New Math: Division & Multiplication Problems
July 25, 2017
By Jack Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director
This is the second part in a series on MHSAA tournament classification, past and present, that will be published over the next two weeks. This series originally ran in this spring's edition of MHSAA benchmarks.
High school tournament classifications went viral before there was social media and most of us knew what “viral” meant.
Much as a virus infects computers today or has created epidemics of disease around the world for centuries, high school tournament classification – once introduced – tends to spread uncontrollably. Once started, it tends to keep expanding and rarely contracts.
While we are still some distance from providing every team a trophy as a result of expanding high school tournament classification across the country, there is criticism nevertheless that we are headed in that direction – a philosophy which is supposed to exist only in local youth sports for our youngest children.
Michigan could be blamed for all this. Michigan is generally accepted as the first state to provide different classifications for season-ending tournaments for different sized schools. It started a century ago. Today, every state has various classifications for its tournaments in most if not all sports. And it is a bit ironic that Michigan – creator of the classification chaos – more than most other states has kept the number of tournament classes or divisions under control.
Yes, there is evidence that tournament classifications have expanded over the years in Michigan, especially with the relatively recent introduction of tournaments in football and the late 1990s’ move from classes to divisions in most MHSAA tournaments. But the MHSAA Representative Council has held true to its word when it expanded the playoffs for football from four classes to eight divisions: this is needed because of unique factors of football, factors that exist in no other sport; and all other sports should be capped at a maximum of four classes or divisions.
Kentucky is the preeminent defender of single-class basketball. All of its 276 high schools compete for the single state championship for each gender. In Indiana, there are still open wounds from its move in 1998 from one to four classes for its 400 schools in basketball.
Multi-class tournaments have tended to increase the number of non-public school champions, which some states are trying to lower through enrollment “multipliers,” and also tend to increase the number of repeat champions, which some states are trying to affect with “success factors” which lift smaller schools into classifications for larger schools if they take home too many trophies.
While there is considerable evidence that state tournaments do as much bad as good for educational athletics, state associations persist in providing postseason tournaments because, on balance, the experiences are supposed to be good for student-athletes. And once we reach that conclusion it is just a small leap to believe that if the tournaments are good for a few, they must be better for more – which leads to creating more and more tournament classifications. One becomes two classes, then three, then four and so forth.
While the argument is that more classifications or divisions provides more students with opportunities to compete and win, it is undeniable that the experience changes as the number of tournament classifications expands. It is not possible for state associations to provide the same level of support when tournament classifications expand to multiple venues playing simultaneously. For example, there is less audio and video broadcast potential at each venue, and less media coverage to each venue. Focus is diluted and fans diminished at each championship.
No one can argue reasonably that today's two-day MHSAA Football Finals of eight championship games has the same pizazz as the one-day, four-games event conducted prior to 1990.
In some states the number of divisions has grown so much that it is difficult to see much difference between the many season-ending state championship games and a regular-season event in the same sport.
It is a balancing act. And Michigan has been studying that balance longer than any other state, and charting a steadier course than most.
Addition by Division
The shift to Divisions for MHSAA Tournament play in numerous sports has added up to a greater number of champions for teams and individuals across the state. Following are the sports currently employing a divisional format, and the procedures for determining enrollment and classification.
In 23 statewide or Lower Peninsula tournaments, schools which sponsor the sport are currently divided into nearly equal divisions. They are:
- Baseball - 4 Divisions
- Boys Bowling - 4 Divisions
- Girls Bowling - 4 Divisions
- Girls Competitive Cheer - 4 Divisions
- LP Boys Cross Country - 4 Divisions
- LP Girls Cross Country - 4 Divisions
- LP Boys Golf - 4 Divisions
- LP Girls Golf - 4 Divisions
- Ice Hockey - 3 Divisions
- Boys Lacrosse - 2 Divisions
- Girls Lacrosse - 2 Divisions
- Boys Skiing - 2 Divisions
- Girls Skiing - 2 Divisions
- LP Boys Soccer - 4 Divisions LP
- Girls Soccer - 4 Divisions
- Girls Softball - 4 Divisions
- LP Boys Swimming & Diving - 3 Divisions
- LP Girls Swimming & Diving - 3 Divisions
- LP Boys Tennis - 4 Divisions
- LP Girls Tennis - 4 Divisions
- LP Boys Track & Field - 4 Divisions
- LP Girls Track & Field - 4 Divisions
- Wrestling - 4 Divisions
Lists of schools for each division of these 23 tournaments are posted on MHSAA.com approximately April 1. Listings of schools in Upper Peninsula tournaments for their sports are also posted on MHSAA.com. The lists are based on school memberships and sports sponsorships in effect or anticipated for the following school year, as known to the MHSAA office as of a date in early March.
In football, the 256 schools which qualify for MHSAA 11-player playoffs are placed in eight equal divisions annually on Selection Sunday. Beginning in 2017, the 8-player divisions will be determined in a like manner on Selection Sunday as well, with 32 qualifying schools placed in two divisions.
Schools have the option to play in any higher division in one or more sports for a minimum of two years.
The deadlines for "opt-ups" are as follows:
- Applications for fall sports must be submitted by April 15
- Applications for winter sports must be submitted by Aug. 15
- Applications for spring sports must be submitted by Oct. 15
Subsequent to the date of these postings for these tournaments, no school will have its division raised or lowered by schools opening or closing, schools adding or dropping sports, schools exercising the option to play in a higher division, or approval or dissolution of cooperative programs.
When the same sport is conducted for boys and girls in the same season (e.g., track & field and cross country), the gender that has the most sponsoring schools controls the division breaks for both genders.
Novi Principal, Past MHSAA Council VP Carter to Receive Inaugural Hampton Award
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 4, 2024
Nicole Carter grew up in a family of educators, aspired to become one herself, and has dedicated her career to providing opportunities in all facets of education – including educational athletics – to all students through her vision and inspiration. To celebrate Carter’s continuing contributions especially to underrepresented groups in school sports, she has been selected as the inaugural honoree of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Nate Hampton Champion of Progress in Athletics Award.
The Hampton Award was created by the MHSAA’s Representative Council to honor Nate Hampton, who retired in 2021 after serving in education and educational athletics for 50 years, including the last 32 years as an MHSAA assistant director. Honorees have championed the promotion and advancement of opportunities for women, minorities and other underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, while serving as an administrator, coach, official, educator or school sports leader in Michigan.
Carter, in her 10th year as principal at Novi High School, was selected as the first recipient of the Hampton Award by the Representative Council at its Fall meeting in December and will be recognized during the Boys Basketball Finals on March 16 at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
“As an advocate and strong proponent of athletics, I understand wholeheartedly the impact they have on the whole child,” Carter said. “This is a surreal moment for me, and I’m truly honored to be the recipient of this award, keeping in mind the impact Nate Hampton had on athletics in the state of Michigan over several decades – it’s very humbling.”
Carter began at Novi in 1999, teaching for eight years before moving into administration as dean of student activities for three years and then assistant principal for three. She became principal with the 2013-14 school year and leads a staff of 140 in educating more than 2,100 students.
While leading one of the state’s largest and most highly-regarded high schools – and one of Michigan’s most diverse, with her students’ families speaking more than 70 languages at home – Carter has provided her expertise through several more efforts. She served four years on the MHSAA Representative Council, from 2019-23, and as its vice president for the 2022-23 school year. She has served on the MHSAA’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and volleyball and classification committees, and presented at the annual Women In Sports Leadership Conference on social and emotional skill building. She also has served as president of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association.
“Nicole Carter serves with the mindset of providing opportunities for all students as the principal at one of the largest and most diverse high schools in Michigan, and students statewide benefitted from her leadership during her time as part of the Representative Council and Executive Committee,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “No matter the topic or details of a situation, Nicole looks at it from a rational point of view in deciding what’s best for kids. She continues to emphasize that academics must be the highest priority in a student’s education, and she can provide that perspective with a wider lens as someone with a strong background in and understanding of the role of athletics.”
Service through education is a tradition in Carter’s family. Her grandfather Charles Butler Nuckolls served as a principal in Kentucky for 40 years prior to desegregation. Her father Gene Nuckolls also spent 40 years in education, including as principal of Saginaw High School and assistant superintendent for Saginaw Public Schools, while Carter’s mother Shirley Nuckolls dedicated 40 years as a teacher, assistant principal and guidance counselor within the Saginaw district.
Carter’s selection for the Hampton Award is something of a full-circle moment for her family. Gene Nuckolls hired Hampton as supervisor of athletic and physical education for Saginaw Public Schools in 1987.
Carter was named Michigan High School Principal of the Year in 2022 by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) and Michigan Association of Student Councils and Honor Societies (MASC/MAHS). She additionally has been recognized as a Diversity Champion as part of The Community House honor roll recognition program, and was selected as an African American Educator of the Year by the Michigan Lottery in 2016. She also was recognized in 2017 by the Oakland County Coordinating Council Against Domestic Violence.
Drawing from her athletic background and perspective, Carter noted that she strives to be a coach and mentor – as well as a teacher of teachers and students as principal at her school.
She also has continually looked to create inclusive opportunities during her tenure, citing Novi’s Special Olympics Unified Sports program as a significant point of pride for the school.
“I always lead from the lens of equity and inclusion and accessibility, and I’m always trying to identify opportunities for students to find their place,” Carter said. “Ensuring every single student in our school has a sense of belonging is one of my top priorities as principal.”
Carter is a 1993 graduate of Saginaw Heritage, where she played basketball, soccer and softball. She earned bachelor’s degrees in political science, with a minor in English, and secondary education from Michigan State University in 1999 and her master’s in curriculum and instruction from MSU in 2001. She also has an educational leadership degree from Oakland University. Carter taught civics/economics and U.S. government and politics at Novi before moving into administration.
PHOTOS courtesy of Novi Community School District.