Girls Events Set Attendance Record
September 17, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Michigan High School Athletic Association girls postseason events enjoyed record attendance for the second straight school year in 2014-15 as nearly 1.4 million fans total took in tournament events for which attendance is recorded.
Total attendance for 2014-15 was 1,389,209 fans, with 926,099 at boys tournaments and 463,110 spectators at girls events. Attendance is kept for all sports except golf, skiing and tennis, for which admission typically is not charged.
That total was down 31,518 fans, or 2.2 percent, from 2013-14. But that decrease was due mostly to a 20 percent drop in football attendance stemming from an uncharacteristically cold and snowy weekend for Pre-District games, and despite a slight uptick in MHSAA Finals attendance (53,494) in the sport for the second straight season to its highest total since 2011.
Attendance for Pre-District football games was down 45,663 fans (33 percent) from the same round of the 2013 Playoffs – although that one-weekend deficit was made up partially by an increase of 28,550 fans (6.6 percent) at girls events over the previous school year.
Two girls sports – competitive cheer and volleyball – plus the combined girls and boys bowling tournament set attendance records during 2014-15. Volleyball set a an overall attendance record for the second straight season, with 110,931 fans, and also set records at the MHSAA District and Regional levels. Cheer set records at the District and Finals levels and overall with 31,284 fans for the tournament – an increase of 20 percent over the 2013-14 season. Bowling set an overall attendance record for the fourth straight season, this time with 13,298 fans.
A number of other sports continued promising trends. The Baseball and Softball Finals, which showed a 29-percent increase from the previous year after moving to Michigan State University in 2014, experienced another boost this spring. The Girls Soccer Finals also moved to MSU, which attracted more fans total to the site that weekend; however, the combined attendance for Baseball, Softball and Girls Soccer Finals (16,310 fans) this spring was 29 percent higher than the 2014 combined total when girls soccer championship games were played at two other sites.
Baseball and Softball Regionals experienced their highest turnouts since the 1995 season, with baseball setting a record for that round with 12,297 fans. Girls Soccer Regionals also set a record with 11,228 in attendance. All three sports saw overall postseason attendance increases from the spring 2014 to 2015 seasons.
Both girls and boys basketball also enjoyed postseason attendance increases for the 2014-15 season; girls basketball had its most fans (171,665) since 2005-06, while the boys (320,908) welcomed the most since 2011-12. Boys soccer postseason games attracted 34,795 fans, up 20 percent from 2013 and the most since the 2008 season, and wrestling experienced upticks at both championship levels – the Team Finals attendance of 29,564 was the highest since 2011, and the Individual Finals total of 49,215 was that event’s highest since 2012. Boys swimming and diving and the combined track and field tournaments also enjoyed increased tournament attendance from the previous school year.
Representative Council Approves Field Hockey Framework, Adds to Ice Hockey Schedule
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 21, 2025
The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association approved a series of proposals during its Winter Meeting on March 21 in East Lansing that lay the groundwork for the inaugural MHSAA-sponsored girls field hockey season that will be played this fall.
The Council approved four proposals put forth by the Field Hockey Committee, including one that set the first practice date for this upcoming season as Aug. 11, 2025, with the first contest date Aug. 15 and the first MHSAA Final to be played Oct. 25. Another approved proposal implements MHSAA Handbook regulations setting contest limits for teams at 18 dates and four scrimmages, introducing the fifth-quarter rule and creating guidelines for multi-team tournaments and cooperative programs.
The Council also approved a proposal for a single-division MHSAA Girls Field Hockey Tournament with four Regionals. The Michigan Power Ratings formula will be used to identify the top four teams statewide during the regular season, and those teams will receive top seeds and be placed one apiece in each Regional, with the rest of the Regional assignments then based on geography.
The final Field Hockey Committee proposal approved by the Council adopted overtime procedures for MHSAA Tournament play – 6-on-6 with goalies and 1-on-1 with an attacking player and a goalie – that will be optional for regular-season bracketed tournament play.
Two more Council actions will affect scheduling for the 2025-26 winter season.
In ice hockey, the Council voted to increase the number of regular-season games allowed to 27 with one scrimmage, approving an Ice Hockey Committee proposal that requested the addition of two contests.
To alleviate a Finals facility issue for competitive cheer, the Council approved a Competitive Cheer Committee proposal that adjusts the season calendar for the 2025-26 season only and places the MHSAA championship meets one week later. The first competitive cheer practice date will be Nov. 10, 2025, the first contest date Nov. 24, with Districts now scheduled for Feb. 20-21, 2026; Regionals for Feb. 28 and Finals for March 6-7 at McGuirk Arena at Central Michigan University. CMU has hosted the MHSAA Competitive Cheer Finals the last three seasons, but is scheduled to host the 2026 Mid-American Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships during the MHSAA’s previously scheduled Competitive Cheer Finals dates.
Dates for the 2026-27 and future competitive cheer seasons will return to their previously-approved schedule, with Finals to be held during the last Saturday (and previous day Friday) in February.
The Council also voted to make permanent the “AD Connection Program” that has been piloted the last two school years and matches first-year high school athletic directors with recently-retired mentors, who provide assistance to those new administrators as they transition into athletic administrator roles. The program connected 248 first-year athletic directors with mentors during its pilot period.
The Representative Council is the 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 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.