
Flynn, Guzzo & Thayer Named 2021 Bush Award Recipients
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 18, 2021
Birmingham Groves’ Thomas Flynn, St. Joseph’s Kevin Guzzo and Bay City Western’s Michael Thayer are leaders of Michigan high school athletic programs who have put education and providing a positive student experience at the forefront of their work, while also becoming known among colleagues for their guidance and assistance to others striving to build the same foundations at their schools.
To recognize not only their work within their districts but their impacts on many other leaders in athletic administration, Flynn, Guzzo and Thayer have been named recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Allen W. Bush Award for 2021.
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 without a lot of attention. This is the 30th year of the award, with selections made by the MHSAA's Representative Council.
Flynn has begun his 21st year as Birmingham Groves High School athletic director and 32nd overall at the school after beginning as a teacher. He has served as a host of MHSAA Tournament events in team and individual wrestling, girls and boys diving, girls and boys tennis, girls and boys basketball, baseball and softball, football, ice hockey, volleyball and girls and boys soccer. Flynn also has served on MHSAA Committees for wrestling, gymnastics, swimming & diving, tennis and various officials topics. He made Groves the home of all Metro Detroit Officials Association meetings and has received recognition for his service to the Oakland County Wrestling Officials Association.
Flynn has served as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer for the Oakland County Athletic Directors Association, and as the Region 11 representative for the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). A certified athletic trainer, he also is a longtime member of the National Athletic Trainers Association. The MIAAA named Flynn a Regional Athletic Director of the Year in 2012.
He graduated from Hillsdale High School in 1984, then earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with an emphasis on sports medicine from Grand Valley State University in 1990. He received a master’s in sports administration from Wayne State University. Flynn also has served on the Birmingham Bloomfield Community Coalition.
“Tom is a guy who is willing to do anything to assist the MHSAA. He’s hosted an Individual Wrestling District for 20-plus years, and that’s far-and-away the most difficult event to host – and he wants to do it every year,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “Tom is not afraid to do the dirty work, but he’s also not afraid to speak up, and that’s something I’ve always admired and appreciated about him.”
Guzzo has begun his 26th year with St. Joseph Public Schools and 18th as athletic director after previously serving as a coach and teacher. He earned his elite certification in the MHSAA Coaches Advancement Program in 2014 and has served as a CAP instructor and as an instructor for the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) Leadership Training Institute. He also has served as chairperson representing the MIAAA on the Five State Exchange Committee. A frequent contributor as well to MHSAA Committees for sports, officials, classification and site selection, Guzzo recently contributed as part of the MHSAA Multi-Sport Task Force.
He received his certified athletic administrator (CAA) designation from the NIAAA in 2007 and was named an MIAAA Regional Athletic Director of the Year in 2015.
Guzzo graduated from Bessemer High School in 1991, then earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics at Western Michigan University in 1995 and master’s in math education from WMU in 2001. He has been active in the St. Joseph Lions Club, First Tee of Benton Harbor and the local Senior PGA Tournament Committee.
“Kevin has become a real leader in the southwestern corner of the state, and in many rooms has grown into a veteran voice of reason on many topics and issues,” Uyl said. “He’s taken what he’s learned over the years and incorporated it into his teaching as a Coaches Advancement Program instructor, and we are thrilled that we have many beginning coaches who one of their first mentors is a person like Kevin through CAP.”
Thayer has begun his 25th year as an athletic director and also serves as an assistant principal at Western. He served at Merrill Community Schools from 1995-2007 before arriving at Western with the start of the 2007-08 school year. He also is a frequent MHSAA Tournament host and has been a valued voice on a variety of MHSAA Committees, including the Multi-Sport Task Force and selection committee for the MHSAA-Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards. Additionally, he has served as the MIAAA’s historical records chairperson and as part of its public relations committee.
He is active with the NIAAA and Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) and National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). He was selected for a Regional Athletic Director of the Year Award by the MIAAA in 2017, and also that year received the MIAAA’s George Lovich State Award of Merit.
Thayer graduated from Muskegon Orchard View High School in 1986, then earned his bachelor’s degree in business teaching from Central Michigan University in 1990 and master’s in educational administration/school principalship from CMU in 2003. He also is a CAP elite-certification graduate. He has served as a trustee for Thomas Township – with membership in the Michigan Township Association – and been active in the Shields Lions Club.
“Mike has been one of the true leaders of the Saginaw Valley League for a long time, and he’s really become the point guard of that league over the last five years,” Uyl said. “If ever someone should be defined for quiet, steady leadership, it’s Mike Thayer. It’s always about substance with Mike. He’s as reliable an athletic director as there is in the country.”

MHSAA Member High Schools Report Highest Participation Since 2018-19
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 17, 2025
MHSAA member high schools reported a combined participation of 275,684 athletes in MHSAA-sponsored tournament sports during the 2024-25 school year – the highest number of participants in those activities since 2018-19 and despite another decrease in combined enrollment across those 754 schools.
This past year’s participation total was 5,020 students – or 1.9 percent – higher than in 2023-24, while enrollment at member schools fell by 1.3 percent. Boys participation was up 1.9 percent to 161,329 – also its highest since 2018-19 – and girls participation was up 1.8 percent to 114,355, its highest count since 2019-20. MHSAA participation totals count students once for each sport in which they participate, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
Two sports set participation records during 2024-25. Boys track & field counted 24,759 participants – a 3.7 percent increase from a year ago in breaking its previous record from 2005-06. Girls lacrosse participation was up 0.9 percent from last year to 3,970 participants in setting a record for the second-straight season.
Another 15 sports saw participation increases this past school year. Girls tennis saw an increase of 6.4 percent to 9,485 athletes, followed by boys and girls wrestling’s combined increase of 5.2 percent to 12,422 participants – with boys wrestling participation up 3 percent and girls up an incredible 24 percent to 1,505 athletes. Girls track & field (18,108 athletes) and boys cross country (8,209) also saw some of the largest jumps at 4.5 and 4.1 percent, respectively.
Also reporting increased participation during 2024-25 were boys tennis (3.7 percent, 6,163 total athletes), football (3 percent, 36,210), girls volleyball (2.9 percent, 19,679), boys golf (2.7 percent, 7,416), girls competitive cheer (2.4 percent, 6,319), boys basketball (1.7 percent, 20,541), girls cross country (1.4 percent, 6,826), boys soccer (1.1 percent, 14,112), boys bowling (1 percent, 4,333), boys swimming & diving (0.9 percent, 4,073), and girls soccer (0.7 percent, 11,090).
Although 11 sports saw participation decreases during 2024-25 from the previous school year, those for girls basketball (-0.4 percent) and boys ice hockey (-0.7 percent) were lower than the 1.3-percent enrollment decline at MHSAA member schools.
Football remains the most popular sport in terms of participation at MHSAA member high schools, with that total of 36,210 athletes its highest since 2017-18. Girls volleyball remained the most popular girls sport in 2024-25, with its 19,679 athletes the highest total since 2012-13.
The participation figures are gathered annually from MHSAA member schools to submit to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) for compiling of its national participation survey. Results of Michigan surveys from the 2000-01 school year to present may be viewed the "Sports Participation Listing" page.
The following chart shows participation figures for the 2024-25 school year from MHSAA member schools for sports in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament:
|
BOYS |
|
GIRLS |
|
Sport |
Schools (A) |
Participants |
Schools (A) |
Participants (B) |
Baseball |
650/9 |
16,044 |
- |
-/13 |
Basketball |
741/2 |
20,536 |
689 |
13,063/5 |
Bowling |
408/12 |
4,312 |
380 |
2,689/21 |
Competitive Cheer |
- |
- |
335 |
6,319 |
Cross Country |
658/3 |
8,205 |
626 |
6,826/4 |
Football - 11 player |
522/65 |
33,427 |
- |
-/79 |
8-player |
132/12 |
2,692 |
- |
-/12 |
Golf |
535/46 |
7,333 |
390 |
3,970/83 |
Gymnastics |
- |
- |
86 |
497 |
Ice Hockey |
285/12 |
3,092 |
- |
-/15 |
Lacrosse |
173/11 |
5,023 |
134 |
3,194/15 |
Skiing |
106 |
762 |
111 |
727 |
Soccer |
485/13 |
14,063 |
470 |
11,909/49 |
Softball |
- |
- |
616 |
11,368 |
Swimming & Diving |
266/17 |
4,031 |
276 |
4,648/42 |
Tennis |
288/15 |
6,133 |
328 |
9,485/30 |
Track & Field |
685 |
24,759 |
677 |
18,108 |
Volleyball |
- |
- |
731 |
19,679 |
Wrestling |
503 |
10,917 |
379 |
1,505 |
(A) The first number is the number of schools reporting sponsorship on the Sports Participation Survey, including primary and secondary schools in cooperative programs as of May 15, 2025. The second number indicates the number of schools that had girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys.
(B) The second number indicates the number of additional girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys and entered in boys competition.
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.