Participation Again Bests Population Rank
August 11, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the eighth straight year, Michigan ranked seventh nationally in high school sports participation, according to statistics for the 2015-16 school year released recently by the National Federation of State High School Associations. That level of participation continued to best Michigan’s national ranking for total number of residents of high school age, which remained ninth for the fourth consecutive year, and Michigan also again ranked ninth or higher in participation in 26 of 28 sports in which the Michigan High School Athletic Association conducts a postseason tournament.
Michigan’s participation ranking was based on a number of 295,436, with 126,160 girls and 169,276 boys taking part, and included sports in which the MHSAA does not conduct postseason tournaments. The totals count students once for each sport in which he or she participates, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
The state’s girls participation remained seventh nationally for the fifth consecutive year, while the boys participation figure continued to rank sixth. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures from 2015, Michigan ranks ninth in both females and males ages 14 through 17.
For the second straight year, 13 sports bested the state’s overall national participation ranking of seventh by placing sixth or higher on their respective lists. Six Michigan sports improved in national ranking during 2015-16, while three sports dropped one position.
Michigan girls bowling, girls tennis and girls and boys skiing all improved from fourth to third in national participation ranking, while wrestling improved to seventh and gymnastics one spot to 11th. Michigan also moved up to eighth, from 11th, for 8-player football participation – significant because the state’s 11-player football participation ranking didn’t fall with that increase, remaining at sixth nationally.
The three sports that fell in national rankings in 2015-16 still remained above population rank – competitive cheer from fifth to sixth nationally, girls track & field one spot to eighth and baseball also from seventh to eighth on its list.
The other Michigan sports that ranked sixth or higher all equaled their national rankings from 2014-15 and included boys basketball at sixth, boys bowling third, boys golf and girls golf both sixth, ice hockey fourth, boys tennis fifth and girls volleyball fourth. Other Michigan sports that equaled their 2014-15 national rankings were girls basketball at seventh, boys and girls cross country both also seventh, boys lacrosse eighth, girls lacrosse 13th, boys and girls soccer both ninth, softball seventh, boys swimming & diving ninth, girls swimming & diving 10th and boys track & field also seventh.
National participation in high school sports in 2015-16 set a record for the 27th consecutive year with 7,868,900 participants – an increase of 61,853 from the year before. After a decline the previous year, boys participation increased about 25,000 to an all-time high of 4,544,574, while girls participation increased for the 27th consecutive year with an additional 36,591 participants and set an all-time high of 3,324,326.
Track and field registered the largest increase in participants nationally for both boys and girls, with an additional 12,501 boys and 7,243 girls. Track and field ranked second to football in boys participants with 591,133, and remained the most popular sport for girls with 485,969 participants. In addition to track and field, six other top-10 girls sports registered increases nationally in 2015-16, including volleyball, soccer, softball, cross country, tennis and lacrosse. After track and field among the top 10 boys sports, soccer registered the largest gain with an additional 7,753 participants, followed by cross country (up 6,710), basketball (up 4,949) and baseball (up 2,248).
Football (1,083,308) remained the most-played high school sport overall and enjoyed an encouraging development. After a decline of nearly 10,000 participants in football the previous year, the number of boys playing 11-player football nationally in 2015 was almost identical to 2014 with a drop of just 309 from the 2014 total of 1,083,617.
MHSAA's Westdorp Recognized by NFHS
January 15, 2013
Michigan High School Athletic Association assistant director Kathy Vruggink Westdorp has been named 2013 Coach Educator of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
Westdorp developed and continues to direct the MHSAA Coaches Advancement Program (CAP), a six-level educational regimen that aids coaches in their growth and development as they advance in the field of educational athletics.
Nearly 5,800 coaches have completed at least the first-level CAP unit since the program’s inception during the 2004-05 school year. More than 1,000 coaches have advanced at least through the program’s fourth level.
A former principal, athletic director, teacher and coach in the Grand Rapids area, Westdorp oversees the program and personally presents many of the CAP units.
“Kathy Westdorp is the heart and soul of our coaches education efforts,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “She is very deserving of this recognition.”
Delivery to Michigan’s current and prospective interscholastic coaches is done in two ways. First, presenters trained and evaluated by Westdorp travel the state to provide programs, which are coordinated by schools, school districts, leagues and coaches associations. Or, after faculty training and with Westdorp’s regular evaluation, colleges and universities in Michigan are licensed to present up to five levels of CAP through their undergraduate or graduate studies.
All aspects of CAP are administered from the MHSAA office under Westdorp’s direction. This includes the arrangements for continuing education credits through the State Department of Education, as well as liability insurance and an online newsletter for all coaches who complete CAP units.
Westdorp joined the MHSAA in 2004 after serving as principal at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central High School. She also previously served as athletic director at Grand Rapids Creston and as director of health and wellness programs for Grand Rapids Public Schools, taught at Grand Rapids Central and has coached basketball, field hockey, gymnastics, track and field and volleyball. Westdorp is a past president of the Ottawa-Kent Conference and a past recipient of the MHSAA’s Women in Sports Leadership Award.
The NFHS Coach Educator Award is presented annually to an individual who has exemplified passion and leadership for the promotion of coach education at the local, state and national levels. Nominations are considered by the NFHS Coach Education Committee, and the recipient is approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.