MHSAA Remembers Late Director Bush
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 11, 2013
Allen W. Bush was a military man and had a military way about him.
And those traits no doubt were invaluable as the former U.S. Marine became a respected national voice during arguably the most transformative era in high school athletics.
Bush, who served as Executive Director the Michigan High School Athletic Association from the fall of 1968 through the summer of 1978, died Monday in Traverse City. He was 90.
Bush oversaw some of the most significant developments in MHSAA history, chiefly the addition of girls sports – MHSAA tournaments existed for nine girls sports when he retired – plus the addition of football playoffs in 1975 and MHSAA tournaments in baseball, ice hockey and skiing.
“He led the MHSAA during simultaneously one of the most stressful and most exciting times as schools responded to federal legislation promoting opportunities for minorities and females,” current MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “Al Bush was among leaders who saw the opportunities instead of burdens of those laws.”
He began his tenure at the MHSAA on March 1, 1960, as Assistant State Director of Athletics to Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe. Bush’s designation changed to Associate Director in 1963, and on July 10, 1968 he was appointed to replace the retiring Forsythe as leader of the association.
An award bearing Bush’s name is bestowed by the MHSAA each spring to an administrator, coach, official, trainer, doctor, or member of the media who has at least 15 years of experience in Michigan interscholastic athletics with unusually frequent and significant contributions to the MHSAA.
Prior to joining the MHSAA, Bush taught mathematics, coached four sports and served as athletic director at different times during tenures at Battle Creek Central, Kalamazoo University, Dearborn and Bay City Handy high schools. Bush was a graduate of Kalamazoo University and later earned multiple bachelor’s degrees from Western Michigan University and a master’s in school administration from the University of Michigan. He was captain of the football team at WMU and received its Most Valuable Player and Athletic-Scholarship awards as a senior, and later was named Man of the Year in 1975 by WMU’s Alumni W Club.
Bush also studied at Princeton University and the University of Arizona and served six years of active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War. He was discharged with a rank of first lieutenant.
While at the MHSAA, Bush was a frequent contributor to the National Federation of State High School Associations. He served as chairperson of the committee that wrote the NFHS’s first swimming and diving rule book and also was a representative to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
A memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at Central United Methodist Church in Traverse City.
A summation written by late MHSAA historian Dick Kishpaugh during 1978 said the following of Bush's service to member schools:
"Through all of these varied and complex changes, the MHSAA has met its commitment to a high standard of excellence," Kishpaugh wrote.
"Al Bush is fallible, as we all are, but he needs to make no apologies. The accomplishments speak for themselves."
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.