Irish Celebrate Homecoming Sky High
October 4, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
You’ve got to see this – from high in the sky – to believe it.
The disappointing news for Pontiac Notre Dame Prep from its Homecoming game last Friday was that the Fighting Irish fell to Detroit Catholic League AA leader Detroit Loyola by seven points.
But the Irish will remember fondly (and probably click on frequently) the video of this sky high view of the game including the team’s entrance to the field.
Thanks to a camera attached to a helicopter-like apparatus flown by local Aerial Imagery Works, Notre Dame was able to capture a rarely-seen view. See more by watching the brief video embedded at the bottom of this post.
SLC-TV Rolls 300
It's fair to assume few television stations in Michigan have been as dedicated to the local football team as South Lyon's SLC-TV, which will celebrate a milestone broadcast Oct. 11 when South Lyon faces South Lyon East.
SLC-TV has followed South Lyon football home and away games for 31 years and will broadcast its 300th game that night. SLC-TV’s games appear on WOW network channel 19 and Comcast Southfield channel 90, which reaches 33 communities in metro Detroit.
Sports director Tedd Wallace will have done play-by-play for 298 of those games, and said he believes no station in America has done TV broadcasts of a team’s home and away games as consistently. Check out more about the network’s weekly work on its Facebook page.
Friendly gesture to opponent in need
One of the most heart-warming parts of following high school sports is experiencing the camaraderie among athletes from opposing teams they likely know nothing about except for what they learn during competition.
Concord’s volleyball team shined especially brightly in this way last week.
Amazingly, Union City junior Marissa Mead played in her team’s match against Concord on Sept. 24 despite her home being destroyed by a fire that morning. As told by the Jackson Citizen-Patriot’s Leanne Smith, Concord’s players had heard about the tragic event and were surprised to then see Mead take her place as defensive specialist that night.
On the bus ride home, the Concord players decided they needed to do something to help Mead and her family. As a team, the players collected $80 – and then pushed the total to $300 with the help of teachers, parents and administrators. They delivered the funds in a card to Mead at Union City’s home match two days later.
It’s a gesture that might seem small, but speaks loudly to the awesome way our athletes relate to each other not just on, but off the court as well. Click to read the entire report.
Official of the Year
Marcy Weston, Central Michigan University’s Executive Associate Director of Athletics/Sports Administration and a longtime contributor to MHSAA officiating initiatives, has been named the Naismith Women’s College Official of the Year.
Weston spoke at the 2001 MHSAA Officials Banquet and has served as part of the association's officials committee and with the National Federation of State High School Associations as a liaison to its Basketball Rules Committee.
She also served as NCAA national coordinator of women’s basketball officiating from 1991-2005 after working as a women’s college basketball official from 1964-84. Click to read more from CMUChippewas.com.
Century of School Sports: Awards Celebrate Well-Rounded Educational Experience
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 21, 2025
This week, the MHSAA and Farm Bureau Insurance are announcing the finalists for their 36th Scholar-Athlete Awards. From more than 1,500 candidates, 32 will be selected over the next few weeks to receive this prestigious award.
When the most recent class of winners is announced over three weeks next month, they’ll push the total to 992 who have been honored since the program began during the 1989-90 school year.
That fall, Vestaburg senior Jennifer Bissell and Unionville-Sebewaing senior Scott Kieser were presented with the first of these Farm Bureau-sponsored awards during the MHSAA Football Finals on Nov. 25, 1989, at the Pontiac Silverdome. Although several of the award program’s criteria have changed over the years, the mission has remained consistent: Highlight the value extracurricular activities – including athletics – play in the total education of a high school student, while recognizing that all-around achievement.
Applicants must be graduating seniors during the current school year, carry an unrounded 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) grade-point average and have won a varsity letter in one of the 28 sports for which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Candidates are judged on their academic, athletic and other extracurricular accomplishments, plus community involvement and a short essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau has partnered on the Scholar-Athlete Awards from the start, awarding $1,088,000 over the first 35 years of recognition. Awards have risen in value from $500 to $1,000 to now $2,000, and 383 schools – more than half of the MHSAA membership – have produced at least one scholarship winner.
Those are just a few of the staggering numbers that have grown with the program over the years.
The first two years saw two award winners each season. In 1991-92, a change was made to award one winner per MHSAA-sponsored sport. In 2005-06, the program was expanded to its current 32 winners based primarily on school enrollment – six boys and six girls from Class A schools, four boys and four girls from Class B, three boys and three girls from Class C, and two girls and two boys from Class D schools, plus two honorees awarded at-large to minority recipients regardless of school size.
There have been 3,817 finalists, not including this year’s class. As noted above, 383 schools have produced a winner, but 624 had produced a finalist through 2023-24 – and although schools have closed or consolidated over the years, that still means that roughly 80 percent of MHSAA member schools over the last four decades have produced at least had at least one candidate advance to the final round.
Midland Dow has the most Finalists (38), while 113 schools have had at least 10. Birmingham Seaholm has set a single-year record this year with six finalists; five schools previously shared the record of five finalists for a single award season.
Eight schools have had 10 or more winners over the first 35 years. Okemos leads that parade with 13, followed by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Hillsdale Academy with 12 apiece. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern and Midland Dow both have celebrated 11 winners, and Grosse Pointe South, St. Johns and Traverse City Central have produced 10 award winners.
Again, it cannot be overlooked the significance of Farm Bureau’s sponsorship and enthusiasm for this program – the 1.1 million dollars in scholarships speaks for itself, but also that a representative from Farm Bureau annually joins the MHSAA executive director in awarding those scholarships during a ceremony at Breslin Center on MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals weekend.
Also deserving of significant recognition are the judges who make this program a go every year. This year’s 1,513 applications were judged by a 65-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Jan. 14: Predecessors Laid Foundation for MHSAA's Formation - Read
Jan. 9: MHSAA Blazes Trail Into Cyberspace - Read
Dec. 31: State's Storytellers Share Winter Memories - Read
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time - Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate - Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read