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.
43 Percent of Athletes are Multi-Sport
August 19, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Nearly 43 percent of athletes at MHSAA member high schools continued to participate in two or more sports in 2018-19, according to the Multi-Sport Participation Survey, reinforcing similar data collected for the first time two years ago and providing a foundation for work by the MHSAA’s Multi-Sport Task Force as it prepares to continue efforts this fall to promote the multi-sport high school experience.
Early and intense sport specialization has become one of the most serious issues related to health and safety at all levels of youth sports, as overuse injuries and burnout among athletes have been tied to chronic injuries and health-related problems later in life. In early 2016, the MHSAA appointed the Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation as part of a continued effort to promote and protect participant health and address the issues leading to early sport specialization.
The multi-sport participation survey was created in 2018 to provide data on the prevalence of sport specialization at MHSAA member high schools. This year’s survey received responses from 82.9 percent of member high schools and measured how multi-sport participation exists at schools. The collection of survey results annually is expected to show how schools are succeeding in promoting a multi-sport high school experience, providing another tool as schools work to guide students toward a well-rounded interscholastic sports career.
From schools that responded to this year’s survey, 42.9 percent of students participated in athletics in 2018-19 – 46.3 percent of boys and 39.5 percent of girls. The overall participation number was up nearly half a percent from 2017-18 (42.5), with the boys percentage holding steady and the girls increasing nearly a full percent from a year ago. Class D schools – those with the smallest enrollments – again enjoyed the highest percentage of athletes among the entire student body, at 57.1 percent, followed by Class C (50.7), Class B (45.8) and Class A (39.4).
Of those athletes counted by responding schools, 43 percent participated in more than one sport – including 45.1 percent of boys and 40.4 percent of girls – with all three of those percentages nearly identical to those derived from the first survey a year ago. Class D again enjoyed the highest percentage of multi-sport athletes, 61.8 percent, followed by Class C (56.7), Class B (48.7) and Class A (35.4).
Similar results for overall sport participation and multi-sport participation relative to enrollment size were seen by further breaking down Class A into schools of fewer than 1,000 students, 1,000-1,500 students, 1,501-2,000 students and more than 2,000 students. Similarly to 2017-18 for both sport participation as a whole and multi-sport participation specifically, the smallest Class A schools continued to enjoy the highest percentages, while percentages then decreased for every larger size group of schools.
Also of note, the percentage of two-sport athletes at every school measure around one-third of athletes – from 29.2 percent at Class A schools to 35.7 at Class B, 37.2 at Class C and 35.6 at Class D. However the number of athletes participating in three sports decreased substantially relative to the increase in school enrollment, with 22.5 percent of Class D athletes playing three sports, 18.2 in Class C, 12.4 in Class B and 6.0 percent in Class A.
The MHSAA Task Force on Multi-Sport Participation will be meeting this fall to discuss creating a program to measure multi-sport participation at MHSAA member schools and to recognize “achievers” – that is, schools that surpass the norm given their enrollment and other factors that affect school sports participation.
For 2018-19, in Class A, Marquette posted the highest percentage of multi-sport athletes with 85.9 percent, up 3.3 percent from its top-ranking Class A percentage from 2017-18. Grand Rapids Northview also topped 80 percent multi-sport participation, with 83.1 percent of its athletes playing two or more sports. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, Detroit East English and Gibraltar Carlson all saw multi-sport participation from at least 70 percent of their athletes.
In Class B, four schools again achieved at least 80 percent multi-sport participation – Coloma (87.2 percent), Gladstone (86.7), Flat Rock (83.2) and Dundee (80.2), while 10 schools had 70 percent or more athletes playing at least two sports.
Six Class C schools reported more than 80 percent of its athletes taking part in more than one sport – Schoolcraft (87.1), Mayville (86.2), Manton (85.3), Houghton Lake (84.9), Cass City (84.7) and Decatur (83.5) – and 12 schools total with 75 percent or more athletes participating in multiple sports. There were 14 Class D schools with multi-sport participation at 80.9 percent or higher, with Gaylord St. Mary (93.2), Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes (91.5) and Watersmeet (90.3) topping the survey not just for Class D but among all schools that responded.
The full summary report on the Multi-Sport Participation Survey is available on the “Health & Safety” page of the MHSAA Website.