22nd WISL Conference Set for Feb. 7-8
January 13, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first, largest and longest-running program of its type in the country, the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Women In Sports Leadership Conference will take place Feb. 7-8 at the Crowne Plaza Lansing West.
The 22nd edition of the conference will feature three keynote speakers and a variety of workshops. The program annually attracts upwards of 500 participants, most of them high school female student-athletes. High school students, coaches and administrators are invited to register on the MHSAA Website.
Cost is $50 for students and $60 for adults, not including lodging for those intending to stay overnight in Lansing. A registration form for lodging also is available on the MHSAA Website.
The theme for this WISL Conference is “Lead: I Can & I Will” – and the opening address by U.S. Olympian Allison Schmitt will focus on believing in oneself and achieving goals. Schmitt graduated from Canton High School in 2008 and went on to win 11 NCAA Division I championships at the University of Georgia and a combined six medals over the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, including individual gold in the 200-meter freestyle in 2012 in London. She also experienced depression after her second Olympics, and now speaks on the subject and how she’s worked to compete again at the elite level.
Former University of Michigan basketball player Nicole Emblad – a two-time Academic All-American now studying at the university’s medical school – will speak on the role of a leader and the importance of teamwork and team-building at the WISL Banquet during the evening of Feb. 7. After a standout basketball career at St. Ignace that included leading her team to the Class C title in 2011, Emblad was a two-time captain for the Wolverines and graduated as the program’s career leader with 133 games played with 82 wins. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biopsychology, cognition and neuroscience.
Michigan State University women’s basketball coach Suzy Merchant will speak on leading through “Vision, Values, Voice” during the morning of Feb. 8. Merchant is in her ninth season at MSU after previously coaching at Eastern Michigan University and Saginaw Valley State University and serving as a captain while a player at Central Michigan. Merchant has led the Spartans to Big Ten Conference titles in 2010-11 and 2013-14 and finishes of third place or higher in six of the last seven seasons. She earned a bachelor’s degree at CMU and a master’s at SVSU after starring in three sports at Traverse City High School.
Workshops offered during the conference include topics on coaching, teaching and learning leadership, sports nutrition and injury prevention, promoting team chemistry, multi-sport participation and the roles and responsibilities of captains. A complete itinerary is available on the MHSAA Website.
The WISL Banquet will include the presentation of this year’s Women In Sports Leadership Award. The winner will be announced later this month.
Follow the #WISL hashtag on Twitter to learn more about the conference’s activities.
MHSAA.tv Broadcast Schedule Includes Nearly 200 Week 1 Varsity Football Games
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 22, 2022
Nearly 200 varsity football games scheduled for this opening weekend of the Michigan high school season will be broadcast on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network or by Michigan High School Athletic Association partner Bally Sports Detroit – including all 16 games being played at the Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic, Battle at the Big House and Vehicle City Gridiron Classic.
Varsity football teams may kick off the season Thursday (Aug. 25), and BSD and NFHS Network will have broadcasts that first day from all three showcase events. Below are the schedules for all three:
Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic – Wayne State University – Tom Adams Field
Aug. 25, 4 p.m.: Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice vs. Macomb Dakota – Bally Sports Detroit
Aug. 25, 7 p.m.: Sterling Heights Stevenson vs. West Bloomfield – Bally Sports Detroit
Aug. 26, 4 p.m.: Allen Park vs. Wyandotte – NFHS Network
Aug. 26, 7 p.m.: Belleville vs. Novi – NFHS Network
Aug. 27, 1 p.m.: Dexter vs. Grosse Pointe South – NFHS Network
Aug. 27, 4 p.m.: Cedar Springs vs. River Rouge – NFHS Network
Battle at the Big House – University of Michigan – Michigan Stadium
Aug. 25, Noon: Brighton vs. Dearborn Fordson – NFHS Network
Aug. 25, 3:30 p.m.: DeWitt vs. Haslett – NFHS Network
Aug. 25, 7 p.m.: Clarkston vs. Davison – NFHS Network
Aug. 26, Noon: Livonia Churchill vs. Plymouth – NFHS Network
Aug. 26, 3:30 p.m.: Port Huron vs. Grand Rapids Catholic Central – NFHS Network
Aug. 26, 7 p.m.: Lapeer vs. Ann Arbor Huron – NFHS Network
Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Kettering University – Atwood Stadium
Aug. 25, 4 p.m.: Grand Blanc vs. Grandville – NFHS Network
Aug. 25, 7:30 p.m.: Flint Kearsley vs. Flint Carman-Ainsworth – NFHS Network
Aug. 26, 4 p.m.: Flint Southwestern vs. Swartz Creek – NFHS Network
Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m.: Flint Beecher vs. Saginaw Nouvel – NFHS Network
The other nearly-200 varsity football games will be viewable on the NFHS Network via the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program. Several girls volleyball and boys soccer matches also are on this week’s schedule; see the link’s below for each sport:
Football | Girls Volleyball | Boys Soccer
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $11.99 per month (or $79.99 annually). Subscribers have access to all live video across the country. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as a portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.
More than 550 MHSAA member schools are participants in the School Broadcast Program, now in its 14th year, producing games using traditional hands-on student crews or via Pixellot cameras installed at stadiums and gymnasiums across the state. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.
Additionally this season, Bally Sports Detroit will be broadcasting a game every week of the regular season followed on Friday nights by the hour-long highlight show “Football Fridays Overtimes powered by State Champs” – see the schedule below, with games for Weeks 6-9 to be released at a later date.
Aug. 25, 4 p.m.: Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice vs. Macomb Dakota at Wayne State
Aug. 25, 7 p.m.: Sterling Heights Stevenson vs. West Bloomfield at Wayne State
Sept. 2, 7 p.m.: Birmingham Groves at Oxford
Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m.: Clarkston at Rochester Adams
Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m.: Detroit Martin Luther King at Detroit Cass Tech
Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m.: Detroit Catholic Central at Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice