Council Approves Tennis Finals Pilot Program, Girls Wrestling Titles at Districts, Regionals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 8, 2025
The approval of a pilot program assigning all four Lower Peninsula Tennis Finals to be played at one site and the addition of girls wrestling team championships for District and Regional rounds were among actions taken by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its Spring Meeting, May 4-5 in Gaylord.
The Spring Meeting of the 19-member legislative body of the Association’s more than 1,500 member schools is generally the busiest of its sessions each year. The Council considered 22 committee proposals and dealt with a variety of eligibility rule, postseason tournament and operational issues.
The tennis pilot program was an MHSAA Tennis Committee recommendation and will be conducted during the 2025-26 and 2026-27 schools years. All four Lower Peninsula Finals for girls and boys seasons will be played at the Midland Tennis Center, which in addition to substantial outdoor courts includes up to 16 available indoor courts in case matches must be played inside due to inclement weather. Each season’s four Finals will take place over two successive days during a two-week period – one division on a Wednesday and Thursday and the next on a Friday and Saturday, to be repeated the following week.
In girls wrestling, District and Regional team champions will be awarded during the upcoming 2025-26 season for the first time, after a Finals champion was awarded for the first time this past season. Champions for all rounds will be determined by results from individual brackets as the sport continues to grow toward the possibility of a head-to-head team tournament.
A pair of football changes will be noticeable this fall. The Council approved a Football Committee recommendation to not award playoff points to a team that forfeits a football game; previously, a team that forfeited would still receive the bonus points for scheduling that opponent, although a game was never played. The Council also approved a Football Committee recommendation to assign neutral sites with artificial turf for the four 8-Player Semifinals near the end of each season. Previously that round of the MHSAA Playoffs, like the first two of the 8-Player Tournament, was hosted by the participating team with the highest playoff-point average.
Anticipating the first MHSAA-sponsored boys volleyball season to be played in Spring 2026, the Council approved a pair of Volleyball Committee recommendations regarding tournament classification and structure. The first establishes a tournament with two divisions, with classification determined by enrollment and delayed until September prior to this inaugural season only as to allow for a more accurate count of how many schools will have teams. The first MHSAA Boys Volleyball Semifinals and Finals will be played June 5-6, 2026, at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.
The Council also approved the recommendation to include boys volleyball among sports for which cooperatives are permitted when the combined enrollment of schools involved is fewer than 3,500 students.
Here is a summary of other notable actions taken by the Representative Council at the Spring Meeting, which will take effect during the 2025-26 school year:
Regulations
• The Council approved a pair of changes to the sport-specific transfer regulation regarding the full-and-complete residential move exception that allows students to gain immediate eligibility. The first increases the number of school days to 180 that a student who has changed residences and attends a new school must complete at that new school before returning to a previous school district and potentially having athletic eligibility in that former district. The 180 days also applies to all persons with whom the student moved to the new school district; if those other persons move back to the former school district before 180 school days, the student loses eligibility in all sports at all schools until approved by the two school districts and the MHSAA.
The second change increased the amount of time an athlete’s former residence must be signed into a long-term rental or lease agreement to a minimum of 12 months.
• The Council approved multiple clarifications to the definition of a scrimmage. A clarification was added to note that win-loss records, team and individual statistics and records may not be accrued or achieved during a scrimmage. A statement was added as well explaining that in sports that do not use a timing device – for example, baseball and softball – at least one rule must be altered to indicate it is a scrimmage.
Junior High/Middle School
• The Council approved a change to allow junior high/middle school teams to begin fall practice on the first day of classes at that school if it’s before the otherwise first allowable practice date on the 14th Monday before Thanksgiving. Ninth-grade football teams from junior high/middle schools may begin practice on the same date as the grade 10-12 football teams of that school district if the ninth-grade team is comprised only of ninth-grade students who have been approved for eligibility advancement.
• Also concerning junior high/middle school athletes, the Council approved a Junior High/Middle School Committee recommendation to make seventh and eighth-grade students who are eligible for high school competition due to their high school’s small enrollments also subject to high school transfer rules while in middle school and competing at the high school level.
Sport Matters
• BASEBALL: The Council approved a Baseball Committee recommendation to allow baseball players to play on multiple levels on the same day, with the 38-game season and daily limits still applying to all students.
• BOWLING: The Council approved a Bowling Committee recommendation to establish the official start of bowling practice as the third Monday before Thanksgiving.
The Council also approved a Bowling Committee recommendation to allow students to participate in no more than eight games on a school day (Monday-Thursday).
• COMPETITIVE CHEER: The Council approved the incorporation of a series of Competitive Cheer Committee-proposed technical high school and middle school rules recommendations into the 2024-26 Girls Competitive Cheer manual.
• GOLF: The Council approved a Golf Committee recommendation to allow Regional Tournament host schools to receive reimbursement for the expense of two referees.
• TENNIS: The Council approved two more Tennis Committee recommendations. The first will allow for all teams that tie for third place at their Regional to advance to Finals, but only in Lower Peninsula divisions where there are six Regionals.
The other approved change will allow continuous coaching between points and between non-changeover games, at all levels, if that coaching does not hinder the current pace of play.
• VOLLEYBALL: The Council also approved a Volleyball Committee recommendation to allow students to play in no more than 18 sets (games) per day.
The Council also reviewed reports on membership, with 754 senior high schools and 777 junior high/middle schools in 2024-25 plus 63 elementary schools with 6th-grader participation; cooperative programs, with 409 high school programs for 750 teams during 2024-25; eligibility advancement applications, which totaled four; the use of Educational Transfer Forms, of which there were 142; travel forms for out-of-state practice, school violations, attendance at athletic director in-service workshops and Coaches Advancement Program sessions; officials’ registrations (which were up nearly two percent from 2023-24 as the total rose for the fourth-consecutive school year), and officials reports submitted for the past three sports seasons. The Association’s $15.7 million budget for the 2025-26 school year also was approved.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five 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 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.
Rep Council Wrap-Up: Spring 2017
May 18, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The adoption of a change in how basketball and volleyball teams will be classified for Michigan High School Athletic Association tournaments was among notable actions taken by the Representative Council during its annual Spring Meeting, May 7-8, in Glen Arbor, in addition to MHSAA Finals site changes announced in a previous release May 9.
The Spring Meeting of the 19-member legislative body of the Association’s more than 1,400 member schools is generally the busiest of its three sessions each year. The Council considered 29 committee proposals and dealt with a variety of eligibility rule, postseason tournament and operational issues.
The tournaments in girls and boys basketball, and volleyball – the last to be organized based on traditional Class (A-B-C-D) enrollment breaks – instead will be conducted using equal divisions (1-2-3-4) beginning with the 2018-19 school year. The Council approved this change in response to a proposal by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan; Michigan’s interscholastic volleyball community also has expressed openness to equal divisions in the past. All other MHSAA tournaments, except for football, are conducted using equal divisions based on enrollment and determined prior to the school year. Football is the only sport requiring teams to qualify for postseason play, and its equal divisions are not determined until after the regular season ends.
After previously approving the addition of a second division to the 8-Player Football Playoffs for 2017-18 at its Winter Meeting, the Council approved the selection of the field after the ninth week of the regular season and based on playoff point average. The 32 teams with highest playoff point averages will be listed by enrollment, with the largest 16 placed in Division 1 and the smallest 16 in Division 2 of the 8-Player tournament.
Also concerning tournament setup, the Council chose to not adopt a Basketball Committee proposal that would have seeded both the girls and boys tournaments at the District and Regional levels. Instead, the Council instructed staff to examine seeding options for the District level only, to be presented at Council meetings during the 2017-18 school year.
Continuing a focus on athletes’ health and safety, and in the case of football reducing the number of collisions experienced by players, the Council approved a Football Committee recommendation that, after the first game of the regular season, limits teams to no more than 90 total minutes of collision practice in any week. Similar to the previous rule limiting teams to two days of collision contact per week after the first game, blocking and tackling techniques are allowed by the new rule – but full-speed contact is limited to players versus pads, shields, sleds or dummies. Players may continue to wear helmets and other protective pads for non-collision practice sessions.
Here is a summary of other actions taken by the Representative Council at the Spring Meeting, which will take effect during the 2017-18 school year unless noted:
Sport Matters
• In competitive cheer, the Council approved a committee recommendation to allow forward/backward suspended rolls, in a double-braced pyramid, to be transitioned directly to a stunt. Those rolls are allowed to a cradle, sponge or stunt, but not the cheering surface.
• In football, the Council approved two recommendations, one by committee and one by staff, regarding the later rounds of the playoffs. For Semifinals and Finals, the home team and visitor will be determined by playoff point average instead of the previous Regional advancement. In addition, the Council also voted to allow 11-player Semifinals to be played either Friday night or Saturday, as opposed to only on Saturday.
• In golf, the Council approved a committee recommendation requiring a Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) rules official be present at each Lower Peninsula girls and boys Regional tournament to assist with rules issues and challenges.
• For hockey, the Council approved a recommendation that allows a 23rd active player to be dressed in uniform if that player is a goaltender. Previously, only 22 active players could dress and sit on the bench.
• Also for hockey, the Council approved a committee recommendation to add an MHSAA adaptation to a National Federation rule mandating helmets be worn by players and officials at all times on the ice, except while standing for the national anthem. The MHSAA adaptation adds postgame award ceremonies as another exception allowing helmets to be removed.
• In lacrosse, both boys and girls, the Council approved a recommendation from both sports’ committees to allow for multi-team tournaments on days not followed by school days (generally Fridays); currently they are allowed only on non-school days.
• In soccer, a committee recommendation was adopted eliminating overtime periods and shootouts during the regular season. Leagues and conferences will be allowed an overtime option for their end-of-season bracketed tournaments, but overtime in those cases must not exceed two 10-minute periods plus a shootout. Multi-team regular-season tournaments also may receive waivers to employ a shootout if it is used to determine the winner of a game.
• A swimming & diving committee recommendation was approved that reduces the number of regular-season wins required by a diver from five to four for that diver to qualify for the Diving Qualification Meet. A diver also may qualify for the Diving Qualification Meet if he or she places ahead of all divers from opposing schools in varsity competition in at least four meets, even if he or she does not finish ahead of his or her teammates.
• In tennis, the Council approved to adjust the limited team membership rule as it applies to tennis to go into effect on the first allowable date of competition for any student, as opposed to the current first day of allowable practice.
• In girls volleyball, a committee recommendation was approved allowing graduating 12th-grade athletes with no remaining interscholastic eligibility in any sport to wear school uniforms in one all-star game sponsored and conducted during the summer by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association, effective immediately.
• The Council approved two Wrestling Committee recommendations. The first changes the Team Regional hosting format so that a host will be selected from the four qualifying teams based on a yearly rotation among those Districts.
• The Council also approved a recommendation to revise the Weigh-In Form/Process to include a section for inspection, where all participating wrestlers would be subject to inspection by officials.
Junior High/Middle Schools
• The Council approved a Junior High/Middle School Committee recommendation urging each MHSAA sport committee to consider opportunities to add more games and dates to middle school schedules while not extending the length of the 13-week season for those sports. This likely would include expanding the number of multi-game events (all games played on the same day and on a day not followed by a day of school) from two to four events.
• For both girls and boys junior high/middle school lacrosse, the Council approved committee recommendations to increase the number of multi-team tournaments allowed. Both will be allowed four multi-team tournaments. One-day multi-team tournaments in both boys and girls lacrosse will be counted as one competition date. Also approved for boys junior high/middle school lacrosse were committee proposals upping the number of maximum game dates from 12 to 15 over the same 13-week season, and an increase in running time minutes during multi-team events from 150 to 160 minutes to allow for four games with 20-minute running-time halves.
The Council also reviewed reports on membership, with 750 senior high schools and 740 junior high/middle schools in 2016-17 plus 24 elementary schools with 6th-grader participation; eligibility advancement applications, which totaled five for the second straight school year; the use of Educational Transfer Forms, which fell 13 percent this year; school violations, attendance at athletic director in-service workshops and Coaches Advancement Program sessions, officials’ registrations, rules meetings attendance and officials reports submitted for the past three sports seasons. The Association’s $11.1 million budget for the 2017-18 school year also was approved.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five 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 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.