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Minding Our Business: Focus on Mental Health
December 30, 2019
By Mark Uyl
MHSAA Executive Director
For as long as I can remember, rules have played an important role in my life.
My father officiated high school and youth sports. So my brother and I did the same, and were fortunate enough to earn the right to work contests at the collegiate level. Today, my sons are officiating high school and youth sports.
I was hired by the MHSAA as an assistant director in large part due to my officiating background. Rules and regulations remain the backbone of athletics specifically, and society in general, as I learned more acutely when I entered the working world as a teacher and coach, then school administrator.
What also became abundantly clear to me within that framework was that it is our responsibility to provide our students not only the opportunity for competition, but also for our games and practices to take place under the safest conditions possible. From preseason physicals to equipment inventory and facility maintenance, a premium was placed on the well-being of participants and spectators.
Throughout my time at the MHSAA, various initiatives continued to target the growing list of health and safety concerns. My predecessor, Jack Roberts, often pointed to the “4 Hs” of the MHSAA’s health and safety campaign: Health Histories (Physicals), Heat and Hydration, Heads, and Hearts. Those pillars still hold the bulk of the content and resources on the Health & Safety resource pages of MHSAA.com. A few years ago, an extensive section promoting multi-sport participation was developed as an increasing amount of overuse injuries among single-sport athletes was being reported.
This fall, another section has been added as a sub-category to “Heads.” While attending an NCAA meeting in the summer of 2017, the topic of concussions came up, which I assumed to be the No. 1 issue concerning health and safety of student-athletes. It was quickly pointed out that student mental health – not concussions – had become the top health concern among our young people. That knocked me back.
Medical personnel have determined that depression, anxiety and other issues related to mental health are the No. 1 concern among adolescent-age children. There’s a real opportunity to provide some leadership and guidance in this area.
We need to offer resources on the subject, and also be prepared to provide guidance for our membership. The MHSAA has developed a Mental Health Speakers Bureau (please visit our Health & Safety page online). The first statewide Student Mental Health Summit scheduled for Lansing in October provided an opportunity for school principals, counselors, student leadership advisers and student leaders to convene on the topic.
The gathering was quickly sold out, indicating not only the growing nature of concern for this issue, but once again displaying the willingness of our educational leaders to recognize and react to another challenge.
This week, Second Half will publish the latest benchmarks report on the MHSAA’s mental health initiatives and those being undertaken by other states as well.
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This Week In High School Sports: 1/24/20
January 24, 2020
This week’s show highlights White Pigeon multi-sport standout Claycee West, awards Game Balls to Jonesville's competitive cheer team and Pelllston basketball's Blake Cassidy, clears up misconceptions on basketball goaltending and highlights some of the key points from last weekend's Youth Football Forum.
The 5-minute program, powered by MI Student Aid, leads off each week with feature stories from around the state from the MHSAA’s Second Half or network affiliates. "Be The Referee," a 60-second look at the fine art of officiating, comes in the middle of the show and is followed by a closing MHSAA "Perspective."
Listen to this week's show by Clicking Here.
Past editions
Jan. 17: Promoting and protecting youth football, amateurism in educational athletics - Listen
Jan. 10: Livonia Stevenson hockey's Seth Lause, multi-media and social media impacts - Listen
Dec. 27: Mona Shores "Sailor Nation" life-saving success - Listen
Dec. 20: Battle of the Fans IX, details on purchasing Finals broadcasts - Listen
Dec. 13: Port Huron United hockey, what matters most in high school sports - Listen
Dec. 6: Highlights from 2019 11-Player Football Finals, instant replay in review - Listen
Nov. 29: Highlights from 2019 8-Player Football, Girls Volleyball and Girls Swimming & Diving Finals - Listen
Nov. 22: Ida volleyball record-setter Taylor Wegener, new Football Finals video review - Listen
Nov. 15: Reading lineman Nick Affholter, coaches as leaders in sportsmanship - Listen
Nov. 8: Lower Peninsula Cross Country and Boys Soccer Finals highlights - Listen
Nov. 1: Muskegon Orchard View football, bolstered MHSAA broadcast schedule - Listen
Oct. 25: Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian girls golf, MHSAA Football Playoff selection - Listen
Oct. 18: Mendon volleyball's title drive, recognition for longtime announcer Erik O. Furseth - Listen
Oct. 11: Negaunee cross country's Emily Paupore, MHSAA mental health awareness efforts - Listen
Oct. 4: South Lyon soccer's Josh Mason, improving youth football - Listen
Sept: 27: Utica Eisenhower golfer Ariel Chang, adult fan behavior - Listen
Sept: 20: Pinckney football inspiration, decisions made at the local level - Listen
Sept. 13: Muskegon's offensive line, soccer substitution rule change - Listen
Sept. 6: Jenison girls golf's inspiration, new football practice contact restrictions - Listen
Aug. 30: St. Johns quarterback-now-coach Andy Schmitt, benefits of a multi-sport experience - Listen