43 Percent of Athletes are Multi-Sport
August 19, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Nearly 43 percent of athletes at MHSAA member high schools continued to participate in two or more sports in 2018-19, according to the Multi-Sport Participation Survey, reinforcing similar data collected for the first time two years ago and providing a foundation for work by the MHSAA’s Multi-Sport Task Force as it prepares to continue efforts this fall to promote the multi-sport high school experience.
Early and intense sport specialization has become one of the most serious issues related to health and safety at all levels of youth sports, as overuse injuries and burnout among athletes have been tied to chronic injuries and health-related problems later in life. In early 2016, the MHSAA appointed the Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation as part of a continued effort to promote and protect participant health and address the issues leading to early sport specialization.
The multi-sport participation survey was created in 2018 to provide data on the prevalence of sport specialization at MHSAA member high schools. This year’s survey received responses from 82.9 percent of member high schools and measured how multi-sport participation exists at schools. The collection of survey results annually is expected to show how schools are succeeding in promoting a multi-sport high school experience, providing another tool as schools work to guide students toward a well-rounded interscholastic sports career.
From schools that responded to this year’s survey, 42.9 percent of students participated in athletics in 2018-19 – 46.3 percent of boys and 39.5 percent of girls. The overall participation number was up nearly half a percent from 2017-18 (42.5), with the boys percentage holding steady and the girls increasing nearly a full percent from a year ago. Class D schools – those with the smallest enrollments – again enjoyed the highest percentage of athletes among the entire student body, at 57.1 percent, followed by Class C (50.7), Class B (45.8) and Class A (39.4).
Of those athletes counted by responding schools, 43 percent participated in more than one sport – including 45.1 percent of boys and 40.4 percent of girls – with all three of those percentages nearly identical to those derived from the first survey a year ago. Class D again enjoyed the highest percentage of multi-sport athletes, 61.8 percent, followed by Class C (56.7), Class B (48.7) and Class A (35.4).
Similar results for overall sport participation and multi-sport participation relative to enrollment size were seen by further breaking down Class A into schools of fewer than 1,000 students, 1,000-1,500 students, 1,501-2,000 students and more than 2,000 students. Similarly to 2017-18 for both sport participation as a whole and multi-sport participation specifically, the smallest Class A schools continued to enjoy the highest percentages, while percentages then decreased for every larger size group of schools.
Also of note, the percentage of two-sport athletes at every school measure around one-third of athletes – from 29.2 percent at Class A schools to 35.7 at Class B, 37.2 at Class C and 35.6 at Class D. However the number of athletes participating in three sports decreased substantially relative to the increase in school enrollment, with 22.5 percent of Class D athletes playing three sports, 18.2 in Class C, 12.4 in Class B and 6.0 percent in Class A.
The MHSAA Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation will be meeting this fall to discuss creating a program to measure multi-sport participation at MHSAA member schools and to recognize “achievers” – that is, schools that surpass the norm given their enrollment and other factors that affect school sports participation.
For 2018-19, in Class A, Marquette posted the highest percentage of multi-sport athletes with 85.9 percent, up 3.3 percent from its top-ranking Class A percentage from 2017-18. Grand Rapids Northview also topped 80 percent multi-sport participation, with 83.1 percent of its athletes playing two or more sports. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Detroit East English and Gibraltar Carlson all saw multi-sport participation from at least 70 percent of their athletes.
In Class B, four schools again achieved at least 80 percent multi-sport participation – Coloma (87.2 percent), Gladstone (86.7), Flat Rock (83.2) and Dundee (80.2), while 10 schools had 70 percent or more athletes playing at least two sports.
Six Class C schools reported more than 80 percent of its athletes taking part in more than one sport – Schoolcraft (87.1), Mayville (86.2), Manton (85.3), Houghton Lake (84.9), Cass City (84.7) and Decatur (83.5) – and 12 schools total with 75 percent or more athletes participating in multiple sports. There were 14 Class D schools with multi-sport participation at 80.9 percent or higher, with Gaylord St. Mary (93.2), Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes (91.5) and Watersmeet (90.3) topping the survey not just for Class D but among all schools that responded.
The full summary report on the Multi-Sport Participation Survey is available on the “Health & Safety” page of the MHSAA Website.
Detroit PSL’s McEvans, Comstock’s Ansel & KLAA’s Masi Named 2024 Bush Award Recipients
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 23, 2024
Detroit Public School League assistant director Anika McEvans, Comstock Public Schools athletic director Justin Ansel and Kensington Lakes Activities Association commissioner Bryan Masi all have served educational athletics for multiple decades in high-profile positions – but as is common in those roles, with much of their difference-making work taking place behind the scenes.
To recognize their efforts and celebrate those vast contributions to school sports, they have been named the 2024 recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Allen W. Bush Award.
Al Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to school athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to people who are giving and serving locally, regionally or statewide without a lot of attention. This is the 33rd year of the award.
McEvans finished her fifth school year this spring serving in the Office of Athletics for the Detroit Public Schools Community District, which administers programs for the Detroit PSL. She is responsible for planning and implementation of the PSL’s sports offerings for 72 elementary and middle schools in addition to her several responsibilities supporting the league’s 20 high schools.
The 1994 Detroit Renaissance graduate, and three-sport athlete there, came to the PSL from Southfield Public Schools, where she served as athletic director from 2012-15 for the former Southfield High School and then as district athletic director through 2017-18. As district director, she supervised more than 100 coaches, staff and volunteers and assisted in the merger of Southfield High and Southfield-Lathrup into Southfield Arts & Technology High School for the start of the 2016-17 school year. She previously served as well in several roles at Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences from 2006-12, and also as director of business operations and then general manager for the Detroit Demolition/Detroit Danger women’s professional football franchise from 2002-06 and as assistant general manager for the Motor City Mechanics minor league hockey team from 2004-06.
McEvans has provided valuable input on a variety of MHSAA committees over the last decade, including athletic equity, junior high/middle school, scholar-athlete and as part of multiple officials and site selection committees and as a key voice on the MHSAA Multi-Sport Task Force during the last half of the last decade. The mother of three – with two current college athletes and a college freshman-to-be – also served as head girls basketball coach at Academy of Arts & Sciences, assistant girls basketball coach at Southfield and assistant boys basketball coach and assistant softball coach at Renaissance. She has a bachelor’s degree in sports management & communication from University of Michigan and a master’s in business administration from University of Detroit Mercy.
“Anika McEvans has provided a valuable voice in a variety of subjects of statewide importance, but especially on topics impacting students as they transition from middle school to high school – relying not only on her experiences as an administrator, but also as a parent helping her children navigate their paths in athletics,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “Her work on the Junior High/Middle School Committee and Multi-Sport Task Force directly led to the creation of more opportunities for our younger athletes, but with a continuing focus on providing them with a well-rounded athletic experience.”
Ansel has served the last 17 years as athletic director for Comstock Public Schools, and during his time in the district also has coached varsity girls basketball and boys soccer and middle school girls and boys basketball, soccer and cross country. Both of his Colts varsity programs won multiple league championships under his guidance. Ansel came to Comstock after a decade at Onaway, where he taught and coached all 10 years and also served as athletic director over the final five.
His vast experiences on the sidelines and in the athletic office have made Ansel a valuable contributor on several MHSAA committees as well, including most recently the Junior High/Middle School Committee, and he’s also served as Southwest 10 Conference president and in multiple leadership roles with the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). Locally, Ansel has raised from than $60,000 for various projects at Comstock, several highlighting the school’s athletic history.
A Monroe High graduate, Ansel earned a bachelor’s degree from Spring Arbor University in 1997, master’s degrees in education from Marygrove College in 2003 and educational leadership from Grand Valley State University in 2005, and he completed GVSU’s educational specialist in leadership program in 2018. He also has earned his certified master athletic administrator designation from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) and completed the master elite level of the MHSAA Coaches Advancement Program (CAP). Ansel was nominated by the MIAAA for the NIAAA’s Jim Teff Professional Development Achievement Award in 2019, and he was named the MIAAA’s Region 4 Athletic Director of the Year in 2023.
“Justin Ansel is known in his community, league and by those who have served with him across the state for his hands-on approach to providing enriching experiences for the communities he serves,” Uyl said. “His style as an administrator reflects what he’s provided as a coach – he’s known as an insightful team builder always working to move his programs forward.”
Masi just completed his fourth year as commissioner of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, which is made up of 16 of the largest suburban schools in Metro Detroit, with his responsibilities including serving as liaison for the league locally and at the state level. He also previously served as the KLAA’s football commissioner from the league’s start in 2008.
He previously served as athletic director at Northville for 17 years, where he created the Northville Athletic Community Service Initiative that has raised thousands of dollars and provided goods and services for needy individuals and community service groups. He also started Northville’s unified sports program and hosted one of the MHSAA’s first junior high/middle school cross country Regional meets during the pilot stage of that program. Northville also hosted several MHSAA postseason events and sessions of the Coaches Advancement Program under his leadership.
A teacher previously and longtime coach as well, Masi was named Michigan Secondary Teacher of the Year in 1997 by the Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (MAPHERD) and selected to coach in the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association East/West All-Star Game in 1998. He was named MIAAA Region 11 Athletic Director of the Year in 2013 and MIAAA Middle School Athletic Director of the Year in 2019, and inducted into the Northville Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021. Masi also has served on several MHSAA committees including for football, gymnastics and junior high/middle school sports.
Masi graduated from Dearborn Edsel Ford, then earned his bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University, his master’s from Wayne State University and his certified athletic administrator (CAA) designation.
“Bryan Masi has brought the leadership, perspective and ingenuity he employed to build Northville’s success to the KLAA, and those qualities continue to show as he leads one of the state’s most high-profile leagues,” Uyl said. “Bryan is admired and respected by his counterparts, locally and across the state, not only for how he leads but the values he promotes in doing so.”