Becoming a Leader” course defines leadership styles and builds skills to help students consider themselves as leaders. “Leading Others” details how leaders put those skills into practice including during challenging situations. Blanton and Pierce worked closely with student advisory groups from various states to make the research content relatable to school sports participants. All voices heard in the courses belong to high school students – including athletes from Michigan, Illinois and Washington who provided 30 testimonials that describe leadership in action.
The “Coaches Course” will provide the same information as presented to high school students, but in a way that explains how coaches can use these tools to personalize leadership training among their athletes as they seek to recognize which types of leaders they have on a team, and which types are missing and need to be developed.
“The NFHS is grateful for the opportunity to work with the MHSAA as well as Dr. Blanton and Dr. Pierce,” said Dan Schuster, the NFHS’ director of educational services. “We believe these student leadership courses will provide valuable information across the country and will contribute to the improvement of the interscholastic experience for young people.”
Video previews provide additional information on both Student Leadership courses.Click for direct links to “Becoming a Leader" and “Leading Others.”