Keep on Coaching
February 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A few weeks ago, I finally got my first chance this season to watch a friend coach his basketball team. After guiding some others at the lower levels, this is his first time running the varsity – something he wasn't sure he wanted to do with a 1-year-old just learning to walk, but a challenge he ended up taking on to the benefit of all those involved.
Simply put, he’s good. I've seen a lot of teams and a lot of coaches over the past 15 years, and although I wouldn't know much of what to do if I were walking the sideline, I felt pretty qualified in telling him I was impressed – even if he didn't buy that I was offering an unbiased opinion. The best news is he’s gone from not sure about this a few months ago to talking about next season.
We know, at least anecdotally, that coaching continues to get more challenging. The time commitment has grown substantially to make running a program a year-round endeavor in a lot of sports at a lot of schools.
That commitment – especially for coaches with children of their own – was a main reason referred to in a New Haven Post-Chronicle story Saturday that noted 23 football coaching openings in Connecticut at one point this offseason. That state has 146 football teams – meaning roughly 15 percent will have new leaders this fall.
And that got me thinking about my friend, about how glad I am he’s given this a shot, and how I've seen so many others either not do so, or not stick around long despite having some pretty nice success.
A study published last winter in Interscholastic Athletic Administration magazine – a product of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association – noted some predictable results of a study that sought to determine the biggest challenges faced by first-year high school coaches.
The toughest according to the study was balancing the demands of coaching and teaching, experienced by nearly half the respondents – 98 percent of which coached high school teams and 81 percent of which are teachers.
The next six reasons all were noted by at least 30 percent of those in the study – personal fatigue, securing community support, securing and caring for facilities and equipment, parental contact, keeping non-starting players motivated, dealing with schedule interruptions and motivating athletes to achieve consistent, peak performance.
Nothing there is earth-shaking, and most if not all of these challenges are faced by high school coaches regardless of how long they've been in the field. But I got a little more perspective from some of the 32 items that ranked as least challenging to the first-year leaders – keeping in compliance with state and league regulations, dealing with substance abuse issues, teaching sport skills and creating a positive team atmosphere – things that seem most important, and yet appear to be easiest to do. I’m not sure what that tells us – but I think it tells us something.
Click to check out the entire three-page breakdown of the study, plus the researchers’ recommendations to remedy some of what first-year coaches face.
Giving back to Saginaw
I love reading about high-level athletes – like a star-studded group of alums from Saginaw – giving back to where they got their starts.
Pittsburgh Steelers star LaMarr Woodley made a big impact before the start of this school year by donating $60,000 to cover all participation fees for athletes in his former school district. The Saginaw News’ Hugh Bernreuter writes today about how Woodley (Saginaw High), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jason Richardson (Saginaw Arthur Hill) and former Oakland Raiders standout Stu Schweigert (Saginaw Heritage) have combined to give more than $865,000 back to their home communities.
Bernreuter also mentions the non-monetary contributions of the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (Saginaw High) and former Indianapolis Colts receiver Blair White (Saginaw Nouvel).
Click to read more about it.
Quote(s) of the Week
While rifling through more papers on my desk, I found an article from the Washington Post from Sept. 2011 titled “How high school sports save our schools.” I was drawn to it in part because I spent more than a decade in a newsroom, and it was a piece by a reporter covering education who instead of reporting on school boards and the like, delved into the importance of interscholastic athletics to education as a whole.
He spoke of how participation continues to grow even as resources dwindle, and of data supporting that extracurriculars like sports are more effective than academic classes in teaching leadership, teamwork, time management and “other skills crucial for success in the workplace.” Later, he mentioned a study noting that those who participate in extracurriculars earned more a decade later.
Click here to read the entre piece. These passages struck me most.
“Coaches might be the only faculty members still allowed by our culture and educational practice to get tough with students not making the proper effort. They have the advantage of teaching what are essentially elective non-credit courses. They can insist on standards of behavior that classroom teachers often cannot enforce because the stakes of dismissing or letting students drop their courses are too high. …
“Students do better in activities they choose. If we provide more of them, led by committed adults … that can make a difference. We know the bad news about education. Dropout rates are high. Achievement scores are stagnant. But sports participation is going up, despite pressure to cut it back. Let’s cheer about that and look for a way to draw in more students.”
Fenton Principal Bakker Selected as MHSAA's Charles E. Forsythe Award Honoree
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 11, 2026
An educator who has served in several roles – as a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal and for the last four years principal at Fenton High School – Mike Bakker is able to draw from a wealth of experiences as he serves students not only in his school district but as a statewide decision-maker and leader.
In recognition of his several contributions over the last two decades, especially to educational athletics, Bakker has been selected to receive this year’s MHSAA Charles E. Forsythe Lifetime Achievement Award.
The annual award is in its 49th year and named after past MHSAA Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe, the Association's first full-time and longest-serving chief executive. Forsythe Award recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual's outstanding contributions to the interscholastic athletics community at the local, regional and statewide levels. Bakker will be honored this weekend during the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) annual conference in Traverse City.
Bakker began his professional career at Mason High School. He was hired initially as the boys tennis coach while still a junior in college, and then served twice as a long-term substitute teacher before being hired full time and teaching mathematics and statistics, serving as a club advisor and coaching girls and boys swimming & diving in addition to tennis. He moved to Fenton Area Public Schools as the middle and high school athletic director and assistant principal in 2004. Bakker became interim principal midway through the 2021-22 school year, with that promotion made permanent that March.
“I do think that because I’ve held all of those different roles, I still have all of those connections, and there are other athletic directors who have gone on to become principals and those are the people I reach out to – I know they have a passion for making sure everybody, because of the positions they’ve held, has success in different areas,” Bakker said. “Working in athletics so long, and helping those students find success and helping coaches find success, helped me help students who are not in athletics have success. It’s provided a pretty awesome opportunity and perspective to see how the system works and how to help students be successful and help teachers and coaches be successful.”
Bakker’s contributions have long stretched beyond his classroom and office duties as well. Locally, he’s served on the Fenton Education Foundation board of directors for two decades. As athletic director, he hosted more than 125 MHSAA Tournaments over 17 years and served on a dozen MHSAA committees.
Bakker also has been a member of both the MIAAA – the state’s professional organization for athletic administrators – and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) for 22 years and has served in several leadership roles with the MIAAA including as president during the 2015-16 school year and as assistant executive director since 2018.
Bakker also is serving his second school year as a member of the MHSAA Representative Council.
“As someone who has dedicated himself to education and served in various roles over the last 25 years, Mike Bakker has gained a broad perspective that has helped shape his leadership – and he continues to give more of himself with his contributions at the MHSAA and MIAAA leadership levels,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “As a member of the Representative Council, he provides input on how decisions could affect all groups involved, and our schools are fortunate to have his valuable voice and viewpoint.”
Bakker also has been a member of both the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) and National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) for 15 years. As a coach he was a member of the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (MISCA) and served as a Zone representative from 2001-04.
Bakker was selected as the MIAAA’s Region 9 Athletic Director of the Year in 2010, and as its statewide Tom Rashid Athletic Director of the Year for 2020-21. He also was named Athletic Director of the Year in 2021 by the Michigan High School Coaches Association.
“For me, being an educator, and part of why I went into education and administration, was to help in the education process of the whole student. That doesn’t include just the classroom walls from the first bell to the last bell,” Bakker said. “To really impact kids, you have to build relationships, meet them where they’re at, and you have to help them find success not just in the classroom but out(side it), to help them become better than they thought they could be. … Even when I was athletic director, I still going and seeing kids perform in other things, and I was in charge of clubs as the athletic director, and all of those things allowed me to help meet students where they are and where their needs are as they are figuring out who they want to be when they leave.”
A 1994 graduate of Rochester High School – where he swam and played soccer, tennis and basketball – Bakker earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Michigan State University in 1998 and his secondary teaching certificate from MSU in 2000. He earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from MSU in 2004 and a master’s in sports administration from Eastern Michigan University in 2011. He also received his certified master athletic administrator designation from the NIAAA in 2011.
Bakker and his wife Denise have been married for 23 years and have three children – sons Jasper and Tristan and daughter Paige.
Past recipients of the Charles E. Forsythe Award
1978 - Brick Fowler, Port Huron; Paul Smarks, Warren
1979 - Earl Messner, Reed City; Howard Beatty, Saginaw
1980 - Max Carey, Freesoil
1981 - Steven Sluka, Grand Haven; Samuel Madden, Detroit
1982 - Ernest Buckholz, Mt. Clemens; T. Arthur Treloar, Petoskey
1983 - Leroy Dues, Detroit; Richard Maher, Sturgis
1984 - William Hart, Marquette; Donald Stamats, Caro
1985 - John Cotton, Farmington; Robert James, Warren
1986 - William Robinson, Detroit; Irving Soderland, Norway
1987 - Jack Streidl, Plainwell; Wayne Hellenga, Decatur
1988 - Jack Johnson, Dearborn; Alan Williams, North Adams
1989 - Walter Bazylewicz, Berkley; Dennis Kiley, Jackson
1990 - Webster Morrison, Pickford; Herbert Quade, Benton Harbor
1991 - Clifford Buckmaster, Petoskey; Donald Domke, Northville
1992 - William Maskill, Kalamazoo; Thomas G. McShannock, Muskegon
1993 - Roy A. Allen Jr., Detroit; John Duncan, Cedarville
1994 - Kermit Ambrose, Royal Oak
1995 - Bob Perry, Lowell
1996 - Charles H. Jones, Royal Oak
1997 - Michael A. Foster, Richland; Robert G. Grimes, Battle Creek
1998 - Lofton C. Greene, River Rouge; Joseph J. Todey, Essexville
1999 - Bernie Larson, Battle Creek
2000 - Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo; Jerry Cvengros, Escanaba
2001 - Norm Johnson, Bangor; George Lovich, Canton
2002 - John Fundukian, Novi
2003 - Ken Semelsberger, Port Huron
2004 - Marco Marcet, Frankenmuth
2005 - Jim Feldkamp, Troy
2006 - Dan McShannock, Midland; Dail Prucka, Monroe
2007 - Keith Eldred, Williamston; Tom Hickman, Spring Lake
2008 - Jamie Gent, Haslett; William Newkirk, Sanford Meridian
2009 - Paul Ellinger, Cheboygan
2010 - Rudy Godefroidt, Hemlock; Mike Boyd, Waterford
2011 - Eric C. Federico, Trenton
2012 - Bill Mick, Midland
2013 - Jim Gilmore, Tecumseh; Dave Hutton, Grandville
2014 - Dan Flynn, Escanaba
2015 - Hugh Matson, Saginaw
2016 - Gary Hice, Petoskey; Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2017 - Chuck Nurek, Rochester Hills
2018 - Gary Ellis, Allegan
2019 - Jim Derocher, Negaunee; Fredrick J. Smith, Stevensville
2020 - Michael Garvey, Lawton
2021 – Leroy Hackley Jr., Byron Center; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
2022 – Bruce Horsch, Houghton
2023 – Karen Leinaar, Frankfort
2024 – Sean Jacques, Calumet
2025 – Kris Isom, Adrian
PHOTOS (Top) Fenton's Mike Bakker monitors activities from the field during a Tigers football game. (Middle) Bakker, left, takes a photo with daughter Paige and wife Denise as Paige holds the Flint Metro League volleyball championship trophy. (Photos provided by Mike Bakker.)