Michigan Virtual University Teams with MHSAA
August 23, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Providing educational opportunities is central to the missions of both the Michigan High School Athletic Association and Michigan Virtual University. To promote its expansive opportunities for online education for Michigan high school students and educators, Michigan Virtual University will serve as the preferred provider of online education supporting MHSAA events and digital initiatives during the 2016-17 school year.
Michigan Virtual University is a nonprofit corporation established in 1998 to deliver online education and training opportunities to Michigan’s K-12 community and operates the Michigan Virtual School. Considered a national leader in providing online education, MVS has enrolled over 200,000 online courses in a broad range of core academic courses aligned with state standards, college-level equivalent courses; enrichment and world language courses, and other innovative online experiences. MVS is accredited by third-party AdvancED, meaning its instructors, tools, services and staff meet or exceed essential standards of educational quality.
MVS currently is working with 497 schools across Michigan to provide students more than 200 online courses, including 22 Advanced Placement courses and instruction in seven world languages. Like the MHSAA, MVS serves students grades 6-12.
“We focus on the whole child in educational athletics, and we see Michigan Virtual University as helping local schools broaden the academic offerings they can provide to students,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “We help students compete in the local athletic arena; Michigan Virtual University helps students compete in the global classroom.”
Michigan Virtual School will have an on-site presence at MHSAA championship events throughout this school year and also digitally on MHSAA.com and in coordination with the MHSAA’s social media platforms. MVS also will receive air time as part of MHSAA video and radio programming.
MVS courses are designed to provide the same rigor as those students experience in a face-to-face classroom setting, while allowing students scheduling flexibility and the ability to work at their own pace. Core courses aligned with the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) and the Common Core are available in English, math, science, social studies and world languages. Also, nearly 90 MVS courses are approved by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), an additional value for student athletes seeking to secure eligibility at the college level.
"Increasingly, students involved with interscholastic athletics want and need school options that can be accessed outside the traditional school schedule,” Jamey Fitzpatrick, President & CEO of Michigan Virtual University, said. “We are excited about our new partnership with the MHSAA and look forward to helping more students and their parents learn about the value and potential of online learning options from MVU."
Michigan Virtual School is funded by the Michigan legislature and revenues from the courses it offers. Under current legislation students in grades 6-12 are allowed to take up to two courses per semester during the regular school year paid for by their schools, and students also may pay to take additional courses either during the school year or in the summer. Courses are developed by MVS or include content licensed from nationally-recognized providers.
Additionally, the MHSAA and MVU have agreed to explore possible areas of collaboration related to online and blended professional development for athletic directors, coaches, and other sports officials.
For additional information about Michigan Virtual University and Michigan Virtual School, go online to www.mivu.org.
Hoops, Hockey Prep for Playoff Changes
December 12, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The introduction of limited seeding at the District level for girls and boys basketball, and a shift in the postseason schedule for ice hockey, are among changes that will be noticed most this season by those who compete in and follow the 12 winter sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Girls basketball’s first games tipped off Dec. 2, followed by boys basketball openers Dec. 9. This winter, for the first time, the top two teams in every basketball District will be seeded and placed on the opposite sides of their bracket, making the District Final the earliest round they could play each other. Those top-seeded teams will be determined using the Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) computer formula based on regular-season results against other MHSAA Tournament-eligible teams and opponents’ strength of schedule. (Games against out-of-state or non-MHSAA opponents will not count in the MPR formula.)
The MHSAA will draw all brackets 15 days before the start of District play. After the top seeds are determined and separated to opposite sides of the bracket, the draw process will place the remaining teams on the bracket based on a randomly-selected order determined earlier in the season. MPR also was used to similarly seed Districts for boys soccer for the first time this past fall and in the spring for boys lacrosse.
Also undergoing a change this winter, the MHSAA Ice Hockey Tournament will be played over three weeks rather than two as in previous seasons. The traditional dates for the start of the regular season and Finals will remain the same, as will the total number of regular-season games allowed. However, the MHSAA Tournament will begin on the third Monday before the Finals instead of two weeks before, and the extended postseason schedule places the maximum of six games that may be played from the start of Regionals through Finals over 20 days instead of the previous 13.
While those changes will affect tournament structures, a handful of others affecting daily competition will be particularly noticeable as well this winter:
• As with Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving season in the fall, a pair of changes for LP boys and Upper Peninsula girls will take effect this winter. For swimmers, the definition of a legal finish has changed to include a competitor touching any part of the finish end of the lane, not just the touch pad. In diving, the degree of difficulty was adjusted for back and reverse somersaults to provide consistency with difficulty of other dives.
• In hockey, the allowed stick length for a non-goaltender has been extended to 65 inches with a blade no more than 12.5 inches long and between 2-3 inches high. The allowances for a goaltender’s stick also were adjusted – the widened portion up to 28 inches from the heel and to 3.5 inches in width, with a blade at maximum 15.5 inches in length. These changes were made to accommodate the greater average height of today’s athletes.
• In girls competitive cheer, non-braced static inversions will be allowed only with the following stipulations: the original base or spotter maintains constant contact with the flyer, prior to the static inverted position the flyer must originate from below shoulder level, and the inversion must dismount to the cheering surface, cradle, any waist-level position or a non-inverted stunt at shoulder level. Also, twists from inversions and inversions released to extended level are illegal.
• A new rule in wrestling will allow for additional time to evaluate head and neck injuries. If an injury occurs involving the head, neck, cervical column and/or nervous system and an appropriate health care professional is present, that caregiver may request the traditional 90 seconds of injury time be extended up to a maximum of five minutes to evaluate the injury. Before that time expires, the wrestler must be ready and able to continue the match or it will be defaulted.
• Also for wrestling, a new criteria has been added to the tie-breaking system used when a dual meet finishes in a tied score. The new sixth criteria “f” states that the team giving up the fewest forfeits during a match shall be declared the winner.
The 2019-20 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with Girls & Boys Skiing Regionals on Feb. 10, and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 28. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Girls Basketball
Districts – March 2, 4 & 6
Regionals – March 10 & 12
Quarterfinals – March 17
Semifinals – March 19-20
Finals – March 21
Boys Basketball
Districts – March 9, 11 & 13
Regionals – March 16 & 18
Quarterfinals – March 24
Semifinals – March 26-27
Finals – March 28
Girls & Boys Bowling
Team Regionals – Feb. 28
Singles Regionals – Feb. 29
Team Finals – March 6
Singles Finals – March 7
Girls Competitive Cheer
Districts – Feb. 21-22
Regionals – Feb. 29
Finals: March 6-7
Girls Gymnastics
Regionals – March 7
Team Finals – March 13
Individual Finals – March 14
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 24-March 4
Quarterfinals – March 7
Semifinals – March 12-13
Finals – March 14
Girls and Boys Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 10-14
Finals – Feb. 24
Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving
U.P. Girls & Boys Finals – Feb. 15
L.P. Boys Diving Qualification Meets – March 5
L.P. Boys Finals – March 13-14
Wrestling
Team Districts – Feb. 12-13
Individual Districts – Feb. 15
Team Regionals – Feb. 19
Individual Regionals – Feb. 22
Team Quarterfinals – Feb. 28
Team Semifinals & Finals – Feb. 29
Individual Finals – March 6-7