'Prepapalooza' Kicks Off 3-Week Celebration
May 31, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Nearly 30,000 athletes will take part over the next six days in what will again be the busiest week of the MHSAA calendar, with teams in all nine spring sports competing for District, Regional or Finals championships at sites across both peninsulas.
The first Finals champions of this spring will be awarded Wednesday in Upper Peninsula boys tennis (UPDATE: both U.P. tennis Finals have been moved to Thursday due to rainy weather concerns), followed by six more in Upper Peninsula boys and girls golf Thursday. Four divisions of Lower Peninsula girls tennis start their two-day tournament Friday, and on Saturday, more than 7,000 athletes will join them competing in four Lower and three Upper Peninsula Track & Field Finals.
In addition, baseball, softball and girls soccer teams begin District action tonight, with most of those tournaments wrapping Saturday. Girls and boys lacrosse teams continue Regional play this week, and Lower Peninsula boys golf teams will play Regionals on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Second Half again will serve as your home for all MHSAA Finals coverage, with correspondents providing stories and photos, along with full results, from all of the Upper Peninsula Finals this week and then all 18 LP and UP Finals this weekend, Lacrosse and LP Golf Finals on June 14, and Baseball, Softball and Soccer Finals being played June 19-21.
Check back as well for video highlights from most competitions and sign up to watch all broadcast tournament action over the next three weeks for only $9.95 on MHSAA.tv. All schedules, lists of competitors and tournament brackets updated with scores real-time can be found on MHSAA.com. Keep connected as well with the MHSAA’s social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PHOTO: The Unionville-Sebewaing softball team celebrates last season's Division 4 championship.
Soccer Hall of Famer Seitz, NFL Analyst Pereira Headline Officiate Michigan Day 2026
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 14, 2026
Officiate Michigan Day 2026 will welcome more than 1,000 Michigan High School Athletic Association-registered game officials July 25 to DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, where they will receive knowledge and instruction from several high-profile voices headlined by recent National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee Kari Seitz – a Brighton High School graduate – and one of television’s most recognizable rules analysts, Mike Pereira.
Officiate Michigan Day is designed to benefit officials with any level of experience, veteran to beginner. High-profile clinicians representing several sports and all levels including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, FIFA and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) will provide face-to-face training during four sport-specific breakout sessions throughout the conference.
Pereira, a past collegiate and NFL football official who also has served as the NFL’s vice president of officiating, will present the opening address at 9 a.m. He has provided his knowledge during FOX Sports football broadcasts since 2010, explaining rules scenarios on-air as situations unfold in-game.
Seitz, also a graduate of Michigan State University, refereed Women’s World Cups in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 and Olympics tournaments in 2004, 2008 and 2012, and will deliver the conference’s closing message. She’s currently the vice president of refereeing for U.S. Soccer and formerly served as FIFA’s heading of refereeing.
This will be the third Officiate Michigan Day, joining events in 2013 and 2018. OMD 2026 will accompany the annual National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) Summit that will take place July 26-28, also at DeVos Place.
Officials may continue to register on the Officials page. Cost is $50. Additional details, including the full lineup of speakers and clinicians, also is available at that link.