New Rules, Reminders Promote Safety
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 6, 2015
The first practices of the 2015-16 school year next week provide a valuable opportunity for reminders on the importance of athletes remaining refreshed during the hottest days of training – and also an opportunity to explain new Michigan High School Athletic Association rules in football aimed at further promoting safety during competition.
The first practices begin next week for approximately 110,000 student-athletes taking part in eight sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments. Football practice for more than 40,000 players can begin at MHSAA schools Monday, Aug. 10, followed by first practices for all other fall sports Aug. 12.
Each year, the MHSAA provides information to its member schools to help them prepare for hot weather practice and game conditions in the late summer and early fall. Those resources – including the MHSAA’s Model Policy for Managing Heat & Humidity– are available on the revamped MHSAA.com Health & Safety web page.
This also will be the second season for football practice changes made last fall to promote heat acclimatization and limit helmet-to-helmet contact. And earlier this week, 70 MHSAA high schools from across Michigan received training to take part in one of two sideline concussion testing pilot programs expected to benefit 20,000 student-athletes over multiple sports.
“There’s been a lot of attention focused on football regarding head safety, but the fact is all school sports need attention to the safety of student-athletes,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “We’re addressing all sports at all levels, practice and competition, to make sure our staff, who are interacting with the young people, know the best practices for safety in school sports. And we’re trying to communicate to the public that school sports really are safer than ever.”
The final weeks of July were another reminder of the importance of adjusting to hot weather as practices begin. The MHSAA Representative Council adopted in 2013 the Model Policy for Managing Heat & Humidity that, while not mandated for member schools, has been adopted by many at the local level. The plan directs schools to begin monitoring the heat index at the activity site once the air temperature reaches 80 degrees and provides recommendations when the heat index reaches certain points, including ceasing activities when it rises above 104 degrees.
The model policy is outlined in a number of places, including the publication Heat Ways, which is available for download from the MHSAA Website. Roberts reminded that the first days of formal practices in hot weather should be more for heat acclimatization than the conditioning of athletes, and that practices in such conditions need planning to become longer and more strenuous over a gradual progression of time. He added schools also must consider moving practices to different times of day, different locations, or change practice plans to include different activities depending on the conditions.
To assist in acclimatization, the football practice rule changes of 2014 allow for only helmets to be worn during the first two days, only shoulder pads to be added on the third and fourth days, and full pads to not be worn until the fifth day of team practice.
Practice in football must begin on Aug. 10 for all schools wishing to begin regular-season games the weekend of Aug. 27-29. Schools must have 12 days of preseason practice at all levels before their first game, and those 12 days of practice may not occur before 16 calendar days.
Practice sessions for all other sports begin Wednesday (Aug.12). In golf and tennis, competition may commence no earlier than after three separate days of team practice, and not before seven calendar days. The first day competition may take place in golf and tennis is Aug. 19. In all other fall sports, contests can take place after seven days of practice for the team and not before nine calendar days. The first day competition may take place in cross country, tennis, soccer, swimming and diving, and volleyball is Aug. 21.
This fall, two football dates precede Labor Day, and a number of MHSAA schools will play their first varsity games on Thursday, Aug. 27. In Week 1, 123 varsity games will be played on Thursday, 176 contests will be played on Friday, and 14 games will be played on Saturday.
Continuing the focus on player safety, additional rules changes were made in football for 2015 that again focus on minimizing injury risk:
- The definition of unnecessary roughness was expanded to include excessive contact with an opponent, including a defenseless player, which incites roughness. A defenseless player can be considered one no longer involved in a play, a runner whose progress has been stopped, a player focused on receiving a kick or a receiver who has given up on an errant pass, or a player already on the ground. Unnecessary and excessive contact can include blindside blocks and players leaving their feet to contact an airborne receiver attempting to secure the ball.
- The grabbing of a quarterback’s facemask by a defensive player, if it does not including the twisting, pulling or turning of the facemask, will be ruled incidental and result in a five-yard penalty instead of a roughing-the-passer penalty and automatic first down.
- A 2014 rule change stated that the kicking team must have at least four players on each side of the kicker when ready-for-play is signaled; a change this season states four players must be lined up on each side of the kicker when the ball is kicked. That fourth player may shift after ready-for-play but before the kick to comply with this formation rule, but may not go in motion more than five yards behind the ball. If the shifting player travels more than five yards behind the ball, it is a dead-ball foul for encroachment.
A few notable changes will go into effect for other fall sports:
- In cross country, the loosening on what runners are allowed to wear during competition continued after a ban on jewelry was lifted in 2014. Runners also now may wear sunglasses, and previous restrictions have been eliminated for specific styles of head gear – ski bands, head bands, stocking caps and hoods attached to other clothing. Previously, those head gear had to meet criteria including color and size of brand logos displayed.
- In swimming and diving, the ban on wearing jewelry has been lifted. The National Federation of State High School Associations deemed the ban unnecessary because there is little risk of injury to the competitor or opponents.
The 2015 Fall campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals the week of Sept. 28, and wraps up with the 11-Player Football Playoff Finals on Nov. 27 and 28. Here is a complete list of fall tournament dates:
Cross Country:
U.P. Finals – Oct. 24
L.P. Regionals – Oct. 30 or 31
L.P. Finals – Nov. 7
11-Player Football:
Selection Sunday – Oct. 25
Pre-Districts – Oct. 30 or Oct. 31
District Finals – Nov. 6 or 7
Regional Finals – Nov. 13 or 14
Semifinals – Nov. 21
Finals – Nov. 27-28
8-Player Football:
Selection Sunday – Oct. 25
Regional Semifinals – Oct. 30 or Oct. 31
Regional Finals – Nov. 6 or 7
Semifinals – Nov. 14
Finals – Nov. 20 or 21
L.P. Girls Golf:
Regionals – Oct. 7 or 8 or 9 or 10
Finals – Oct. 16-17
Soccer:
Boys L.P. Districts – Oct. 19-24
Boys L.P. Regionals – Oct. 27-31
Boys L.P. Semifinals – Nov. 4
Boys L.P. Finals – Nov. 7
L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving:
Diving Regionals – Nov. 12
Swimming/Diving Finals – Nov. 20-21
Tennis:
U.P. Girls Finals – Sept. 30-Oct. 3
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 8 or 9 or 10
L.P. Finals – Oct. 16-17
Girls Volleyball:
Districts – Nov. 2-4 & 5, 6 or 7
Regionals – Nov. 10 & 12
Quarterfinals – Nov. 17
Semifinals – Nov. 19-20
Finals – Nov. 21
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.
Rep Council Wrap-up: Spring 2014
May 15, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
More tools to assist administrators in managing student transfers, including stiffer penalties for students switching schools for athletic-related reasons and for adults influencing those decisions, highlighted actions taken by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association during its annual Spring Meeting, May 4-5, in Gaylord.
The Spring Meeting of the 19-member legislative body of the Association’s more than 1,500 member schools is generally the busiest of its three sessions each year. The Council considered 17 committee proposals and also dealt with a variety of eligibility rule, postseason tournament and operational issues.
The Council built on changes to the MHSAA transfer regulation adopted at its 2013 Spring Meeting that increased the period of ineligibility to 180 days for a student making an athletic-related transfer, detailing more activities – centered on athletes following their non-school coach to a new school – that would lead automatically to the longer period of ineligibility even if not reported by the school losing the student.
Most notably, the maximum penalty of ineligibility for students and suspension for coaches partaking in undue influence was increased from up to one year to up to four years.
When a transfer is the result of parents’ divorce, or follows a student’s 18th birthday or enrollment as a residential student in a bona fide boarding school, school administrators will be required to attest on the MHSAA’s Educational Transfer Form that the transfer is not significantly related to or motivated by athletics.
These changes to the transfer regulation go into effect for the 2014-15 school year and come in addition to changes adopted at the Council’s Winter Meeting in March, addressing the increase of international students enrolling in MHSAA member schools outside traditional foreign exchange programs.
Beginning this fall, international students on either F-1 or J-1 visas, in order to be immediately eligible for athletics, must meet a residential exception or have been placed in a school through an Approved International Student Program (accepted for listing by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel {CSIET} and approved by the MHSAA). International students placed through an Approved International Student Program will be immediately 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 may become eligible to participate at the subvarsity level only. Incoming freshman international students no longer will be automatically eligible.
Here is a summary of other actions taken by the Representative Council at the Spring Meeting which will take effect during the 2014-15 school year:
- In cases of serious injury or extended illness, including concussion or suspected concussion and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest, students may be re-examined not only by a physician (MD or DO) but also a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner. All may provide the written release necessary for an athlete to return to practice or competition. Previously, only physicians held that authority.
- Students who have completed their 12th-grade season in a sport may participate in one all-star contest in that sport, subject to specific conditions, without losing their remaining interscholastic eligibility in other sports. However, participation in a prohibited or second all-star event in that same sport will result in a loss of eligibility in all sports for up to one year
- Illinois was added to adjacent states Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, and Ontario, that do not fall under the mileage limitation for interstate competition. MHSAA member schools are not allowed to compete in any interstate meet, contest or scrimmage which involves travel of more than 600 highway miles round-trip for any participating team, unless those teams are only from Michigan and one or more of these contiguous states/provinces.
Sport Matters
- In baseball and softball, school uniforms may be worn by graduated seniors (with no remaining eligibility) who are selected to participate in all-star games conducted directly by the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association and Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association.
- In football, during subvarsity contests, the clock will start on the official’s ready-to-play signal rather than the snap following a change of possession.
- In girls lacrosse, a student or team is allowed to participate in a multi-team tournament in which the total allowable playing time for any team is no more than 150 running minutes (current total is 120 minutes) with no more than 25-minute running-time halves. This event will count as one of 18 regular-season contests.
- In girls and boys swimming and diving, dates of the Lower Peninsula Diving Regionals have been moved from Tuesday of the week of Finals meets to Thursday prior to Finals weeks.
Operations
- Ticket price increases from $7 to $8 were adopted for the following sports and MHSAA Tournament rounds: Baseball and Softball Semifinals and Finals, Bowling Finals (Team on Friday and Singles on Saturday), Girls Competitive Cheer (Friday and Saturday sessions), Girls Gymnastics Finals (Team on Friday and Individual on Saturday), Boys and Girls Lacrosse Finals, Boys and Girls Soccer Finals, Boys and Girls Track & Field Finals, Team Wrestling Semifinals and Finals and Girls Volleyball Finals. The cost of the three-session Team Wrestling Tournament pass was increased from $15 to $18, and ticket costs for three Ice Hockey rounds also were increased – Quarterfinals tickets from $5 to $6, Semifinals tickets from $6 to $8 and Finals tickets from $7 to $10, with the Semifinal and Final 6-session passes increased from $25 to $35. However, the 2014-15 school year will mark the 12th consecutive with no increases in MHSAA Regional tournament ticket prices for football and boys and girls basketball and the 11th consecutive year without increases at the District level of those tournaments. Tickets for both levels of all three sports will remain $5.
The Council also reviewed reports on membership, with 752 senior high schools and 725 junior high/middle schools in 2013-14; eligibility advancement applications, which totaled 14 for the year; the use of Educational Transfer Forms, which dropped 20 percent this year; school violations, attendance at athletic director and coaches in-service workshops, officials’ registrations, rules meetings attendance and officials reports submitted for the past three sports seasons. The Association’s $10.1 million budget for the 2014-15 school year also was approved.
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 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.