This Week in High School Sports: 12/11/24

By Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

December 11, 2024

In this week's edition, we outline this winter's MHSAA Tournament schedule, present Game Balls to high achievers in basketball and bowling, and discuss this season's first-ever Girls Wrestling Finals team championship. 

MI Student AidThe 5-minute program each week includes feature stories from MHSAA.com or network affiliates, along with "Be the Referee," a 60-second look at the fine art of officiating.

"This Week in High School Sports" is powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP).

Listen to this week's show by Clicking Here.

Previous 2024-25 Editions

Dec. 4: 11-Player Football Finals review - Listen
Nov. 27:
8-Player Football Finals review, 1975 Football Finals recollection - Listen
Nov. 20:
8-Player Football Finals history, Southwest 10 Conference Legacy officials - Listen
Nov. 13:
"Flashback 100" series, flashback to Escanaba's football championship - Listen
Nov. 6:
Boys Soccer Finals, Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals review - Listen
Oct. 30:
2024 Football Playoffs, Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals review - Listen
Oct. 23:
Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals, Upper Peninsula Cross Country Finals reviews - Listen
Oct. 16:
MHSAA Football Playoffs primer, MHSAA/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete Awards - Listen
Oct. 9:
National High School Hall of Fame, Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals - Listen
Oct. 2:
MHSAA record book, 2024 Boys Soccer Tournament schedule - Listen
Sept. 25:
NFHS Network streaming, DeWitt's high-scoring football matchup - Listen
Sept. 18:
Cheboygan broadcaster Mike Grisdale, Michigan's national participation ranking - Listen
Sept. 11:
MHSAA baseball stars in MLB, 2024 Boys Soccer Tournament - Listen
Sept. 5:
Highlighting MHSAA record setters, 50th Football Playoffs - Listen
Aug. 28:
MHSAA Summer Olympians, "Century of School Sports" celebration - Listen

Century of School Sports: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

December 3, 2024

One of the most common misconceptions about the MHSAA over its 100-year history is that all decisions regarding school sports in Michigan are made by the staff in the East Lansing office.

The MHSAA truly is an organization built upon its membership, with its Representative Council the legislative body that has produced the rules and tournament schedules currently in place to provide structure in athletics for more than 750 high schools and hundreds more middle schools across the state.

The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.

The Council considers all proposals brought before it from MHSAA sport and other appointed committees that meet throughout the year, and also makes decisions on a variety of eligibility rules, postseason tournament and operational issues. The Council regularly considers 30 committee proposals during its Spring meeting alone, along with a handful of others during Fall and Winter meetings which otherwise are primarily opportunities for discussion of topics that may come up for action at a later date.

Eight representatives are elected across four regions – two apiece from the Northern Lower Peninsula, Southeastern Michigan, Southwestern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula – and also based on school enrollment, with one representative from each of those regions from the larger Class A and B-sized schools and one representative from each region from the smaller Class C and D-sized schools. There are also two statewide at-large positions, two representing junior high/middle schools, and elected representatives from Detroit Public Schools and private and parochial schools.

All Representative Council members must be representatives of a member school, as faculty or board of education members. Every Council candidate must have superintendent or principal approval in writing and be qualified for the position for which that person is running.

Elections take place every fall after names of candidates are submitted and published to the MHSAA Website by April 15 the preceding spring. Ballots are mailed to schools in September and must be postmarked no later than two weeks after they were sent by the MHSAA office. A Board of Canvassers appointed annually counts the ballots, which must be signed by the principal and superintendent of that member school (except for private and parochial schools, which require signature by the principal only).

Council members are selected by majority vote.

Terms for elected Council representatives are two years long. Appointed members also serve two-year terms and may not serve longer than two successive terms.

The Council meets three times annually. Council officers – president, vice president and secretary-treasurer – are elected during the Fall meeting for the full Council.

Five members of the Council also convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools. Those five include the three elected officers.

Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights

Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19:
Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12:
Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5:
MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29:
MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23:
Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15:
State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8:
Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1:
Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18:
Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: 
Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4:
Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28:
Let the Celebration Begin - Read

PHOTO The MHSAA Representative Council and Executive Director Mark Uyl (front row, far right) take a group photo during its Spring Meeting in May. (Photo by Jon Ross.)