MHSAA's Roberts Elected to NFHS Board
July 12, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts has been elected to serve a four-year term on the Board of Directors for the National Federation of State High School Associations, the national governing body for high school athletics and activities.
Roberts has served as executive director since 1986 and is the longest-tenured active state association executive director among NFHS members. The MHSAA is one of the nation’s largest state associations with more than 1,400 high schools and junior high/middle schools. The NFHS, in its press release on new officers and board members, called Roberts "one of the nation’s most articulate advocates for education-based activity programs."
After graduating from P. J. Jacobs High School in Stevens Point, Wis., and Dartmouth College and attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Roberts taught English and coached football at high schools in Milwaukee and Denver until 1973, when he joined the staff of the NFHS, which at that time was located in Elgin, Illinois.
From 1973 to 1980, Roberts developed the NFHS’ volleyball, swimming & diving and ice hockey rules programs, and re-codified the Soccer Rules Book. Later, as assistant director, he was in charge of public, legislative and judicial affairs for the NFHS.
Roberts joined the staff of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in 1981 and was named executive vice president of the FCA in 1984. He served in that capacity until 1986, when he was named executive director of the MHSAA.
Roberts served a previous term on the NFHS Board of Directors from 1996 to 2000 and has been chairman of the NFHS Network Board of Directors since 2013. He also has served on two previous NFHS Strategic Planning Committees and is past chair of the board of directors of the Michigan Society of Association Executives.
PHOTO: MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts congratulates an MHSAA/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete Award winner at the Breslin Center.
Rep Council Wrap-Up: Winter 2015
April 1, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The selection of a new venue for its Team Wrestling Finals highlighted actions taken by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its annual Winter Meeting on March 27 in East Lansing.
The Team Wrestling Finals will be hosted by McGuirk Arena at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant for two years beginning with the 2016 tournament. The Team Wrestling Finals previously had been hosted by Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek since their inception in 1988.
McGuirk, formerly Rose Arena, is part of the CMU Events Center and reopened in 2010 after the facility underwent $22.5 million in renovations. McGuirk seats 4,867 fans for wrestling competitions, and the building also features adjacent practice areas that will be utilized by teams competing at the MHSAA Finals.
Rose Arena formerly served as host of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Finals from 1997-2003.
“We are grateful to the athletic directors, staff and volunteers whose time and energy factored heavily into creating and growing the Team Wrestling Finals at Kellogg Arena,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “The decision to move from Battle Creek was not an easy one. However, we believe Central Michigan University offers us a fantastic opportunity to continue growing one of our most popular championship events.”
The Representative Council also continued discussions on three issues which may require action at meetings later this calendar year.
Continuing its examination of athletics at the junior high/middle school level, the Council discussed recommendations submitted by the MHSAA’s Junior High/Middle School Committee, including one which may come up for vote at the Council’s May meeting. It is a request for a membership vote to amend the MHSAA Constitution to allow for school membership beginning at the 6th grade. If the Council approves, the amendment vote likely would occur in late October after another round of membership meetings.
The Council also continued its discussion of potential changes to out-of-season coaching rules and considered results of surveys taken during the MHSAA’s Update Meetings in the fall and by athletic directors and leaders of leagues and conferences during the late fall and winter. The major changes in rules that were proposed for discussion last summer have not gained traction with the MHSAA membership, but three modifications intended to give school coaches longer and more flexible contact with their student-athletes out of season during the school year will receive Council action in May.
Continuing its work regarding the eligibility of international students, the Council also approved that MHSAA staff continue reviewing school-operated international student programs for the purpose of granting students athletic eligibility at MHSAA schools. A proposal first approved at the March 2014 meeting granted the MHSAA authority to grant athletic eligibility to students placed through an Approved International Student Program that had not been accepted for listing by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET), so long as that Approved International Student Program is not eligible for CSIET consideration and listing. CSIET will only review existing programs, but the MHSAA’s supplemental process will allow programs too new for the CSIET process to gain approval for 2015-16.
Those international students placed through an Approved International Student Program are eligible for a maximum of the first two consecutive semesters or three consecutive trimesters at any secondary school in the United States, after which the student is ineligible for interscholastic athletic competition at any MHSAA member school for the next academic year. International students who do not meet one of the residency exceptions recognized by the MHSAA or are not enrolled through an Approved International Student Program or CSIET-listed program may become eligible after one semester to participate at the subvarsity level only.
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 1,400 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.