Inside Selection Sunday: Mapping the Football Playoffs
October 24, 2011
Sitting on the other side of this process for a number of years, I can admit to occasionally scratching my cynical head over some of the matchups that have come out of Selection Sunday.
How could teams so far from each other play in the same district? Why would two schools in the same town play in different regionals? Are they picking out of a hat at 1661 Ramblewood Drive?
Now, I have answers.
Sunday morning, we filed into headquarters for what might be the most important non-game day on the MHSAA calendar. “We” were made up of half of the MHSAA staff, plus a representative from the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.
Here’s some of what I learned from being a part of the process:
? First, a brief history lesson. In early years (or until the middle of the last decade), lines were drawn by hand. Dots representing qualifying schools were pasted on maps, one map for each division, and those maps were then covered by plastic sheets. Districts and regionals literally were drawn with dry-erase markers. No longer. Using a variety of spreadsheets and mapping software, we’ve gone digital. Staff is split into two teams, each considering four divisions (and the 8-player map) before we reconvene and look at all nine divisions together.
? We are presented digital maps of the state covered in dots. That’s about it. The rule of the day, simply, is “geography rules.” Which teams are represented by the dots is not considered, much less discussed, until lines are drawn. While considering my group’s first map, I began to bring up teams – and immediately was shot down (with good reason). Teams, matchups, rivalries, previous playoff pairings, etc. DO NOT come into play. We draw boxes in what we figure are the most logical ways of making districts and regions work.
? Travel distance and ease DO come into play. This especially is true when considering which districts will include teams from the Upper Peninsula. An example: Marquette is closer to the schools we placed in its district – Fenton, Bay City Western and Okemos – than some other options because those schools are closer to I-75. Schools further north on the map but farther from a main highway would’ve created longer trips.
? Sometimes, maps get ugly. And sometimes, it was a matter of choosing the least ugly situation. Of course, a D
ivision 4 District of Lansing Sexton, Dearborn Heights Robichaud, Battle Creek Pennfield and Vicksburg isn’t ideal. But with no other Division 4 schools within 35 miles of Lansing, we were put in a tough spot. Add in that there were 13 teams in the Detroit area, leaving one as the odd team out of three districts based there. Something had to give, and drawing things up as we did caused the fewest messes.
? Considering how to set up the entire state is different than figuring out what teams make the most sense for just one school or area. And shifting just one dot on a map can change things for all 32.
? Back to “geography rules.” The Division 8 district including Saugatuck, Muskegon Catholic, Mendon and St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic might be the most competitive, on paper, in the state. Saugatuck is the reigning MHSAA runner-up in the division, and Muskegon Catholic and Mendon were ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the most recent Association Press poll. Seeing that after we’d drawn the line caused a collective “ouch.” But again, the line was drawn based on dots on a map.
I thought back on some of the matchups I’d questioned in the past, and came back to what I’d ask people now: How would you do things differently?
I imagine there would be some creative answers, but I also would guess we considered those scenarios too.
And remember, determining the playoff schedule is just one step in many. Eight state champions must survive it, regardless of which opponents they face along the way.
GR Catholic Central Unveils New Home
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
August 23, 2016
GRAND RAPIDS – Former Grand Rapids Catholic Central football player and current assistant coach Kyle Shelton didn’t know if he would ever see the day – the day when the football program would have a place to call home.
And it wasn’t until he witnessed shovels digging dirt that Shelton knew it was going to become a reality.
Cougar Stadium was unveiled to the community over this past weekend, the crown jewel of a nearly $10-million project at the Cougar Athletic Trails (CAT) athletic complex.
“It’s long overdue, that’s for sure,” said Shelton, a 1999 Catholic Central graduate. “It’s nice from a functional standpoint, having a surface always ready for practice, which we haven’t had in the past, and to have all of our teams in one spot, which we haven’t been able to do.
“From a teaching standpoint, we have brand new team rooms where we can watch film, and that’s just the football side of things.”
Cougars senior running back Antonio Strong may be biased, but ranks his new digs among the tops in the area.
“It’s one of the best complexes around, and I think one of the best in the state,” he said. “It felt like it was meant to be.”
Last week, the CAT was re-dedicated and blessed. It was the first of several events throughout the weekend to celebrate the facility’s re-opening.
Several thousand people braved severe weather Saturday to attend the first Catholic Central Hall of Fame induction while getting a glimpse of the new turf field and surrounding amenities.
“This place is amazing,” fifth-year Cougars varsity football coach Todd Kolster said. 
“I think it’s second to none, and it shined pretty brightly on Saturday night when the weather was bad. We had probably over 3,000 here during a tornado getting ready to hit just to see the place.
“It’s just awesome for our community to have a place to call home. It’s awesome for our kids to call this home.”
While a majority of football programs boast home stadiums or fields, Catholic Central has never been among them.
The school is celebrating its 110th birthday this season, and this is the first time in school history it will have a place to call its own.
For more than a century, Catholic Central has had to travel and play its home games at other venues.
Houseman Field in downtown Grand Rapids was where the Cougars played a majority of their “home games.” In recent years, they’ve had to travel to surrounding schools, including Grand Rapids Christian and Ada Forest Hills Eastern, to play.
It will be an entirely new experience for the Cougars when they host East Grand Rapids on Friday to open the 2016 season.
“We don’t have to get on a bus to play football,” Kolster said with a smile. “It will be different in how it impacts our schedule. What do we do for a home game now? Before we didn’t have much time. It was school, then we went to chapel, and then we came out here for a walk-through before getting on a bus and leaving. That was every week.”
The freshmen and junior varsity football teams played at the complex in past years on a makeshift field, but the varsity didn’t due to lack of lights and space.
Last season during construction, all three teams were bused to games.
“There wasn’t a single time last year that we didn’t get on a bus to play a football game,” Shelton said. “Last year was trying in that respect. Game days, (it) now saves us a good hour in travel time to a football game.
“We finally have a place to call home. We have a home that we can take pride and hopefully a tough environment for teams who come here and play. A home-field advantage so to speak, something we’ve never had.”
Catholic Central athletic director Trevor Hinshaw remains awestruck by the sight of the school’s decorated surroundings.
“It’s unbelievable, and I get goose bumps every time I walk out here,” Hinshaw said. “It’s a pretty amazing facility, and we are beyond blessed to call it home. To have no more home games on the road will be weird, but I think we will get used to it quickly and come to appreciate our new reality.”
The tradition of Catholic Central was not forgotten in the process. A plaza honoring legendary football coach Ted Sowle sits on the concourse, as do plaques commemorating past MHSAA championships.
Other influential people in the community from days past also are recognized throughout the stadium.
“It’s important that our kids understand the traditions that came before them and the people that came before them to make this happen,” Kolster said. “I’ve talked to guys that I’ve coached, and they’re sad they don’t get to play here, but excited for the guys who are and for the future of our school. Those guys laid the foundation for us to play here.”
Friday night will mark another historic date in school history, and the players are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to play their first “home game.”
“I’m looking forward to it a lot,” Strong said. “I’ve been waiting for this all year.”
“It’s going to be live here,” senior cornerback Mike Brown added.
Hinshaw said the undertaking of hosting the first game involves a lot of logistics, but he hopes to cherish the moment.
“Ultimately, I want to make sure that through the stress I find time to enjoy the experience as well,” he said.
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at[email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Players work out on the freshly-completed Cougar Stadium turf. (Middle) The stadium scoreboard overlooks plaques dedicated to past GRCC champions. (Below) Gates will open for a varsity game for the first time Friday. (Photos by Dean Holzwarth.)