MHSAA-Supported Bill Allowing School Retirees to Continue Employment Signed Into Law
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 10, 2023
Recent public school retirees including those serving as coaches, game officials and in other sports-related roles will be able to continue doing so for limited compensation after the signing of a bill Tuesday, Oct. 10, by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer allowing those retirees to receive limited compensation without having their retirement benefits affected.
Public Act 147 (PA 147) amends PA 184, which was signed into law July 25, 2022, and required a retiring public school employee to wait nine months before being rehired – effectively sidelining several longtime coaches, officials and others who play substantial roles in school sports all over the state.
PA 147 instead allows recent retirees to work for a public school district during the first six months of retirement as long as the individual earns less than $15,100 during a calendar year. The great majority of coaches, officials and others who contribute to school sports – public-address announcers, team bus drivers, scoreboard operators and other game managers, for example – earn far less compensation than that maximum allowed with this bill.
Soon after the signing of PA 184 during the summer of 2022, the Michigan High School Athletic Association met with the state’s Office of Retirement Services and several legislators seeking ways to allow public school retirees to remain employed in athletics without that nine-month pause, or without having to work and not be paid. (Prior to PA 184, retirees were required to be detached from a school district for only 30 days before being rehired at less than 30 percent of their compensation at the time of retirement. This allowed most retirees to do so at the end of a school year and then return after 30 days to continue coaching, officiating, etc.)
MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl and Assistant Director Cody Inglis, and Brighton athletic director John Thompson – who serves on the MHSAA Representative Council – all testified in support of PA 147, which was sponsored by 13 legislators from the Michigan House of Representatives and introduced by Rep. Matt Koleszar from Plymouth.
"This new public act fixes the biggest MHSAA concern that recent retirees could not return to coach or officiate during their bona fide retirement period," Uyl said. "Our schools desperately need these experienced and knowledgeable people to continue contributing to athletics, and we're pleased that they'll have that opportunity."
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 1.3 million spectators each year.
Addition of Girls Wrestling Team Championship Highlights Winter Sports Changes
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 5, 2024
With the first wrestling matches of the 2024-25 season taking place Wednesday, and the first girls and boys skiing and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving meets able to be scheduled for this weekend, teams will be competing in all 13 winter sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Those sports are or will soon join competition already underway in girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls gymnastics, boys ice hockey, and Upper Peninsula girls and boys swimming & diving.
This season, for the first time, an MHSAA Finals team championship will be awarded in girls wrestling. After first introducing a girls championship bracket to the Individual Wrestling Finals for the 2021-22 season, the MHSAA will honor its first team champion based on those individual finishes. The format will be similar to how MHSAA team championships were awarded for boys wrestling prior to the creation of the dual format Team Finals with the 1987-88 season.
Also on the wrestling mat, a competition rule change alters the penalty for using a wrestler at an ineligible weight class – dependent on when the ineligible wrestler is discovered.
Beginning this season, the use of an ineligible wrestler – if discovered during the involved match – will result in six team points being awarded to the opponent, plus the head coach of the team with the ineligible wrestler will be assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty resulting in a one-point team score deduction. If the ineligible wrestler is discovered after the involved match, any points earned by the offending wrestler will be removed from the team score, along with the point for unsportsmanlike conduct, and six points will be added to the offended team’s total. In both instances, neither wrestler involved in the match in question may compete again in that dual. If the ineligible wrestler is discovered after the dual is completed, the teams have left the mat area and the scorebook has been signed by the official, the results and team score will stand.
A pair of wrestling playing rules changes also will be immediately noticeable. The number of match points awarded for a takedown was increased from two to three. Also, near-fall points will now be awarded based on the number of seconds during which the near-fall criteria are met – beginning with two points for two seconds, up to four points for four seconds.
Postseasons for basketball and bowling also will incorporate slight changes. In basketball, entire District brackets will be seeded for the first time, instead of the previous top two teams receiving seeds only. Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) data will still be used to seed those full brackets. In bowling, Regionals may now take place as early in the week as Wednesday and Thursday, as long as the Team and Singles competitions are competed on consecutive days. Previously, those were competed only on Fridays and Saturdays, respectively.
The 2024-25 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 15 and wraps up with the Girls Basketball Finals on March 22. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Boys Basketball
Districts – Feb. 24, 26, 28
Regionals – March 4, 6
Quarterfinals – March 11
Semifinals – March 13-14
Finals – March 15
Girls Basketball
Districts – March 3, 5, 7
Regionals – March 10, 12
Quarterfinals – March 18
Semifinals – March 20-21
Finals – March 22
Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 19-22
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1
Competitive Cheer
Districts – Feb. 14-15
Regionals – Feb. 22
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1
Gymnastics
Regionals – March 1
Finals – March 7-8
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 17-26
Quarterfinals – March 1
Semifinals – March 6-7
Finals – March 8
Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 10-14
Finals – Feb. 24
Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 15
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 6
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 14-15
Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 5-6
Regionals – Feb. 12
Finals – Feb. 21-22
Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 8
Boys Regionals – Feb. 15
Girls Regionals – Feb. 16
Finals – Feb. 28-March 1