MHSAA, MHSFCA to Provide Spring Evaluation Camps for College Football Hopefuls
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 27, 2023
The Michigan High School Athletic Association, in partnership with the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA), will be hosting first-ever Spring Evaluation Camps to provide athletes with aspirations of playing college football opportunities to show their skills and abilities to college coaches at one of five locations.
The one-day camps will take place between May 15-18 at Jenison High School, DeWitt High School, Jackson High School, Brighton High School and Detroit Country Day High School. The MHSAA’s involvement will allow for the opportunity for Division I college coaches to attend, and representatives from college football programs at all levels are expected.
Athletes who will be juniors or seniors in Fall 2023 may register to participate via a link on the Football page.
“This is an attempt by the MHSAA to help our athletes get exposure during the spring evaluation period in a way that does not intrude on spring sports,” said Brad Bush, an MHSAA assistant director and past high school and college football coach. “We are working with the MHSFCA to help put together a first-class experience for the athletes and college coaches.”
Cost is $20 per player, and each registrant will receive a shirt to wear based on the athlete’s graduation year and registration number so college coaches in attendance can monitor their camp performance. College coaches also will receive registration information for each athlete in attendance.
All athletes must have a coach from the athlete’s school staff present at the camp, and that coach must be a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.
MHSFCA executive director Andrew Pratley called the Spring Evaluation Camps a tremendous opportunity for high school athletes in Michigan.
“We are very excited with the partnership with the MHSAA that allows our kids the opportunity to wear a helmet and do drills in front of college coaches in the spring at a minimal cost,” Pratley said. “College coaches are thrilled, and it's a unique opportunity to have the rules waived by the MHSAA at these events only in order to showcase the tremendous talent all over the great state of Michigan.”
The Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) has been devoted to the promotion of high school football since its inception in March 1972. The MHSFCA has more than 2,500 members and provides several educational and development opportunities for members and their athletes, including an annual coaching clinic, an annual leadership conference for coaches and potential team captains, and the annual summer East-West All-Star Game for graduated seniors. Additionally, the MHSFCA’s Leadership Development Alliance is in its third year of training coaches and offering veteran members of the association as mentors.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.
Michigan High School Sports Participation Continues to Outpace National Population Ranking
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 5, 2025
Michigan’s national rankings for participation in high school athletics – overall, and separately for girls and boys participation – remained steady during the 2024-25 school year and continued to outpace the state’s national ranking for high school-aged population, according to the annual national participation study conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
Michigan remained eighth for overall participation nationally, based on a total of 298,246 participants. The total counts students once for each sport played, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
Michigan also remained seventh nationally for boys (173,320) and eighth for girls (124,926) participation separately, and again despite currently ranking 10th for both high school-aged boys and girls populations according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Michigan’s national rankings in eight sports for which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments improved from 2023-24, while eight sports also moved down on their respective lists from the previous year.
Two sports jumped two spots on their respective lists, with Michigan’s football total (all full-contact formats combined) of 36,119 athletes moving up to fifth and its girls track & field participation total of 18,108 athletes moving up to sixth nationally. Boys ice hockey (third), boys tennis (fourth), boys track & field (fifth), boys cross country (sixth), girls gymnastics (12th) and girls lacrosse (13th) also moved up on their respective lists.
Keeping with annual trends, participation in several more MHSAA sports also continued to outpace the state’s rankings for high school-aged population.
For girls, participation in tennis (third), bowling (third), golf (fourth), volleyball (fifth), cross country (sixth), track & field (sixth), basketball (seventh), softball (eighth), swimming & diving (eighth) and soccer (ninth) all ranked higher than their population listing of 10th nationally. Among boys sports, bowling (second), ice hockey (third), tennis (fourth), football (all contact formats – fifth), golf (fifth), track & field (fifth), cross country (sixth), basketball (seventh), swimming & diving (eighth), wrestling (eighth), baseball (ninth) and lacrosse (ninth) exceeded the boys ranking of 10th for population.
Only 12 states sponsor alpine skiing, but Michigan again ranked third on both the girls and boys lists for that sport.
Participation nationally again exceeded 8 million participants after reaching that milestone for the first time in 2023-24, with the total of 8,260,891 an increase of 2.5 percent from 2023-24. The total includes 4,723,907 boys and 3,536,984 girls – both record highs – according to figures obtained from the 51 NFHS member state associations, which include the District of Columbia.
Eleven-player football remained the most popular boys sport, totaling 1,031,039 athletes. Next on the boys list were outdoor track & field, basketball, soccer, baseball, wrestling, cross country, golf, tennis, and swimming & diving, respectively.
For girls, outdoor track & field, volleyball and soccer remained the top three participatory sports, in that order. Basketball ranked fourth, followed by softball, competitive spirit, tennis, cross country, swimming & diving and lacrosse, respectively.
Texas (879,403) and California (852,575) remained atop the list of state participation. Ohio (335,808) jumped to third, followed by Pennsylvania (333,123), Illinois (328,362), New York (327,068), Florida (308,396), Michigan (298,246), New Jersey (281,971) and Minnesota (232,347).
The NFHS participation survey was started in 1971 and compiled in its current form through the 2018-19 school year, resuming annually with the 2021-22 survey.
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS writes playing rules for 18 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,800 high schools and 12 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than eight million in high school sports.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.