New Member Elected to Rep Council
October 16, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Elections were completed recently to fill positions on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s legislative body, its Representative Council, and one new member was among those selected.
Gobles athletic director Chris Miller will join the council to represent Class C and D schools in the southwestern section of the Lower Peninsula. He was elected to a two-year team, as were five others who were re-elected and will begin terms during the council’s fall meeting.
Kingsford athletic director Al Unger will continue to represent Class A and B schools in the Upper Peninsula, Detroit Public School League administrator of athletics Alvin Ward will continue to represent the Detroit Public Schools, and Adrian Madison athletic director Kristen M. Isom will continue to represent Class C and D schools in the southeastern section of the Lower Peninsula.
Pewamo-Westphalia superintendent Jason Mellema was re-elected as one of two representatives of junior high and middle schools, and Bear Lake athletic director Karen S. Leinaar will continue as one of two at-large statewide representatives.
The Representative Council is the 19-member 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 Council meets three times annually, and five members of the Council convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools.
Additional elections took place to select representatives to the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee. Gladstone athletic director Matthew C. Houle was elected to represent Class A and B schools, and Iron Mountain athletic director Chris Hartman was selected to represent Class C schools. Rock-Mid Peninsula athletic director Gary Brayak was chosen to represent Class D schools.
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.
Council Reaffirms Winter Sports Will Play
January 27, 2021
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association reaffirmed its commitment today to play Winter sports when current restrictions are lifted by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).
Winter contact sports – girls and boys basketball, competitive cheer, ice hockey and wrestling – are allowed presently to participate in non-contact activities only, per an MDHHS emergency order restricting contact activity and competition due to COVID-19.
Non-contact Winter sports – girls and boys bowling, girls gymnastics, girls and boys alpine skiing and girls and boys swimming & diving – are able to participate in those activities fully.
The MDHHS limitations on Winter contact sports were set to expire at the end of January, but were extended last week by MDHHS through Feb. 21.
“Each week, we see hundreds of examples of children and families competing in non-school competition, both in-state and out-of-state,” Uyl said. “This not only is in violation of current MDHHS orders, but sending all of these families into different states will only become an impediment to getting students back in school fulltime.
“But we can contribute to students returning to in-person learning by allowing MHSAA member schools to begin full activities, participating locally and against more local competition, and under the guidance of trained, professional educators.”
This past weekend the MHSAA concluded its remaining Fall tournaments with 11-Player Football Finals. Earlier this month, Girls Volleyball, Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving and 8-Player Football Finals were competed to conclude those seasons. All four were allowed to complete their seasons because those teams took part in the MDHHS rapid testing pilot program.
Results of that program were overwhelmingly positive. A total of 5,376 individuals (athletes, coaches, team personnel, cheerleaders, etc.) were tested, and 57 – or 1 percent – tested positive at some point in the pilot. Nearly 30,000 rapid antigen tests were administered – and 99.8 percent were negative. (All four data points were through Jan. 19 and provided to the MHSAA by the MDHHS.)
As of Monday (Jan. 25), Winter contact sports had begun in 38 states, including border states Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.