Be the Referee: Cheer Safety
January 30, 2020
This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis explains how competitive cheer rules have been written to keep participants as safe as possible.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment - Cheer Safety - Listen
Cheerleaders – usually at the college level – get in the sports headlines whenever an accident occurs causing a serious injury. In Michigan, the sport of Competitive Cheer doesn’t make the news in that regard. Why?
Because this sport, created by Michigan schools, has built in safety guidelines for competition – including the proper matting, rules which prohibit dangerous stunts, and safety judges observing the routines whose responsibility is to detect, record and report safety violations when they occur and to penalize those who commit them. Middle school Competitive Cheer is more restrictive, allowing the focus to be on the fundamentals that will provide a safe foundation when these athletes transition into high school and beyond.
This format is exclusive to Michigan and just another way that high school sports take the extra step to make the games our athletes play as safe as they can possibly be.
Past editions
Jan. 23: Goaltending - Listen
Jan. 16: Wrestling Tie-Breaker - Listen
Jan. 9: Pregame Meeting - Listen
Dec. 19: Alternating Possession - Listen
Dec. 12: Ratings - Listen
Dec. 5: Video Review Success - Listen
Nov. 28: More Injury Time - Listen
Nov. 21: Football Review - Listen
Nov. 14: Sideline Safety - Listen
Nov. 7: Officials Playlist - Listen
Oct. 31: Most Important Line - Listen
Oct. 24: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
Oct. 17: Catch Momentum - Listen
Oct. 10: Golf Rules Changes - Listen
Oct. 3: No Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 26: You Make the Overtime Call - Listen
Sept. 19: Swimming Finishing Touch - Listen
Sept. 12: Curbing Gamesmanship By Substitution - Listen
Sept. 5: Football Safety Rules Changes - Listen
Aug. 29: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen
Metro Detroit Crew Recognized as September's "Crew of the Month" by Lions, MHSAA
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 29, 2026
A Metro Detroit football officiating crew has been named the inaugural Michigan “High School Officiating Crew of the Month” by the Detroit Lions.
Shelby Township’s Mike Gentry and Craig Goepper, Grosse Pointe Woods’ David Prince, Ann Arbor’s Shane Smith, Roseville’s Scott Suminski and Jordan Pearson, and St. Clair Shores’ Carson Roose make up the crew, which combined has been part of officiating 10 MHSAA Finals, nine Semifinals and more than 50 District Finals. Gentry received the MHSAA’s Vern L. Norris Leadership in Officiating Award in 2017.
The crew also was recognized for its dedication to the avocation, participation as members of the Motor City Area Officials Association and recruitment of new officials.
The Lions, in partnership with the MHSAA and National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), will recognize an officiating crew monthly this season.