Council Adopts Heat Management Policy
March 26, 2013
The adoption of a heat management policy for MHSAA tournaments and a detailed model policy to be submitted to member schools for suggested use during practice and regular-season competition was the main focus of the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its annual Winter Meeting on March 22 in East Lansing.
Heat and humidity management is the next step of the MHSAA’s ongoing focus on health and safety issues in school sports. The model policy, while not setting requirements for member schools, proposes actions based on heat index – the degree of felt discomfort derived by combining temperature and humidity measurements – that are designed to minimize the risk of heat-related illness during interscholastic participation. It will be published as a recommendation for regular-season practice and competition in the 2013-14 MHSAA Handbook, and it will be mandatory for MHSAA tournaments beginning this fall.
Executive director John E. “Jack” Roberts said there are a number of member schools with solid heat management policies in place, but he hopes the adoption of this “best practice” will further raise awareness of the risks of heat-related illness while giving schools – especially those without a protocol – an opportunity to adopt a standardized policy similar to what is in place for other environmental factors such as lightning and tornadoes.
“For the past several years, we’ve used four ‘H’s’ to focus our efforts to improve the health and safety of student-athletes: Heads, Hearts, Heat and health Histories,” Roberts said. “To maintain momentum, we’ve identified several focus areas for the next four years: better acclimatization of athletes, better health and safety preparedness for coaches and modification of practice policies and contest rules to reduce head trauma and the frequency of each sport’s most injurious situations.
“Friday’s action was significant; but it’s just the next step in a continuous series of actions being taken to make school sports as healthy as possible for students.”
The heat management policy states that temperature and humidity readings should be taken at the site of the practice or competition 30 minutes prior to its start and then 60 minutes after it has begun. Recommendations for hydration and levels of activity are suggested for each of four levels of heat index readings.
Key tenets include frequency and length of water breaks, appropriate uniforms based on heat index and mandates on what time of day practices should be conducted and for how long. Practices are suggested to be postponed or moved when the heat index measures 99 to 104 degrees, and all outdoor activity (and indoor if air conditioning is unavailable) is to be stopped if the heat index rises above 104.
The Representative Council also discussed raising expectations for coaches’ education and preparedness for promoting student-athletes’ health and safety. Three proposals are under consideration for Council votes during its next three meetings:
- The first would require all assistant and sub-varsity coaches at the high school level to complete the same MHSAA rules meeting required of varsity head coaches (which includes safety information) or one of the free online sports safety courses posted on or linked to MHSAA.com. This would take effect in 2014-15 and could be voted on at the Council’s May meeting.
- The second proposal would require current CPR certification for all varsity head coaches at the high school level, with AED training a recommended component of the course. This would take effect in 2015-16 and could be voted on at the December meeting.
- The third proposal would require varsity head coaches hired to begin on or after July 1, 2016 to complete Level 1 or 2 of the MHSAA’s Coaches Advancement Program, a six-level educational regimen that aids coaches in their growth and development. This could be voted on at the Council’s March 2014 meeting.
Two sport-related actions also were taken by the Council during last week’s meeting:
- Boys lacrosse: Beginning this season, an official must be a member in good standing of an approved local boys lacrosse officials association in order to be eligible to work MHSAA tournament games. This is in addition to other existing requirements.
- Wrestling: For school years during which there are only 15 Saturdays between the first day of practice and the MHSAA Individual Finals (rather than the traditional 16 Saturdays), the number of days from the beginning of practice until the first competition shall be reduced from 23 to 19. For the 2013-14 season, the earliest day of competition is Dec. 7, instead of Dec. 11 under the previous regulation. There is no reduction in the minimum number of days when practice actually is held prior to the first competition.
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.
- Field Hockey
- Boys Soccer
- Girls Swim & Dive
- Boys Tennis
- Girls Tennis
- Girls Volleyball
- Girls Cross Country
- Boys Cross Country
- Football
- Girls Golf
- MHSAA News
Field Hockey Debut, Tennis Finals Change Among Most Notable as Fall Practices Set to Begin
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 8, 2025
The addition of girls field hockey as a sponsored postseason championship sport and a revised schedule for Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals are the most significant changes to fall sports as practices are set to begin Monday, Aug. 11, for an anticipated 100,000 high school athletes at Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools.
The fall season includes the most played sports for both boys and girls; 36,210 football players and 19,679 girls volleyball players competed during the Fall 2024 season. Teams in those sports will be joined by competitors in girls and boys cross country, field hockey, Lower Peninsula girls golf, boys soccer, Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving, Upper Peninsula girls tennis and Lower Peninsula boys tennis in beginning practice next week. Competition begins Aug. 15 for cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer and tennis, Aug. 20 for swimming & diving and volleyball, and Aug. 28 for varsity football.
Field hockey is one of two sports set to make its debut with MHSAA sponsorship during the 2025-26 school year; boys volleyball will play its first season with MHSAA sponsorship in the spring.
There are 37 varsity teams expected to play during the inaugural field hockey season. There will be one playoff division, with the first MHSAA Regionals in this sport beginning Oct. 8 and the first championship awarded Oct. 25.
To conclude their season, Lower Peninsula boys tennis teams will begin a pilot program showcasing Finals for all four divisions at the same location – Midland Tennis Center – over a two-week period. Division 4 will begin play with its two-day event Oct. 15-16, followed by Division 1 on Oct. 17-18, Division 2 on Oct. 22-23 and Division 3 played Oct. 24-25.
Also in Lower Peninsula boys tennis, and girls in the spring, a Finals qualification change will allow for teams that finish third at their Regionals to advance to the season-ending tournament as well, but only in postseason divisions where there are six Regionals – which will be all four boys divisions this fall.
The 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field will be played this fall over a three-day period, with Division 8, 4, 6 and 2 games on Friday, Nov. 28, and Division 7, 3, 5 and 1 games played Sunday, Nov. 30, to accommodate Michigan State’s game against Maryland on Nov. 29 at Ford Field.
Two more changes affecting football playoffs will be noticeable this fall. For the first time, 8-Player Semifinals will be played at neutral sites; previously the team with the highest playoff-point average continued to host during that round. Also, teams that forfeit games will no longer receive playoff-point average strength-of-schedule bonus points from those opponents to which they forfeited.
A pair of changes in boys soccer this fall will address sportsmanship. The first allows game officials to take action against a team’s head coach in addition to any cautions or ejections issues to players and personnel in that team’s bench area – making the head coach more accountable for behavior on the sideline. The second change allows for only the team captain to speak with an official during the breaks between periods (halftime and during overtime), unless another coach, player, etc., is summoned by the official – with the penalty a yellow card to the offending individual.
A few more game-action rules changes will be quickly noticeable to participants and spectators.
- In volleyball, multiple contacts by one player attempting to play the ball will now be allowed on second contact if the next contact is by a teammate on the same side of the net.
- In swimming & diving, backstroke ledges will be permitted in pools that maintain a 6-foot water depth. If used in competition, identical ledges must be provided by the host team for all lanes, although individual swimmers are not required to use them.
- Also in swimming & diving – during relay exchanges – second, third and fourth swimmers must have one foot stationary at the front edge of the deck. The remainder of their bodies may be in motion prior to the finish of the incoming swimmer.
- In football, when a forward fumble goes out of bounds, the ball will now be spotted where the fumble occurred instead of where the ball crossed the sideline.
The 2025 Fall campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals during the week of Sept. 29 and wrapping up with the 11-Player Football Finals on Nov. 28 and 30. Here is a complete list of fall tournament dates:
Cross Country
U.P. Finals – Oct. 18
L.P. Regionals – Oct. 24 or 25
L.P. Finals – Nov. 1
Field Hockey
Regionals – Oct. 8-21
Semifinals – Oct. 22 or 23
Final – Oct. 25
11-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 26
District Semifinals – Oct. 31 or Nov. 1
District Finals – Nov. 7 or 8
Regional Finals – Nov. 14 or 15
Semifinals – Nov. 22
Finals – Nov. 28 and 30
8-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 26
Regional Semifinals – Oct. 31 or Nov. 1
Regional Finals – Nov. 7 or 8
Semifinals – Nov. 15
Finals – Nov. 22
L.P. Girls Golf
Regionals – Oct. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11
Finals – Oct. 17-18
Boys Soccer
Districts – Oct. 8-18
Regionals – Oct. 21-25
Semifinals – Oct. 29
Finals – Nov. 1
L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving
Diving Regionals – Nov. 13
Swimming/Diving Finals – Nov. 21-22
Tennis
U.P. Girls Finals – Oct. 1, 2, 3, or 4
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 8, 9, 10, or 11
L.P. Boys Finals – Oct. 15-16 (Division 4), Oct. 17-18 (Division 1), Oct 22-23 (Division 2), and Oct. 24-25 (Division 3)
Girls Volleyball
Districts – Nov. 3-8
Regionals – Nov. 11 & 13
Quarterfinals – Nov. 18
Semifinals – Nov. 20-21
Finals – Nov. 22
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.