8 Re-elected to MHSAA Representative Council
September 28, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Elections were completed recently to fill positions on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s legislative body, its Representative Council, with eight current members receiving re-election.
Saginaw Heritage athletic director Peter Ryan will continue to represent Class A and B schools in the northern section of the Lower Peninsula, and Reese faculty member and past athletic director Dave Derocher will continue to represent the Class C and D schools from their section. Benton Harbor athletic director Fred Smith will continue to represent Class A and B schools from the southwestern section of the Lower Peninsula, and Brighton athletic director John Thompson was re-elected to represent the Class A and B schools from the southeastern section. Calumet athletic director Sean Jacques was re-elected to represent Class C and D schools from the Upper Peninsula.
Steve Newkirk, principal at Clare Middle School, was re-elected as one of two representatives of junior high and middle schools. Scott Grimes, assistant superintendent for Grand Haven Area Public Schools, will continue as one of two at-large statewide representatives. Vic Michaels, director of physical education and athletics for the Archdiocese of Detroit, will continue to represent private and parochial high schools.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee. The Council meets three times annually, and five members of the Council convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools.
Additional elections took place to select representatives to the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee. Houghton athletic director Bruce Horsch was elected to represent Class A and B schools. Michael Berutti, who serves as principal, athletic director and football coach at Iron River West Iron County High School, was re-elected to represent athletic coaches. Baraga faculty member and past athletic director Jeff Markham was re-elected to represent Class D schools.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
Record Girls Tournament Attendance Drives MHSAA Spectatorship Past 1.4 Million Again
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 18, 2024
A record number of spectators at girls postseason events pushed Michigan High School Athletic Association attendance during the 2023-24 school year past 1.4 million fans for the second straight, with the total of 471,651 spectators for girls competitions breaking the previous all-time best set in 2014-15.
Total, MHSAA tournament events drew 1,449,574 spectators at competitions for which admission is charged – just over a half-percent decrease from 2022-23 but still the second highest overall postseason attendance over the last seven years. Attendance at MHSAA boys tournament events during 2023-24 was 1,008,070, a three-percent decrease from the year before. The MHSAA annually tracks attendance for all sports except golf, skiing and tennis, as single tickets are not sold for those sports.
Record spectator turnout for the Softball and Track & Field Tournaments drove the girls overall increase. Softball set an overall tournament record with 49,636 fans, besting the previous record set just the year before by nearly 2,000, and also set an individual-round record with 4,935 fans at Quarterfinals. Track & Field – with girls and boys competing together – drew a record 42,899 spectators overall, and a Regional record of 25,661. Both track totals bested previous records set during the 2020-21 school year.
Several more sports saw attendance increases during 2023-24. Girls basketball overall postseason attendance was up significantly and for the third-straight year, this time to 158,126 fans for a nine-percent increase from 2022-23. The Individual Wrestling Tournament drew 48,237 fans, an eight-percent increase from the previous season, and set records at the District (13,308) and Regional (11,089) levels. Overall attendance for competitive cheer (29,297, up 12 percent), girls lacrosse (5,627, up six percent), boys lacrosse (17,107, up less than one percent) and boys swimming & diving (6,116, up 33 percent) all were up as well from 2022-23.
Competitive cheer’s increase was keyed in part by record attendance at the District level (14,528). Baseball Districts (36,553), Boys Lacrosse Quarterfinals (3,021) and Girls Diving Regionals (879) also set records.
Football remains the most-attended MHSAA Tournament sport and drew 363,563 spectators for its playoff series – a decrease of nearly five percent from the previous year but including the highest attendance during the Semifinal rounds (32,596) since 2012-13. Boys basketball attendance again ranked second at 280,800 fans, down four percent from the previous year but with increases for the Regional and Quarterfinal rounds. Girls basketball remained third for overall attendance and first among girls sports, followed again by volleyball – which drew 113,239 fans, only 313 fewer than the year before as postseason attendance in that sport has seen less than a percentage point change year to year over the last three seasons.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.