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SAC Sound-off: It’s not about Perfection

April 25, 2012

“Practice makes perfect” is just one of the many phrases that inspire one to work harder toward the goal of obtaining perfection.

Though these words may be used to inspire perfection, that is not their true purpose. Perfection doesn’t exist, but the inspiration to reach for higher goals does.

My senior year opened my eyes up to the actualization that trying to be perfect was not what sports had been teaching me all along. What I was meant to take from them were the valuable lessons of dedication, drive, teamwork, and communicating skills.

High school sports are more than a tool for athletic development. They are a medium for creating mentally-strong people who can execute in difficult situations faced later in life. Not that one may perform perfectly in these hypothetical situations, but that one may be able to handle situations that require thinking outside of the box.

How great it would be for all student-athletes to know and realize these secrets – because for the ones that feel the pressure to be perfect, it may be a much-needed relief.

I have strived to be the best I can be, and I have achieved success by doing so. However, with that success came pressure to be perfect in an athletic sense.

My junior year I was named all-state in basketball and I won the MHSAA Division 4 discus championship. Negative comments from others during my senior year about my basketball games or field events in track used to make me feel insignificant and insecure. That was before I realized I have achieved great heights and I will continue to raise my pinnacle as long as I stay positive.

I will never be absolutely perfect; I’m only human, and the best anyone can do is try his or her hardest to never back down from a task at hand. 

High school athletics have molded me from a perfection-seeking mess to a confident, realistic, and optimistic person that finally realizes nothing I do in life is about perfection – it is about the climb of simply becoming a stronger person.

What I can strive for in the realm of perfection is a perfect attitude. The contagiousness of a good attitude will not only keep me optimistic, but it can influence others around me to pursue that positive mental toughness that is so often tested in sports.

Lena Madison, New Buffalo, senior

  • Sports: Volleyball, basketball, track and field
  • Non-sports activities: Student Government, Spanish Honors Society, National Honors Society, Special Olympics and Senior Olympics volunteer
  • Must-see TV: "Lost"
  • One shining moment: Winning the MHSAA Division 4 championship in discus last spring.
  • What's next: My plan for next year is to attend Notre Dame. I will major in pre-medicine and be on the track team.
  • My favorite part of game day is: ... right before every game, my team has a dance party. We get our nerves out of our systems by dancing them away!

PHOTO: Madison accepts her first-place medal at last season's Division 4 Track and Field Final. (Photo courtesy of Lena Madison.)

Battle of the Fans VIII: Meet the Finalists

January 28, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The reigning champion and two first-time finalists have earned the opportunity to vie for the MHSAA's “Battle of the Fans VIII” championship recognizing the top high school student cheering section in Michigan, as awarded by the Student Advisory Council.

Buchanan, North Muskegon and Saginaw Heritage were selected as finalists by the Advisory Council from a group of nine semifinalists that took part in a series of social media challenges highlighting their sections over the last two weeks.

Members of the MHSAA staff will visit all three finalists over the next three weeks, producing articles about each section and videos of those sections in action, all to be published on Second Half.

The winner will be selected by another vote by the 16-member Advisory Council, with consideration given to a public vote on the MHSAA’s social media sites. This year’s winner will be announced Feb. 22 and recognized March 15 at the Breslin Center.

Buchanan is seeking its second straight BOTF championship and also won in 2013 and was a finalist in both 2014 and 2015. North Muskegon and Heritage are both first-time finalists; this was the second time North Muskegon applied for BOTF, and the third time Heritage had applied.

The MHSAA will visit the finalists for the following home basketball games:

Feb. 1: Midland Dow at Saginaw Heritage (girls)
Feb. 8: Parchment at Buchanan (boys)
Feb. 12: Montague at North Muskegon (boys)

Petoskey and Wayland just missed claiming the third finalist spot. Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, Carson City-Crystal, Petersburg-Summerfield and Traverse City West also were semifinalists.

“With Heritage from Class A, Buchanan from Class B and North Muskegon from Class C, we’re thrilled to have finalists representing such a wide range of school sizes – and we’re excited to see our three finalists up close and in person,” said Andy Frushour, MHSAA director of brand management and advisor to the Student Advisory Council. 

“Buchanan is a perennial power and has become the gold standard for high school student sections. Heritage was very involved during the fall Sportsmanship Summits, and that momentum carried over to this winter as the section has supported its top-ranked girls basketball team. North Muskegon has come out of nowhere – but is proof of how just a little bit of organization can lead to major student section changes over only a few months.”

Let's meet the finalists: 



BUCHANAN -

 THE HERD

Follow on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (theherd_bhs)

 


NORTH MUSKEGON - NORSE NATION

Follow on Twitter and Instagram


SAGINAW HERITAGE - HAWK NEST

Follow on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (hhshawknest)

Battle of the Fans is organized by MHSAA staff and the Student Advisory Council. For the second year under a revamped format, schools were invited throughout the fall to submit short videos, via YouTube, of their cheering sections in action. The Advisory Council then selected nine semifinalists to accomplish a list of tasks showing off their sections over a 12-day span.

Semifinalists were required to complete 10 challenges via their social media channels. Five mandatory challenges focused on contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and overall fun. Semifinalists then selected five elective challenges (taken from a list of 15 opportunities). Descriptions of all 20 challenges are available on the MHSAA Website.

A total of 20 schools applied for this year’s contest – including six first-time applicants. Three semifinalists each were selected from the Class A, Class B and Class C/D applicants. See below for a play list of all 20 applicants.

 

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 MHSAA's BOTF page.

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.