Projects That Matter
December 1, 2015
The white board that confronts me every day in my office lists a lot of things I’d like the MHSAA to get done. Our challenge is to choose to do those projects that are large enough to matter, yet small enough to accomplish.
Step by step, we have attempted, for example, new goals for coaches education and new initiatives for concussion care, as well as new means of communicating the message of educational athletics which I have discussed less as I’ve addressed the other projects more in recent months.
Managing the message of school-sponsored, student-centered sports in the midst of a constant blizzard of communications from youth, college and professional sports, is as important as anything we do.
We are particularly pleased with “This Week in High School Sports” which John Johnson prepares and Second Half by MHSAA which Geoff Kimmerly manages. Positive news reflecting the purpose and values of educational athletics in Michigan. These projects matter.
Connecting with Coaches
January 28, 2014
In the coming weeks, the MHSAA will meet with the leadership of the high school coaches associations of our state. We have been doing this for more than 25 years, with two primary purposes.
First, we want to provide a forum for these leaders to share with one another their new ideas and initiatives and to discover “best practices” from one another, hoping that this will lead to the better plans being implemented in multiple organizations.
Our second purpose is to present some of the MHSAA initiatives or rules changes that are applicable to all or most sports. It’s not a time when we talk about the baseball pitching rule or the football playoff point system, but a time when we discuss topics of more universal application.
This year those topics included new requirements for coaches education, new rules for athletic-related transfers and proposed rules changes for international students, a simplified scrimmage rule for all sports, and a modified penalty for participation in certain all-star events.
It is intended that these coaches association leaders will be enabled to take these topics to their respective boards and members in order to increase understanding of proposed changes and to facilitate feedback to the MHSAA Representative Council and staff.