OFFICIAL REPORT OF BOARD OF CANVASSERS

East Lansing, Sept. 15, 2000

REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL

CLASS A AND B SCHOOLS (#1)

CLASS A AND B SCHOOLS (#2)

CLASS A AND B SCHOOLS (#3)

CLASS C AND D SCHOOLS (#4)

CLASS C AND D SCHOOLS (#5)

STATEWIDE AT-LARGE (#6)

JUNIOR HIGH/MIDDLE SCHOOLS (#7)

HIGH SCHOOLS (#8)

ATHLETIC COMMITTEE

ATHLETIC COACH (#9)

CLASS D SCHOOLS (#10)

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OFFICIAL REPORT OF SECOND MEETING OF BOARD OF CANVASSERS

East Lansing, Oct. 4, 2000

REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL

STATEWIDE AT-LARGE

ATHLETIC COMMITTEE

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

East Lansing, September 13, 2000

Executive Committee Authority and Responsibility - The Executive Committee was reminded of its authority under Article VII of the MHSAA Constitution and specifically its responsibility to consider each application for waiver of an eligibility requirement on its individual merits, determining if the regulation serves the purpose for which it was intended in each case or if the regulation works an undue hardship on any student who is the subject of a request for waiver. (These underlying criteria may not be restated for every subject of these minutes.)

A determination of undue hardship is a matter addressed to the discretion of the Executive Committee within the educational philosophy and secondary role of voluntary extracurricular competitive athletics in the academic environment. The Executive Committee was cautioned to avoid making exceptions that would create precedent that effectively changes a rule without Representative Council action or local board of education adoption, which would exceed Executive Committee authority.

Students for whom waiver of a particular regulation is granted must be eligible in all respects under all other sections and interpretations of the regulations prior to their participation.

Consistent with rulings of the Attorney General and Michigan Supreme Court, schools are not bound by the decisions of the Executive Committee, but the Association may limit participation in the post-season tournaments it sponsors to those schools which apply rules and penalties as promulgated by the MHSAA and adopted by each member school's board of education. The MHSAA exercises no independent authority over schools or students during regular season.

Traverse City Christian High School (Regulation I, Section 1[D]) - Request was made to waive the enrollment regulation so that this school, which exceeds 99 students in grades 9 through 12 (115 by last February's count to the MHSAA, 109 by current count), may utilize 8th-grade students in its high school soccer and golf programs.

The Executive Committee noted that the 99 student limit was recently established by the Representative Council and that it would exceed the Executive Committee's authority to waive that limit. The request for waiver was denied.

Manistee and Manistee-Catholic Central High Schools (Regulation I, Section 1[E] & Regulation III, Section 1 - The Executive Committee approved a cooperative program in wrestling at both the high school and junior high/middle school levels. Manistee has sponsored the sport previously and will be the primary school for a program whose enrollment for MHSAA tournament classification purposes will be 650 (remaining Division 3).

Waterford Kettering, Waterford Mott and Auburn Hills-Avondale High Schools (Regulation I, Section 1[F]) - The Executive Committee approved a cooperative program in boys and girls skiing between these schools. Kettering and Mott have sponsored the sports previously, although Mott has not had a girls team in five years and Kettering did not have enough girls at the end of last season to enter the MHSAA tournament. The combined enrollment of the three schools is 3,979 for MHSAA tournament purposes (two Class A programs become one).

Traverse City West High School (Regulation I, Sections 1, 7 & 9) - Requests to waive the enrollment, previous semester record and transfer sections of the eligibility regulation were made on behalf of a student who participated in 9th-grade soccer for Traverse City West High School in the fall of the 1999-00 school year although he was only enrolled in one class at that school. This was only discovered when the student was trying out for the junior varsity team this fall.

The Executive Committee confirmed that all contests in which this student participated during the 1999-00 school year must be forfeited by the school and the committee granted the student eligibility following completion of the first half of the scheduled junior varsity boys soccer contests of the 2000 season.

Inkster High School (Regulation I, Sections 4, 5 & 9) - Late requests to waive several sections of the eligibility regulation were made on behalf of a student who began 9th grade in the fall of 1996 and has been enrolled in several schools and home schooled for four school years, most recently attending Redford-Bishop Borgess High School. The reason given for submitting this request was that the student was ineligible last year.

The Executive Committee denied the requests for waiver.

Gibraltar-Carlson High School (Regulation I, Section 7) - Request was made to waive the previous semester record regulation on behalf of a 7th semester student who failed courses during the second semester of the 1999-00 school year. He was hospitalized, attempted to return to school, but could not overcome accumulated absences.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver, noting the student is not eligible until an Educational Transfer Form is received.

Linden High School (Regulation I, Sections 7 & 9) - Requests to waive the previous semester and transfer sections of the eligibility regulation were made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who began 1999-00 at New Lothrop High School but ceased attending on Sept. 29 because of emotional strain that followed the death of his girlfriend in an auto accident. In the spring, he attended Chesaning High School for a week, withdrawing because he was behind academically and claimed harassment by students. He has relocated to his sister-in-law's residence in the Linden Community School District.

Noting the multiplicity of residences and schools and citing the lack of documentation that supported the need for the current residence and school, the Executive Committee denied the requests for waiver.

Allen Park-Cabrini High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who attended Catholic grade schools in the downriver Detroit area for eight years and Southgate-Aquinas High School (now closed) for 9th grade. The student's father died in 1995. The student moved with his siblings and mother to Linden. His mother died in November 1999. He remained in his Linden home as two aunts shared in the care of him and his siblings. In February, one of the aunts moved to the Linden residence while commuting to her job in Detroit. The Linden residence has been sold. The student's siblings live with one aunt, where 11 people reside; he lives with the other aunt who is married but has no children, and he attends the closest nonpublic school, which is Cabrini where most of his friends from Aquinas enrolled after Aquinas closed.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Atlanta High School (Regulation I, Section 9[D]) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of a student who attended Atlanta High School for junior high school, 9th grade and two trimesters of 10th grade. Because of attendance problems in one class, the student transferred to Hillman High School on Feb. 25, 2000. He reenrolled this fall at Atlanta, which requested eligibility after 90 school days since Feb. 25.

Noting that the student had eligibility this fall at Hillman and finding no compelling reason to make a third school change, the Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Berkley High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who last year attended military school in Georgia while living with his mother. He moved to the Berkley School District residence of his father, who was never married to his mother. An otherwise completed Educational Transfer Form and birth records identifying these as the biological parents were provided.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Bloomfield Hills-Academy of the Sacred Heart (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of a 10th-grade student who attended Catholic schools through 8th grade and Bloomfield Hills-Lahser High School for 9th grade. She was a witness to criminal activity associated with that school. She has changed schools without changing residence, and Cranbrook-Kingswood High School is closer than Sacred Heart to the student's residence.

Given the need for change and the history of Catholic school attendance, the Executive Committee granted the request to waive two aspects of the transfer regulation.

Bloomfield Hills-Andover High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who qualified for advance placement courses at Andover High School which were not available to her at Bloomfield Hills-Marian High School.

The athletic director, student and her mother addressed the Executive Committee, explaining the sequence of events and counsel that delayed from last semester to this the student's enrollment at Andover High School.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver, noting that it cannot be put in the position of making decisions by comparing member schools' curricula, grading systems and demographics.

Bridgeport High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who is a Frankenmuth resident who spent his 9th-grade year at Saginaw-Nouvel Catholic Central and 10th grade at Frankenmuth High School until May of 1999 when he was expelled for 180 days. During that time, he was tutored by a teacher from the Bridgeport district. This August, he was denied reenrollment at Nouvel and then enrolled Aug. 22 at Bridgeport.

The Executive Committee determined that if during both semesters of 1999-00, the student was on the rolls in a designated alternative education program of the Bridgeport-Spalding School District while completing the PASS curriculum, then the student is eligible under the transfer regulation. Otherwise, the request to waive the transfer regulation is denied.

Canton-Plymouth Canton High School (Regulation I, Section 9 or 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who attended Ann Arbor-Gabriel Richard High School as a 9th-grader where he competed in cross country. He attended 10th grade at Ann Arbor Academy, where no sports teams are sponsored.

Noting the student has attended three schools and citing the lack of documentation that supported the need to attend the current school, the Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Carson City-Crystal High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility only at the subvarsity level during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who had previously been home-schooled without interscholastic athletic participation.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Charlevoix High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who relocated from his parents in Oregon to the residence of his grandparents in Charlevoix in order to escape a declining academic environment in Oregon, to live with his grandfather for whom he worked during the summer, to become reacquainted with his Michigan relatives, and to take advantage of Michigan's winter sporting events.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.  

Charlotte High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who began 9th grade at Charlotte High School where she competed in cross country, and she enrolled at Potterville High School during the second semester. There was not a change of residence. At its Aug. 16, 2000 meeting, the Executive Committee denied the request for waiver. The matter was resubmitted with additional information.

The Executive Committee noted that there is a poorly documented case for the need to transfer out of Charlotte and no case presented for returning to Charlotte High School; and the request for waiver was denied.

Dansville High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student whose parents are divorced and who moved with his father from Georgia to the residence of the student's grandmother in Dansville. The father has disposed of his Georgia residence but will be in Georgia periodically to sell his business.

The request for waiver was granted by the Executive Committee.

Dansville High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who previously attended Holt-St. Matthew Lutheran School where he competed in soccer last fall.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Dearborn-Divine Child High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who transferred from Benton Hall Academy in Nashville, TN, relocating with his parents in Canton. All but the student's 9th-grade education was in Catholic schools, the closest of which is Divine Child, although there is a closer nonpublic school of a different denomination.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Deerfield High School (Regulation I, Section 9[C]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit immediate eligibility in golf was made on behalf of a student who transferred from Britton-Macon, which participates in a cooperative program in golf with Deerfield.

The Executive Committee granted the request for golf only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Detroit-Holy Redeemer High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility only at the subvarsity level during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who last year attended Detroit-Western High school where he did not compete in any sports.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Detroit-St. Martin de Porres High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility only at the subvarsity level during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who last year attended Detroit-Renaissance High School where she did not participate in any interscholastic sports.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

East Grand Rapids High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student of abusive parents who divorced in 1993. The student lived with his mother until, at age 13, he was kicked out of her house. He moved to his father's residence and began 9th grade at Plymouth Canton High School. He was generally neglected by his alcoholic father. The student relocated to the residence of his sister in Knoxville, but her boyfriend became abusive to them both. He then relocated to his brother and his wife in East Grand Rapids.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Ferndale High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student whose father is a very recent administrative hire of the Ferndale School District. He resided in a Residence Inn in Southfield while seeking permanent housing. The student and his mother remained in Ohio pending a determination of eligibility. At its Aug. 16, 2000 meeting, the Executive Committee determined that, inasmuch as the student was not enrolled in the requesting school and there was no information that would provide certainty that the student and his parents would reside in Ferndale during the current season if at all, the request for waiver should be denied.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Flint-Kearsley High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - A late request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility only at the subvarsity level during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a 9th-grade student who attended Kearsley schools for 6th, 7th and 8th grades, enrolled at Davison High school, but after one week of school and practicing with the golf team, enrolled at Kearsley High School.

The Executive Committee noted that the conditions of at least one practice met the definition of a scrimmage. The Executive Committee determined it should not override the specific requirements of Section 9(B), which have been adopted by the Representative Council and member schools; and the request for waiver was denied.

Freeland High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request was made to waive or interpret the transfer regulation to allow immediate eligibility to a 12th-grade student who withdrew from the day program at Freeland High School on Nov. 11, 1999, and enrolled in the Bay-Arenac ISD adult education program so that his classes could be scheduled around a job to help him support a child. His permanent records remained with Freeland; and the student, school and ISD had the expectation that his enrollment at the ISD was short term with credits going toward graduation at Freeland High School. He returned to a regular schedule at Freeland High School this fall with no grades for the first semester of 1999-00 but a satisfactory record for the second semester of 1999-00.

The Executive Committee determined that the student is eligible under the previous semester and transfer sections, and that this semester and the next are his 7th and 8th, the last two for which he is eligible.

Grand Rapids-Catholic Central High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of a student who attended private schools in Chile and Brazil before enrolling at Caledonia High School for 1999-00, but who wished to continue the Catholic education to which he was accustomed in South America. There has been no change of residence.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Grandville-Calvin Christian High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility only at the subvarsity level during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a 9th-grade student who attended Grandville High School for three days. She did not participate in any sports at Grandville.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver only at the subvarsity level during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Highland-Milford High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - A late request was made to waive the transfer regulation, Interpretation No. 69, on behalf of a 9th-grade student who attended three days of basketball practice at Farmington Hills-Mercy High School but was cut from the team. In addition, the student's parents divorced and her father refused to pay the tuition at Mercy.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Hudsonville-Freedom Baptist High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - At its Aug. 16, 2000 meeting, the Executive Committee tabled late requests to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of:

1. a 10th-grade student who last year attended Grand Rapids Baptist where he participated in athletics. His father accepted a position at Freedom Baptist, which requires enrollment of his children as a condition of employment. The change of residence is not complete; they have engaged a builder but cannot begin construction until their current home sells.

2. 10th and 11th-grade sisters whose family is in transition between residences to get closer to their father's employment. The 10th-grader played high school sports previously, the 11th-grader has not.

The school resubmitted these items and an additional request for eligibility only at the subvarsity level on behalf of a 10th-grade student who last year attended Holland Christian where she did not participate in high school sports.

The Executive Committee did not find any substantially new or different information for the two previously tabled requests, which were denied. For the new matter, the Executive Committee granted the request for waiver at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Imlay City High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who moved from her father's home in Florida to her mother's home in Imlay City. Because the marriage in Mexico at age 15 was not considered legal, there was no divorce decree. An otherwise completed Educational Transfer Form was provided with birth records that identified these as the biological parents.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Kalkaska High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request was made to waive or interpret the transfer regulation to allow immediate eligibility at Kalkaska High School for an 11th-grade student who lived at home and attended Kalkaska High School as a first semester 9th-grader, lived with friends in Traverse City and attended Traverse City Central High School as a second semester 9th-grader, lived at home in Kalkaska during the summer of 1999, lived at home and commuted to Traverse City as a first semester 10th-grader at Traverse City Central, lived with different friends in Traverse City as a second semester 10th-grader at Traverse City Central, and lived at home in Kalkaska during the summer of 2000.

The Executive Committee determined that the pattern of residence for this student - (1) in Kalkaska commuting to Traverse City during one semester; (2) with friends in Traverse City while visiting Kalkaska frequently the next semester; (3) in Kalkaska during the summer; in Kalkaska commuting to Traverse City during the next semester; (4) with different friends in Traverse City while visiting Kalkaska frequently the next semester; in Kalkaska during the summer - is not sufficient to sustain that the student established a residence away from his parents in Kalkaska and has returned to live with his parents. Therefore, exception (2) of the transfer regulation does not apply and the request for waiver was denied.

Lansing Christian High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - A late request to waive the transfer regulation, Interpretation No. 78, was made on behalf of a student from Germany who was not part of any exchange program.

Citing the express language of the Interpretation adopted by the Representative Council and member schools, the Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Lansing Christian High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - A late request to waive the transfer regulation, Interpretation No. 78, was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student from Korea who attended Lansing Christian last year as part of an approved foreign exchange program. She sought to participate for two more semesters as she returned to live with the same family as last year.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Leroy-Pine River High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - A late request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of a 12th-grade student who attended Pine River Area Schools from 3rd through 10th-grades. As an 11th-grader, he attended Reed City Public Schools in order to enroll in their ISD's welding program. He continued to live in the Pine River district and he did not play sports at Reed City. He then reenrolled at Pine River.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Macomb-Dakota High School (Regulation I, Section 9 or 9[D]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who enrolled at Dakota Feb. 28, 2000, which is the Monday after the fourth Friday of February, when Dakota High School was closed for winter recess. If immediate eligibility was not granted, the request was to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility after 90 school days of attendance at Dakota High School.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver for immediate eligibility.

Marine City-Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who relocated from Virginia, where the student attended a Catholic high school, to a home on Selfridge Air Base that is 18 miles from Harper Woods-Bishop Gallagher and 21 miles from Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School, from which the student's sister graduated in 1998. The student had attended Cardinal Mooney's largest feeder school prior to the move to Virginia.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Merrill High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation and specifically Interpretation No. 71 was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who was moving to Belding with his family from Merrill. His father's employment was transferred to Grand Rapids and his mother is employed in Belding. They were renting an apartment in Belding while their residence remained partially furnished and unsold in Merrill. At its Aug. 16, 2000 meeting, the Executive Committee granted the request for waiver when the school was satisfied that the family had removed all personal belongings (not furniture) from the Merrill residence and was not using that residence even intermittently for residential purposes.

Because the family could not satisfy all the conditions of the transfer regulation for eligibility in Belding, on Aug. 23 this student, who had been practicing with the golf team, and his 9th-grade brother, who had been practicing with the football team and participated in a scrimmage Aug. 15, reenrolled at Merrill High School. Request was subsequently made to waive the transfer regulation and Interpretation No. 69 on behalf of the 9th-grader.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Midland-Dow High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility only at the subvarsity level during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a student who will be placed as a second semester 9th-grader or first semester 10th-grader after moving to the Midland High attendance area with his parents from Brazil, where he did not participate in high school sports.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Mt. Morris-E. A. Johnson High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who relocated from the residence of his mother in the Burton-Bendle School District to the residence of his father in Mt. Morris. The student's mother and father were never married and the biological father is not named on the student's birth certificate, although he has paid child support. An otherwise completed Educational Transfer Form was provided.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Novi High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of a 9th-grade student who practiced one day at Dearborn High School while residing with her mother. She relocated to her father's residence in Novi.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Pontiac-Northern High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who attended Pontiac-Central High School until October of 1999 when he was injured by another student. He enrolled at Orchard Lake-St. Mary Preparatory School as a probationary student. The student was unable to meet the conditions of his probationary status and not allowed to return for 12th grade. The Pontiac Board of Education placed him in Northern High School.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Pontiac-Northern High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who attended Orchard Lake-St. Mary Preparatory School in 1999-00 as a Spartan Foundation Scholar. He failed to maintain the grade point average to continue on scholarship and when the scholarship was revoked, the family could not afford the tuition.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Pontiac-Northern High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who moved from the residence of his mother in Auburn Hills to the residence of his father in Pontiac. The parents were never married. An Educational Transfer Form is in process. Birth records identified these as the student's birth mother and father.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Portage Central High School (Regulation I, Section 9[D]) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of an 11th-grade student who attended Schoolcraft High School for two years before enrolling at Portage Central because of difficulty with peers and depression.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Potterville High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility only at the subvarsity level during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who attended Charlotte schools from Kindergarten until winter of 2000, her 9th grade, when she was withdrawn and schooled at home through Faith Academy of Olivet. The student enrolled as a tuition student at Potterville High School, which was not the district in which her home is located, but the high school building is closer to her home than Charlotte High School, where she did play basketball as a 9th-grader.

Pursuant to the specific Representative Council and school adopted prohibition of Section 9(B), which would overreach the Executive Committee's authority to modify, the request for waiver was denied.

Reading High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who had been living with his father and was returning to live with his mother and stepfather where he had lived until his stepfather had a stroke. The mother and father were never married. An otherwise completed Educational Transfer Form was provided with birth and child support records identifying these as the biological parents.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Redford-St. Agatha High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student whose parents divorced shortly after his birth. He lived with his mother in California, attending Catholic grade school. In the 8th grade, he moved to his grandfather's residence in Manistique where he attended through grade 11. His grandfather passed away this summer and the student moved to the residence of his father in Dearborn Heights. Divine Child is the closest nonpublic school, but it was not accepting new 12th-grade students.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Reese High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who is the son of a pastor called to serve two United Methodist Churches, one in Fairgrove and the other in Gilford, and who moved with his family from Ohio to a church-provided parsonage in Fairgrove because the parsonage in Gilford, which is within the Reese School District, continued to be rented to another family.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Rock-Mid Peninsula High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who attended Gladstone Public Schools since age 5 but was the victim of harassment by other students during the 1999-00 school year. She moved from her parents in Gladstone to a residence in Rapid River, 1 Þ miles from Mid Peninsula High School.

On the basis of information from the offices of Delta County Sheriff and Gladstone Public Safety, the Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver; the student is ineligible only for basketball during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Sault Ste. Marie-Sault Area High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who attended 9th-grade at Sault Area High School before moving with her family to Ontario. Her father recently took a job in Wisconsin and the rest of the family moved back to Sault Ste. Marie.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Stockbridge High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of 10th and 11th-grade brothers who relocated with their mother from the residence of their mother and stepfather in Dansville to the residence of her brother in Stockbridge. Both have played football at Dansville.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver and directed that the Educational Transfer Form be utilized after the divorce is final Sept. 15, 2000.

Suttons Bay High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who attended Granite Falls (Minnesota) High School for 9th grade and did not participate in any MHSAA sport.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year, provided the student did not participate in any sport since first entering high school.

Traverse City Christian High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - A late request was made to waive the transfer regulation, Interpretation No. 69, on behalf of a 9th-grade student who was a student at Traverse City Christian School in 7th and 8th grades. Her records were sent to Elk Rapids and she practiced and played in one scrimmage with its girls basketball team before enrolling at Traverse City Christian School on Aug. 31. The first day of classes for the school was Sept. 5.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver; the student is ineligible only for basketball during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Traverse City West High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - A late request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who lives with his parents in Elk Rapids where he completed 10th grade. He transferred to Traverse City West High School for its block scheduling, ISD vocational program and dual programming with Northwestern Michigan College. He will spend many weeknights at the residence of a married couple who are both educators, one of whom is this student's summer soccer coach.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver, noting again that it must not base decisions on comparisons of the curricula and scheduling of member schools.

Utica High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of an 11th-grade student who previously attended school in Abilene, Texas, near where her father was stationed in the US Air Force. He is scheduled to be transferred to Selfridge ANG Base in May 2001. In order to have her two final years at the same school, her father gave custody to his sister, who lives in the Utica High School attendance area.

Consistent with precedent for flexibility in cases involving United States military assignments, the Executive Committee granted this request for waiver; and it also determined that this student will be ineligible for one semester if she subsequently transfers to another MHSAA member school, even if her circumstances would otherwise conform to one of the stated exceptions to the transfer regulation.

Warren Woods Tower High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who attended Warren-De La Salle Collegiate High School for 9th grade and did not participate in school sports.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Hillsdale Academy (Regulation III, Section 1[C]) - Request was made to waive the enrollment regulation, Interpretation No. 222, to permit 6th grade girls to participate with 7th and 8th-grade girls in basketball during 2000-01. The high school enrollment is 43.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver for girls basketball only during the 2000-01 school year.

Hillsdale-Will Carleton Academy (Regulation III, Section 1[C]) - Request was made to waive the enrollment regulation, Interpretation No. 222, to permit 6th grade girls to participate in the 7th and 8th-grade basketball program during 2000-01. This is a K-8 school with 37 students (21 females) in grades 7 and 8.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver for girls basketball only during the 2000-01 school year.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver for girls and boys basketball only during the 2000-01 school year.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver for girls basketball only during the 2000-01 school year.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver for the 2000-01 school year only.

Northern Lakes Conference (Regulation III, Section 1[C]) - The league requested waiver of the enrollment regulation and specifically Interpretation No. 222 to permit 6th grade students to participate with 7th and 8th-grade students in boys and girls basketball, both of which are conducted in the fall, under the condition that in each case, the high school does not allow 8th or 7th and 8th-graders to participate on 9-12 grade teams under Regulation I, Section 1(D).

At its June 14, 2000 meeting, the Executive Committee granted the request for Alba, Boyne Falls, Ellsworth, Harbor Springs-Harbor Light Christian, Mackinaw City, Vanderbilt and Wolverine High Schools for the 2000-01 school year only.

The conference resubmitted its request without the condition that these school districts refrain from involving 7th and/or 8th-graders in their 9-12 grade programs.

The Executive Committee granted the request for the 2000-01 school year only in boys and girls basketball.

Hillsdale Academy and Hillsdale-Will Carleton Academy (Regulation III, Section 1[D]) - The Executive Committee approved a cooperative program in boys soccer at the junior high/middle school level. Hillsdale Academy will be the primary school.

Leland and Lake Leelanau-St. Mary Middle Schools (Regulation III, Section 1[D]) - The Executive Committee approved a cooperative program in boys soccer. Leland will be the primary school.

Royal Oak-Addams and Royal Oak-Keller Middle Schools (Regulation III, Section 1[C]) - The Executive Committee approved a cooperative program in wrestling. Keller will be the primary school.

New Schools - Pursuant to the MHSAA Constitution adopted by member schools and according to procedures for MHSAA membership as established by the Representative Council March 21, 1997, the Executive Committee approved membership for . . .

1. Dearborn Heights-Academy for Business and Technology at the high school level only, which has 235 students. It is anticipated this public school academy will sponsor boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, golf, baseball, girls volleyball and girls softball.

2. Shepherd-The Morey Charter School at the junior high/middle school and high school levels. The high school enrollment is 56 in grades 9 and 10 and competition exists in golf and girls basketball. Enrollment will be closed at 160 students in grades 9-12 when sponsorship of basketball, volleyball, wrestling, cross country and golf is anticipated.

3. Detroit-Weston Technical Academy at both the junior high/middle school and high school levels. This public school academy has 160 students in grades 9 through 11 and intends to sponsor cross country and basketball for both boys and girls.

Student Interest Survey Instrument - Pursuant to Representative Council action in May 2000, a tool has been developed for schools' voluntary use to track student sports interests. The Executive Committee suggested several changes and asked that the instrument be reviewed by the MHSAA Athletic Equity Committee before mailing to member schools.

Ramblewood Park Condominium - An update was provided regarding Unit 4 landscaping and Unit 5 building delays and repair to Ramblewood Drive.

Statewide Sportsmanship Summit - A status report for the Sept. 27, 2000 event was provided.

Sponsorships - The support of United Dairy Industries of Michigan for MHSAA student-athlete health and nutrition initiatives has ended as a result of changing marketing approaches by UDIM's national group. There was a report regarding new sponsorship prospects for existing MHSAA initiatives.

Ruster Student Services - The Board of Directors of the Ruster Foundation has determined to cease operations June 30, 2001, and has selected the MHSAA to receive the Foundation's remaining funds. The Executive Committee approved acceptance of the grant for a designated fund pursuant to the terms of the executive director's Sept. 5, 2000 letter to the Foundation, reiterating that this arrangement will be consistent with the existing framework, scope and function of the MHSAA.

Personnel Matters - The Executive Committee reviewed the executive director's evaluation and approved and signed the executive director's 2000-01 Standards of Performance.

Next Meetings - The next meetings of the Executive Committee are Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 9 a.m. in East Lansing; Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 9 a.m. in East Lansing; and Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 8:30 a.m. in East Lansing. n

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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

East Lansing, October 11, 2000

Executive Committee Authority and Responsibility - The Executive Committee was reminded of its authority under Article VII of the MHSAA Constitution and specifically its responsibility to consider each application for waiver of an eligibility requirement on its individual merits, determining if the regulation serves the purpose for which it was intended in each case or if the regulation works an undue hardship on any student who is the subject of a request for waiver. (These underlying criteria may not be restated for every subject of these minutes.)

A determination of undue hardship is a matter addressed to the discretion of the Executive Committee within the educational philosophy and secondary role of voluntary extracurricular competitive athletics in the academic environment. The Executive Committee was cautioned to avoid making exceptions that would create precedent that effectively changes a rule without Representative Council action or local board of education adoption, which would exceed Executive Committee authority.

Students for whom waiver of a particular regulation is granted must be eligible in all respects under all other sections and interpretations of the regulations prior to their participation.

Consistent with rulings of the Attorney General and Michigan Supreme Court, schools are not bound by the decisions of the Executive Committee, but the association may limit participation in the post-season tournaments it sponsors to those schools which apply rules and penalties as promulgated by the MHSAA and adopted by each member school's board of education. The MHSAA exercises no independent authority over schools or students during regular season.

Negaunee High School (Regulation I, Section 1[E]) - Request was made to waive the Oct. 15 application deadline for a cooperative program in girls softball between Negaunee and Ishpeming High Schools.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver until not later than Nov. 1, 2000.

Traverse City-St. Francis High School (Regulation I, Sections 4 & 5) - A late request to waive the semesters of enrollment sections of the eligibility regulation was made on behalf of a student who completed 9th and 10th grades in Connecticut, repeated the 10th grade when he relocated with his mother in the Virgin Islands, completed 11th grade in Connecticut and is now enrolled for his 9th semester at St. Francis High School in Traverse City where he lives with a family with whom he has relocated from Connecticut.

The Executive Committee noted that waiver has not been granted to students moving to or from foreign countries and found that this student had been enrolled in the maximum number of semesters permitted for eligibility. Therefore, it denied the request for waiver.

Adrian-Lenawee Christian High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation to permit participation only at the subvarsity level for a 10th-grade student who attended Lenawee Christian School through 8th grade. The father's vocation relocated the family to Spring Lake and then to Morenci a few months later. The student's application to attend Lenawee Christian was denied because the school had reached capacity. The family reapplied for the 2000-01 school year. The student played 9th-grade basketball at Morenci.

Pursuant to the specific Representative Council and school adopted prohibition of Section 9(B), which would overreach the Executive Committee's authority to modify, the request for waiver was denied.

Birmingham-Seaholm High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who is relocating from the residence of his birth mother to the residence of his birth father and transferring from Redford-Detroit Catholic Central to Seaholm. Orders of Filiation and Support dated 1985 identified paternity.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Bloomfield Hills-Brother Rice High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of a 9th-grade student who is relocating with his family because of his father's job transfer from Seattle to the Troy area. Brother Rice may not be the closest nonpublic school to his new residence but he has been attending one of Brother Rice's associate schools in Seattle.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver when the family completes its relocation and has disposed of its previous residence pursuant to Interpretation No. 71.

Burton-Valley Christian Academy (Regulation I, Section 9[D]) - Request to waive the transfer regulation to permit eligibility after 90 school days of enrollment at Valley Christian Academy was made on behalf of a student who previously attended Clio High School and will enroll at Valley Christian on Oct. 11, 2000.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver, effective with the student's 91st school day of enrollment at Valley Christian Academy.

Center Line-St. Clement High School (Regulation I, Section 9[B]) - Requests to waive the transfer regulation were made on behalf of two 10th-graders who attended St. Clement grade schools and have returned to St. Clement High School after attending other local Catholic high schools for 9th grade where they did not participate in high school athletics.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver at the subvarsity level only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Chassell High School (Regulation I, Section 9[C]) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of a 10th-grade student who resides in Chassell but attended Copper Country Christian School for 6th through 9th grades. He played in the basketball cooperative program of the schools during 1999-00.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver in boys basketball only during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Because of the specific conditions of Sections 1(A), 9(B) and 9(D) and the involvement in this and other proposed placements by the Mali Director of National Sports Education and the basketball coaching staff of a Midwest university, the Executive Committee denied the request to waive the requirements for eligibility during either the first or second semester of the 2000-01 school year.

Inkster High School (Regulation I, Section 9 & Regulation V, Section 4) - The school was requesting that the Executive Committee reinstate the eligibility of a 12th-grade student who attended Inkster High School until November of 1999 when he moved with his father to Southfield and attended Southfield Lathrup High School. The student reenrolled at Inkster High School March 4, 2000. Originally, MHSAA staff was told by school administration and the father that the student relocated to Inkster without his father and was advised by Inkster's previous athletic director that if he enrolled by March 15, he would be eligible at the start of the 2000-01 school year. More recently, it was alleged but not established that the father relocated with his son to an apartment within the Inkster School District.

On Sept. 15, 2000, based on information available at that time, an MHSAA assistant director advised the superintendent of schools that the student was ineligible under the transfer regulation and that Inkster High School must forfeit all contests in which he had participated (the first three games).

On Sept. 25, 2000, based on the fact that the school had provided no information that the student had satisfied the transfer regulation before his participation, and with a reliable report that the student had played in a football contest (the fourth game) in spite of the assistant director's earlier notification that the student was ineligible, the executive director communicated to the superintendent that in view of these violations, both inadvertent and intentional, and inasmuch as the school was already on probation through the 2001-02 school year for a long history of administrative violations, it was required that the MHSAA now consider suspension of the school from participation in MHSAA post-season tournaments through the probationary period. The executive director asked for the school's written response by Oct. 6, such response being received Oct. 6 and requesting reinstatement of the student's eligibility.

Meanwhile, the MHSAA received a member school's written allegation that this student played in Inkster's sixth game on Sept. 30.

The Executive Committee noted the long history of administrative violations by Inkster High school and that neither meetings with Inkster School District administration and board members nor imposition of penalties has led to improved compliance. Also noted was the administration's inability or unwillingness to withhold from competition a student whose eligibility had not been established.

The Executive Committee found there was insufficient evidence to determine the student is eligible now, much less during the games in which he participated. It was the Executive Committee's decision that the student remain ineligible during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year, that all games in which he participated be forfeited, that the school be ineligible for MHSAA postseason tournaments in all sports during the fall of the 2000-01 school year, and that the school's administration appear before the Executive Committee in January to show cause why the suspension from tournaments should not continue through the 2001-02 school year.

Lansing Christian High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who attended Lansing Christian for 9th grade. He transferred to New Covenant Christian and then attended a military boarding school. He has returned to his residence, which is closer to New Covenant Christian.

Citing a lack of information that would demonstrate a compelling reason for the student to attend New Covenant Christian, the request for waiver was denied.

Leroy-Pine River High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - For the Sept. 13, 2000 meeting, a late request was made to waive the transfer regulation on behalf of a 12th-grade student who attended Pine River Area Schools from 3rd through 10th grades. As an 11th-grader, he attended Reed City Public Schools in order to be nearer the welding program of the ISD of which Pine River is a member. He completed the welding program. He continued to live in the Pine River district and he did not play sports at Reed City. He then reenrolled at Pine River. At its Sept. 13 meeting, the Executive Committee denied the request for waiver. However, there was a misunderstanding of the facts which justified reconsideration.

The Executive Committee denied the request for waiver.

Pontiac-Northern High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 12th-grade student who attended Pontiac Central High School until October of 1999 when he was injured by another student. He enrolled at Orchard Lake-St. Mary Preparatory School as a probationary student. The student was unable to meet the conditions of his probationary status and not allowed to return for 12th grade. The Pontiac Board of Education placed him in Northern High School. At its Sept. 13, 2000 meeting, the Executive Committee denied the request for waiver. The matter was resubmitted with additional information linking the head trauma from the injury at Pontiac-Northern with the inability to meet requirements for continued enrollment at Orchard Lake-St. Mary.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver.

Roseville High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 10th-grade student who attended 9th grade at Roseville Junior High but began 10th grade at Warren-Cousino High School. After eight school days during which she did not participate in athletics, she enrolled at Roseville High School. She participated in 9th-grade sports during 1999-00.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver, noting the brevity of enrollment, lack of participation and return to original school.

Saginaw-Nouvel Catholic Central High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of a 9th-grade student who began the current school year at Saginaw High School (where he played football) before enrolling at Nouvel Sept. 20. There was concern for the student's safety at the previous school.

The Executive Committee cited the absence of independent verification of allegations and denied the request for waiver.

Saginaw-Nouvel Catholic Central High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request was made to waive the transfer regulation and Interpretation No. 69 to permit immediate eligibility for a 9th-grade student who attended three days of practice at Nouvel, then practiced two days at Saginaw-Heritage, and now seeks to be eligible again in the sport of basketball at Nouvel. At its Sept. 13, 2000 meeting, the Executive Committee denied the request for waiver, affirming that the student is ineligible only for basketball during the first semester of the 2000-01 school year. The school resubmitted the request Oct. 10.

Citing the short duration of involvement at Heritage, conflicting accounts of what occurred there and the fact that the student is enrolled where she first practiced, the Executive Committee determined that Nouvel High School could deem the student eligible only at the subvarsity level after the 10th game of that subvarsity team schedule has been played.

St. Louis High School (Regulation I, Section 9) - Request to waive the transfer regulation was made on behalf of an 11th-grade student who attended St. Louis Schools from kindergarten until present except for Sept. 5-14, 2000, when he attended high school in Shepherd where his sister is in middle school.

The Executive Committee granted the request for waiver, noting the brevity of enrollment, lack of participation and return to original school.

Chassell Junior High School and Calumet-Copper Country Christian School (Regulation III, Section 1[D]) - The Executive Committee approved a cooperative agreement in boys and girls track and field and boys basketball between these junior high schools.

Dryden Middle School (Regulation III, Sections 1 & 8) - Request to waive the enrollment and current semester record sections of the junior high/middle school eligibility regulation was made on behalf of a 7th-grade student who is enrolled for three courses at Dryden Middle School and three courses at Dryden Country Day Academy, which sponsors no interscholastic teams in any sport. The parents wish to withdraw the student from all courses at Dryden Middle School but to keep their son on the football team.

The Executive Committee noted that the student's Individual Education Program Committee recommended an academic program that would have had the effect of accessing athletic eligibility opportunities for the student at either Almont or Dryden Middle School, but the family rejected this plan. The request for waiver was denied.

New Member Schools - Pursuant to the MHSAA Constitution adopted by member schools and according to procedures for MHSAA membership as established by the Representative Council March 21, 1997, applications for membership were approved for . . .

Battle Creek-Family Altar Christian School at the high school level only, enrollment 56, anticipating sponsorship of boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball and girls volleyball.

Charlevoix-Northwest Academy, a public school academy, at both the high school and junior high/middle school levels. Grades 9-12 have 50 students and it is anticipated that soccer, cross country, skiing and tennis will be sponsored for boys and cross country, skiing and volleyball will be conducted for girls.

Detroit-Michigan Institute for Construction Trades and Technology at the high school level only. The school operates under a charter from the Detroit Public Schools. It has an enrollment of 250 students and will sponsor only boys basketball.

Kalamazoo-Heritage Christian Academy at the high school level only, enrollment 100, anticipating sponsorship of boys basketball and girls volleyball.

Upper Peninsula Swimming & Diving Rules Meetings - Because there have been no substantive changes in National Federation swimming rules for two years and because Upper Peninsula schools do not participate in a statewide meet but in a separate U.P. Final Meet with qualification procedures and competition rules (6 dives, rather than 11; no qualification standards; timed Finals, not preliminary heats), it was proposed that the following occur in lieu of requiring Upper Peninsula coaches and officials to attend the rules meeting scheduled for Oct. 17, 2000:

1. Staff will send rules meeting handouts and an exam to all 9 U.P. schools that sponsor swimming and to all registered swimming officials in the U.P. (approximately 6).

2. To receive credit, the exam must be signed by the official or coach (coach's cosigned by principal or athletic director) and be returned by Nov. 6, 2000, and receive a score of 70 percent or better.

The Executive Committee approved this plan for this sport and this year only for schools and officials of the Upper Peninsula only.

Representative Council - The Executive Committee reviewed a draft agenda for the Nov. 29, 2000 Council Meeting. The committee also considered candidates for appointed positions on the Council.

Additional Items - The executive director provided brief updates regarding litigation, headquarters office lease space, and construction issues involving Units 4 and 5 of Ramblewood Park.

Proposal 1 - Some MHSAA Representative Council members and staff are personally involved and invested in efforts to defeat Proposal 1. The Executive Committee reaffirmed that the MHSAA's role is to take the lead on sport-specific issues that confront schools and to do so without financial support from other organizations, while other groups assume leadership on general issues without assistance from the MHSAA. The Executive Committee observed that, through changes of leadership in the organizations, this teamwork has proven effective for many years on many issues, including at the present time when the MHSAA is defending at great expense without outside assistance the sports seasons decisions of school districts. The Executive Committee expressed the hope that school district leaders would not allow the tried and tested division of labor to create divisions between the organizations, for nothing would better serve the purposes of the opponents of education than to turn one organization against another.

Next Meetings - The next meetings of the Executive Committee is Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 9 a.m. in East Lansing; and Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 8:30 a.m. in Traverse City. n

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UPPER PENINSULA ATHLETIC COMMITTEE MEETING

Girls Basketball Officials

Boys Basketball Sites

District Tournament as follows:

Class C: St. Ignace, Ishpeming, Hancock and Norway

Class D: Pickford, Big Bay de Noc, North Dickinson, L'Anse, White Pine and Dollar Bay (hosting at Michigan Tech University)

Regional tournaments were assigned to Northern Michigan University for Classes C and D. Regional 31 Class D games will be played at Pellston.

Quarterfinal Class D will be played at Escanaba if the Regional 31 winner is from the UP. If Region 31 winner is from the Lower Peninsula, the game will be played at Sault Ste. Marie.

Golf Finals

June 1, 2001

Gymnastics Finals

The Finals were assigned to Gladstone High School for March 3, 2001.

Hockey Regional Sites

Feb. 26 - March 3, 2001

Ski Finals

Regional and Final sites will be determined by the Ski Committee in October.

Swimming & Diving Finals

Tennis Finals

June 1, 2001

(Only Division 1 will incorporate a fourth doubles match for the 2001 tournament.)

Track & Field

Kingsford High School will host the Finals for all three divisions on Saturday, June 2, 2001. This is the second year of a two-year assignment.

In all three Divisions, schools will be allowed four entries in each of the individual events. Scoring will continue at 5, 3, 2, 1 (four places).

In Divisions 1 & 2, four qualifiers from each individual event will advance to the Finals and four relay teams will qualify in each of the relay events. Single heats will be run in each of the track events with eight entries.

In Division 3, four qualifiers in each individual event will advance to the Finals. This will provide 16 entries in each running event necessitating two heats in those events. Two relay teams will advance from each Regional.

Scoring for all three divisions at the Finals will be 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 (5 places).

Regional site assignments will be made at the January meeting in Escanaba.

Volleyball Sites

District Tournaments

Class A: Downstate

Class B: Gladstone

Class C: St. Ignace, Munising, Stephenson, and Ironwood

Class D: Cedarville, Engadine, Crystal Falls and White Pine

Regional Tournaments

Classes A & B: Downstate

Class C: Newberry

Class D: Bark River-Harris

Wrestling Finals

Individual Finals will take place at Marquette High School on Feb. 16-17, 2001. This is the second year of a two-year agreement.

UP Final Trophy Policy

Because of the new divisional setup for most UP Final Tournaments, the following policy regarding runner-up trophies at Final tournaments was adopted:

Only championship trophies will be awarded in Gymnastics, Boys & Girls Swimming and Boys & Girls Tennis.

Championship and runner-up trophies will be awarded in Boys & Girls Cross Country, Boys & Girls Golf and Boys & Girls Track & Field.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

A LAKE LESSON

Among the very many very beautiful drives in this state, one of my favorites is US Highway 2 between St. Ignace and Engadine. Lake Michigan on one side, dense forests on the other. When the sun is shining on the water, when the leaves are turning, or when a new fallen snow is clinging, it's breathtaking.

During a recent journey, I recalled a trip many years earlier when one of my young sons found it difficult to comprehend that the water we saw here was of the same body that washed up on the shores of the Leelanau Peninsula, the Indiana Dunes, Lakeshore Drive in Chicago and Door County in Wisconsin.

The same water touching shores in many parts of Michigan, as well as Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

As the water of Lake Michigan connects many points of this state and nearby states, so do certain principles connect the high school athletic programs of different parts of this state and different states. Separated by hundreds of miles and situated in different time zones, schools and their communities approach the sponsorship of interscholastic athletics with common themes: that these programs are amateur, educational athletics - pure, wholesome, inexpensive, local school sports.

The waters of Lake Michigan are pretty clean now, purer than several decades ago because people grew concerned for this fabulous natural resource and became committed to its improvement and preservation. So can it be with the unique American tradition of interscholastic athletics: the programs are not perfect, they can be made better; and with a commitment to amateur, educational athletics, this great resource for our schools and society can be preserved and even improved.

It won't happen because a national organization says it should. It won't come from state level rules and regulations. The improvement will come only if, at the local level, those in charge of the program and those working directly with young people want it to happen and work for it, diligently and daily.

The effort is not life or death, any more than purifying a lake or saving a national forest will cure world hunger or cause world peace. But, just as with our ecological efforts, improving educational athletics is worthwhile, worth committing one's life to.

And those who commit their lives to school sports, particularly at the local level, reap rewards that people in few other professions will ever know. They witness the return of boys and girls turned into men and women who will say to you, "Thanks, you made a difference."

May you find peace, satisfaction and happiness through your role in school sports.

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Any facet of interscholastic athletics that can unite more than 1,350 administrators, coaches, student-athletes and officials under one roof for several hours has to be the paramount topic in school sports today.
And thus, when such a crowd gathered at the Lansing Center on Sept. 27 for the MHSAA’s Sportsmanship Summit III, it served as testimony that the issue of sportsmanship remains at the forefront of athletic programs in schools throughout Michigan. Once again, the Summit attracted the largest gathering ever to address sportsmanship (1,353) , eclipsing the mark of 1,200 at the 1998 Summit.
The dynamic program began with a special presentation by the MHSAA to long-time Michigan State University women’s basketball coach Karen Langeland, who recently retired after 24 years on the sidelines where she exuded sportsmanship and character.
ESPN analyst Bill Curry delivered the keynote address, emphasizing the important role that coaches play in molding student-athletes, before the crowd was split into groups for various break-out sessions.
The event concluded with a luncheon as Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, addressed the audience while those in attendance signed a pledge agreeing to adhere to the principles of sportsmanship as outlined in the Arizona Sports Summit Accord.