Our Job
January 29, 2013
When I’m asked to describe the MHSAA’s job in a three-second sound bite, I say: “Our job is to protect and promote educational athletics.”
Give me three seconds longer and I’ll say: “Our job is to protect and promote the values and value of student-centered, school-sponsored sports.”
Give me three seconds longer and I’ll add “. . . by raising standards for, and increasing participation in, educational athletics.”
And give me time to complete the thought and I’ll add that we do this through:
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training for coaches, officials and athletic directors;
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tournaments that keep sportsmanship levels high and both expenses and health risks low; and
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telling the story to these groups: students and parents, school personnel, and the media and public.
We provide training and tournaments, and we tell the story of school-based sports.
That’s the job. And it’s how we judge the “good idea du jour” that bombards our office. We can’t do everything. To do so would not be doing our job well.
Our Best and Brightest
April 12, 2015
The best two hours of each work year are those spent with the MHSAA Scholar-Athletes and their parents on the last Saturday of the winter tournament season.
This is a happy and pardonably proud group who epitomize the best of what our schools and school sports produce because of the giftedness of the student-athletes and their grit to maximize those gifts with the help of family and the faculty of member schools.
This year’s 32 recipients of $1,000 scholarships represent 22 of the 28 MHSAA tournament sports. The 32 recipients average 2.56 sports per person, and their average GPA is 3.95.
Five of this year’s class have won MHSAA state championships as individuals or members on a team. Nineteen of this year’s class have perfect 4.0 GPAs.
Over the years, 323 MHSAA high schools have been represented with scholarship winners; and this year, 10 students were first-time winners for their schools.
This is the 26th year of this program, underwritten since its inception by Michigan Farm Bureau, which has now invested $652,000 in MHSAA's scholar-athletes. The longevity and generosity of this sponsorship is Michigan at its best.
And these 32 students are among our state’s most precious resources for creating a better future for our state, nation and world.