Update: Attendance, Broadcast Information
March 12, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Postseason events sponsored by the Michigan High School Athletic Association and scheduled for March 12-14 will be conducted as scheduled. However, attendance will be restricted at all events through this weekend, with updates to be announced Monday, March 16, for the remainder of the girls and boys basketball tournaments.
The MHSAA Ice Hockey Semifinals and Finals will be played March 12-14 at USA Hockey Arena, with Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals beginning Friday, March 13 and concluding March 14 at Oakland University and Holland Aquatic Center. Girls Gymnastics at Rockford High School also will be competed Friday and Saturday this weekend. Girls Basketball Regionals Finals are scheduled for tonight, March 12, across the state, as are Boys District Finals on Friday, March 13.
Based on recommendations from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer suggesting attendance limitations, no spectators will be allowed for the three Swimming & Diving Finals, both days, or Saturday’s Girls Gymnastics Individual Finals. These events have the highest number of participants of this weekend’s events.
However, for Hockey Semifinals and Finals and Gymnastics Team Finals – events with far fewer participants – a limited number of spectators will be allowed, as determined by participating schools, to include only parents, legal guardians and essential administrators. Basketball games during the next two days also will allow only limited spectators, as determined by participating schools and following these same restrictions. Each competing school will provide the entry list of parents, legal guardians and essential administrators to the host site prior to each contest.
To recap, here is a breakdown of sport-by-sport attendance stipulations and broadcast information.
Boys Swimming & Diving Finals
Rounds: Preliminaries on March 13, Finals on March 14
Attendance: No on-site spectators allowed.
Broadcast: Live streaming of prelims and Finals on MHSAA.tv.
Girls Gymnastics Finals
Rounds: Team Finals on March 13, Individual Finals on March 14
Attendance: Limited to parents, legal guardians and essential administrators on March 13. No on-site spectators allowed March 14.
Broadcast: Live streaming of Team and Individual Finals on MHSAA.tv.
Boys Ice Hockey Semifinals and Finals
Rounds: Semifinals on March 12-13, Finals on March 14
Attendance: Limited to parents, legal guardians and essential administrators.
Broadcast: Live streaming of all nine games on MHSAA.tv. Live audio on MHSAA Network.
Girls Basketball Regional Finals
Rounds: All scheduled for March 12.
Attendance: Limited to parents, legal guardians and essential administrators.
Broadcast: Live streaming of some games, with subscription, on MHSAA.tv.
Boys Basketball District Finals
Rounds: All scheduled for March 13.
Attendance: Limited to parents, legal guardians and essential administrators.
Broadcast: Live streaming of some games, with subscription, on MHSAA.tv.
Bands, cheerleaders and gatherings in parking lots or elsewhere on-site will not be allowed. Restrictions on noisemakers, etc., will continue to be upheld for those fans who will attend.
For those allowed to be present, there will be no admission charged at any of these five events. Online ticket sales have been stopped, and all tickets that have been purchased are voided and will be fully refunded.
Fans not allowed to attend will have the opportunity to watch coverage of all three of this weekend’s Finals live on MHSAA.tv. Complete streaming of all nine Hockey Semifinals and Finals is scheduled, as is streaming of both the Team and Individual Gymnastics Finals and both preliminaries and Finals for swimming & diving. MHSAA.tv also will carry a number of girls and boys basketball games this weekend as part of its usual subscription coverage by members of the School Broadcast Program.
The streaming of all three divisions of the MHSAA Swimming & Diving Finals and both Team and Individual Gymnastics Finals will be provided FREE OF CHARGE. More details about access to these free feeds will be provided in the next update this afternoon. Also, free live audio of the Hockey Semifinals and Finals will be available on the MHSAA Network.
This remains a fluid situation, and another update will be released today, March 12, at 2 p.m. Updates will be posted to the MHSAA Website.
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.
WISL Honoree Thunberg Embraces Leadership Opportunities in Every Role
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 3, 2025
Through several professional roles in education, Jennifer Thunberg always has maintained a strong connection with athletics and provided leadership – locally, within her league and sport community, and currently at the statewide level serving on the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
To recognize her vast an ongoing contributions, Thunberg has been named the 39th recipient of the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award.
Each year, the Representative Council considers the achievements of women coaches, officials and athletic administrators affiliated with the MHSAA who show exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics. Thunberg will receive her award during the Division 1 Girls Basketball Final, March 22 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
A standout herself as a three-sport athlete at Bay City Central and then volleyball player at Saginaw Valley State University, Thunberg began her coaching career at Central in 1997 and teaching career there in 2001. After coaching the volleyball junior varsity two seasons while still playing collegiately, she led the varsity to a 249-201-43 record over 10 seasons before moving on to Pinconning High School, where she served as athletic director from 2008-14.
Thunberg returned to Central as an assistant principal and became the school’s athletic director in 2017. She remained in that position until becoming principal at Freeland Middle School two years ago.
“A lot of the women who are on that (WISL Award) list are women who have been mentors of mine – who I have worked very closely with – and to be included in that group of women, I’m humbled and honored,” Thunberg said. “Jean LaClair (Bronson, 2015) has been a mentor of mine since I began my coaching career, and I can’t say enough about her. (There are many) between the volleyball world and athletic director world, and I’m just honored to be part of it.”
During her time as Bay City Central’s volleyball coach, Thunberg also served as president of the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA) from 2005-08, and was instrumental in the creation of the annual Miss Volleyball Award honoring the state’s top high school senior.
As Pinconning and later Central’s athletic director, Thunberg hosted several MHSAA Tournament events and Coaches Advancement Program sessions. She also has served on MHSAA committees for volleyball rules, site selection, Scholar-Athlete Award selection and Women In Sports Leadership Conference planning.
She was one of only two female athletic directors in the Saginaw Valley League when she took that position at Central, and she served as the league’s executive director during the 2022-23 school year. The Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) named her its Region 8 Athletic Director of the Year in 2022.
Thunberg also served on the board for the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals from 2015-21. She was appointed to the MHSAA’s Representative Council at its 2023-24 Fall Meeting and is serving a two-year term.
“At every stage of her educational career, Jennifer Thunberg has taken on a leadership role, and her vision and dedication to students is admired by her athletic and administrative communities across the state,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “She is a strong believer in the power of athletics to help drive a student’s all-around education, and we are thankful to have her voice representing school sports.”
A 1996 graduate of Bay City Central, Thunberg played basketball, volleyball and softball for the Wolves. At SVSU, she earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and master’s in educational leadership, and she remains among the volleyball program’s all-time leaders in single-season aces.
Thunberg earned her certified athletic administrator designation from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) in 2010, and her certified master athletic administrator designation in 2014.
In addition to leading a school and serving on the MHSAA’s Council, she’s also currently serving as president of the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame.
“I was student council president in high school, National Honor Society vice president, and whatever group I got involved in … I just liked to be involved in those organizations,” Thunberg said of taking on leadership roles. “And every single one of those organizations improved and helped me more than I’ve helped the organization. They’ve taught me things, helped me get to know more people – helped me become who I am today.”
Her husband Todd Thunberg is a teacher and Bay City Central’s girls basketball coach, and they have two daughters, 13-year-old Taylor and 11-year-old Rylee.
The first Women In Sports Leadership Award was presented in 1990.
Past recipients
1990 – Carol Seavoy, L’Anse
1991 – Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 – Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 – Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 – Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 – Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 – Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 – Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 – Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 – Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 – Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 – Suzanne Martin, East Lansing
2002 – Susan Barthold, Kentwood
2003 – Nancy Clark, Flint
2004 – Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, Grand Rapids
2005 – Barbara Redding, Capac
2006 – Melanie Miller, Lansing
2007 – Jan Sander, Warren Woods
2008 – Jane Bos, Grand Rapids
2009 – Gail Ganakas, Flint; Deb VanKuiken, Holly
2010 – Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2011 – Ellen Pugh, West Branch; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
2012 – Janet Gillette, Comstock Park
2013 – Barbara Beckett, Traverse City
2014 – Teri Reyburn, DeWitt
2015 – Jean LaClair, Bronson
2016 – Betty Wroubel, Pontiac
2017 – Dottie Davis, Ann Arbor
2018 – Meg Seng, Ann Arbor
2019 – Kris Isom, Adrian
2020 – Nikki Norris, East Lansing
2021 – Dorene Ingalls, St. Ignace
2022 – Lori Hyman, Livonia
2023 – Laurie Glass, Leland
2024 – Mary Cicerone, Bloomfield Hills; Eve Claar, Ann Arbor
PHOTOS At left, Jennifer Thunberg speaks during an MASSP Conference. At right, she and her family show their support for Bay City Central. (Photos provided by Jennifer Thunberg.)