Casting Lines for Future Tournaments
August 12, 2016
By Jack Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director
The MHSAA is best known to the public for the tournaments it conducts to conclude the fall, winter and spring seasons each school year.
These tournaments, the first and largest program of the MHSAA, have survived the Vietnam War, the Korean conflict and two World Wars. They have survived the technology bubble, the housing collapse, the energy crisis and the Great Depression.
MHSAA tournaments existed at the dawn of aviation and at the time of our nation’s lunar landing. Popes, presidents and governors have changed and changed again and again, and MHSAA tournaments roll on year after year.
But the sense of tradition and permanence and inevitability of MHSAA tournaments doesn’t dissuade us from asking questions about our tournaments, even some of the most basic questions. Here are two.
Question #1
I have long been and will always be an advocate for a Ryder Cup format for the MHSAA Golf Finals, and a team tennis approach to the MHSAA Tennis Finals; but 90 years of tradition is hard to overcome. Might this be a more exciting format? Could it be co-ed? Could it reverse the decline in boys tennis participation, and increase girls golf participation? Wouldn’t it be fun to try?
Periodically, the International Olympic Committee requires each of the designated Olympic sports to defend its status, to state its case why the sport should remain a part of the Olympic program. Then, after a series or votes that retain one sport at a time, the IOC drops the sport that makes the weakest case. It does so to make room for one of the previously unlisted sports that makes the best case for inclusion.
This would appear to keep the existing Olympic sports on their toes, and to keep the Olympic movement fresh and reflective of modern trends in sports.
While I would not enjoy the controversy, I can see the potential for some positive results if the MHSAA were to invoke the same policy for determining the 14 tournaments it will provide for girls and the 14 for boys.
This might cause us to consider more deeply what a high school sport should look like, or at least what an MHSAA tournament sport should stand for.
On the one hand, we might be inclined to drop tournaments for those sports that involve mostly non-faculty coaches and non-school venues, or require cooperative programs to generate enough participants to support a team, or resort almost entirely to non-school funding, or cater to individuals more than teams.
Or perhaps this process would cause policymakers to forget traditional thinking and ask: “In this day and age, should we shake off traditional notions of sport and consider more where modern kids are coming from?” That might mean fewer team sports and more individual sports, more “extreme” sports like snowboarding and skateboarding, and more lifetime sports, meaning not just golf and tennis and running sports, but also fishing and even shooting sports.
Currently, MHSAA policy states that the MHSAA will consider sponsorship of a tournament series for any sport which 64 member schools conduct on an interscholastic basis as a result of action by the governing boards of those schools.
Should the only question be how many schools sponsor a sport, or must an activity also have certain qualities and/or avoid certain “defects?” What should an MHSAA tournament sport look like and stand for?
Question #2
Bristling from criticism that his association is a money-grabbing exploiter of children, my counterpart in another state said, “If we were running our programs just to make money, we would do very many things very differently.” I knew exactly what he meant.
Because we care about the health and welfare of students, because we mean what we say that the athletic program needs to maximize the ways it enhances the school experience while minimizing academic conflicts, and because we try to model our claim that no sport is a minor sport when it comes to its potential to teach young people life lessons, we operate our programs in ways that make promoters, marketers and business entrepreneurs laugh, cry or cringe.
If money were the only object, we would seed and select sites to assure the teams that attracted the most spectators had the best chance to advance in our tournaments, regardless of the travel for any team or its fan base. If money were the only object, we would never schedule two tournaments to overlap and compete for public attention, much less tolerate three or four overlapping events. If money were the only object, we would allow signage like NASCAR events and promotions like minor league baseball games.
Those approaches to event sponsorship may not be all wrong; they’re just not all right for us. And we will live with the consequences of our belief system.
During a typical school year, more than 20 percent of the MHSAA’s 2,097 District, Regional and Final tournaments lose money. Not a single site in golf, skiing or tennis makes a single penny. In no sport did every District, Regional and Final site have revenue in excess of direct expenses.
In fact, in only three sports – boys and girls basketball and football – is revenue so much greater than direct expenses overall that it helps to pay for all the other tournaments in which the MHSAA invests.
That’s right: invests. When we present our budget to our board, we talk about the MHSAA’s investment in providing tournament opportunities in all those sports and all those places that cannot sustain the cost of those events on their own. How much is this investment worth to students, schools and society?
These two are core questions that require our focus far in advance of talk about scheduling, site selection, seeding and the myriad matters that too often hijack our time and attention.
Is My Student Athlete's Pain More Than Just Growing Pains?
February 14, 2023
There are a few factors that can make student athletes prone to injury. They might be overusing their muscles (thanks to a more rigorous exercise regimen), and they might not yet have developed the proper technique for their sport.
“These factors, combined with the fact that student athletes have growing bodies that they’re still getting used to—especially after a growth spurt — can make them more prone to injury,” says Nancy White, M.D., a sports medicine physician with Henry Ford Health System.
However, just because your child is feeling pain doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve sustained an injury. There is such a thing as growing pains, although the term may be misleading. “Most experts feel that growth itself does not cause pain,” says Dr. White. “The most likely reason for ‘growing pains’ is overuse of the muscles, causing pain and soreness after an activity.”
These growing pains typically occur at the front of the thighs, the back of the knees and the calves, she says, and occur commonly in the late afternoon, evening, or night. If your child is experiencing pain outside of these areas or times of day, it might not be growing pains — and it’s a good idea to get it checked out by a doctor.
Tell-Tale Signs That Pain Should Be Examined
If the pain goes away by the next day — if your child has rested during night and feels better the next morning — there’s no need for concern. But you should head to the doctor if:
► the pain is lingering into the next day.
► the pain is also accompanied by bruising, swelling or redness.
► the pain is so intense that they’re unable to put weight on their legs.
“In these cases, don’t wait — the longer you wait, the more dangerous the injury can become,” says Dr. White.
How Student Athletes Can Help Prevent Injuries
Encourage your child to take proper precautions and maintain healthy habits, all of which can lower the likelihood that they’ll sustain an injury. Dr. White recommends the following tips:
- Maintain proper technique. “Knowing and understanding the movements needed for whatever sport they practice is so important,” says Dr. White. “Figure skating and gymnastics are two sports where I tend to see injuries more often during growth phases. These athletes are often learning difficult skills at a time in their lives when they’re going through a growth spurt, and that combination can lead to injury.”
- Stretch before and after playing a sport. “Try dynamic stretching — where you’re actually moving while stretching — instead of static stretching, where you’re holding the stretch,” says Dr. White. “Dynamic stretching is a great warm up. It can help improve flexibility and reduce the risk of injury.”
- Strength train, especially in the core and limbs. Doing so will help create stable, strong muscles to keep the body properly aligned and lessen the chances of injury.
- Eat a balanced diet and stay hydrated. While it’s normal for kids to have sugar every once in a while, filling the bulk of their diet with plenty of water, fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy protein, fats and carbohydrates will help them function to their best ability.
- Get enough rest each night. Sleep is necessary for health and well-being in general, but when it comes to athletes, rest is incredibly important to help their bodies recuperate. In general, kids need about 10 hours of sleep per night. So if your child plays a sport, you want to really be sure that they’re hitting that 10-hour mark, says Dr. White.
Dr. Nancy White is a sports medicine physician with Henry Ford Health System. She sees patients at Henry Ford Medical Center – Columbus in Novi, and Henry Ford Medical Center — Bloomfield Township.
Want to learn more? Henry Ford Health System sports medicine experts are treating the whole athlete, in a whole new way. From nutrition to neurology, and from injury prevention to treatment of sports-related conditions, they can give your athlete a unique game plan. To find a sports medicine physician at Henry Ford, visit henryford.com or call 1-800-436-7936.