Rivaling for a Cause
January 25, 2013
It’s impossible to include all the perspective we gain from every “Battle of the Fans” visit.
But this anecdote, although it didn't make Tuesday’s story about our Frankenmuth trip, tells of another great example for what student cheering sections can accomplish.
Frankenmuth and Millington are heated rivals, to say the least, separated by 13 miles and made more competitive by plenty of championship-deciding matchups over the years.
But for their boys basketball game Jan. 10 at Frankenmuth, student section leaders from both schools almost completely on their own set up the game as a cancer awareness night, complete with Frankenmuth students in black shirts and Millington’s wearing pink.
The idea was the brainchild of a of Frankenmuth section leader, who then received help from a local bank and contacted Millington to get the ball rolling.
Battle of the Fans has shown us the obvious – these student sections need strong leaders – but also the special things they can accomplish with additional initiative.
“Never Forgotten”
Two more rivals, Fennville and Saugatuck, met late last month for their second “Never Forgotten” boys and girls basketball games with proceeds going to the Wes Leonard Heart Team for the purchase of AEDs.
Players wore jerseys with names on the backs of friends and family members who had died, and those jerseys were then given to family members after the games. Officials Ace Cover, Chris Dennie and Kyle Bowen also donated their game checks to the Heart Team, as did the winner of that night’s 50-50 raffle.
Leonard died from sudden cardiac arrest after making the game-winning shot in a basketball game March 3, 2011. The two schools played their first “Never Forgotten” games last season.
More support for less specialization
I’m asked once a year at least about sport specialization – that is, athletes focusing on just one sport, often from an early age, and if it pays off some way down the road.
Most of my evidence to support my belief in the well-rounded athlete has been anecdotal, based on conversations with people at the high school and college levels over the years. But a British study published this fall in the Journal of Sport Sciences by University of Birmingham researchers provides some interesting empirical findings.
The study of 1,006 people from the United Kingdom showed that those who participated in three sports at ages 11, 13 and 15 were “significantly more likely to compete at a national rather than club standard” between ages 16-18 than those who had practiced only one sport.
In other words, the study found that those who played more sports at earlier ages played at a higher level during their high school-age years, which seems to contradict the one-sport focus philosophy.
Click for more perspective on the study from Chris Kennedy, the Superintendent of Schools in West Vancouver, British Columbia.
PHOTO: The boys and girls teams for Fennville and Saugatuck pose together after their "Never Forgotten" games Dec. 21 at Fennville High. (Photo courtesy of Al LaShell.)
South Lyon United's Radcliffe Approaching Milestone Win, Another History-Making Moment
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 7, 2026
Originally, Deanna Radcliffe got into coaching lacrosse simply because it was a nice summer job.
From that simple beginning, Radcliffe is now on the verge of making high school sports history within the state of Michigan.
No girls or boys lacrosse coach has reached 300 career victories since the sport became MHSAA-sponsored in 2005. But Radcliffe is oh-so-close. Following a win over Haslett on Wednesday, Radcliffe has 299 career victories.
The milestone 300th win likely will come Saturday when South Lyon United plays in a tournament at Saline.
In order to get their names etched in the record book, any high school coach in Michigan has had to reach at least 300 wins since the MHSAA brought the sport into its championship lineup. So Radcliffe is literally about to become the first and only coach in the MHSAA coaching records for lacrosse.
Radcliffe is in her 10th season coaching for South Lyon Unified and also coached at Hartland from 2013 to 2022. This is actually her second stint at South Lyon, where she spent seven years as head coach before taking the Hartland job.
“It just means I’ve been doing this for a long time,” Radcliffe said. “What it really represents to me is all the players, coaches and families I’ve had the opportunity to coach. I’ve been fortunate to coach in an area that was willing to embrace the sport. I have been able to catch some really great teams and athletes across all levels from youth to high school and even collegiately. That’s the part that means the most, those relationships and experiences. The wins are just a byproduct of that.”
Radcliffe got her start in lacrosse very young, saying she picked up the game at 3-4 years old while growing up in Pennsylvania. She was introduced to the game by her aunt.
“It just became part of my life early on,” she said.
Radcliffe eventually became good enough as a player to earn a college opportunity, ultimately being named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2003 while playing for Temple.
Radcliffe eventually started a career as a special education teacher and was a high school coach in Pennsylvania before moving to Michigan in 2006, where she has coached club, high school and even college lacrosse as she spent time as an assistant at Cleary University.
“I just enjoyed being around the game and the competitive environment, so I kept doing it,” Radcliffe said of what has kept her coaching. “Over time, it stopped being something I was just doing in the summers and became something I really valued and stayed connected to. It’s grown naturally from there, and I’ve been fortunate to continue coaching while also working in education.”
The most noteworthy win of her career came last June, when South Lyon Unified earned a 6-3 Division 1-clinching victory over Hartland to give Radcliffe her first MHSAA Finals championship as head coach in a matchup between the two programs she built up.
South Lyon Unified is 18-0 this season and has won 39 straight games going back to last spring's opener.
“She has so much knowledge of the sport and really cares for each and every one of us,” said South Lyon United senior captain Teagan Wesner. “Deanna has been one of the best coaches I have ever had, and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to play for her. I am very happy for Deanna, and I am excited to be a part of the team who helped her reach 300 wins.”
When Radcliffe first arrived in Michigan, lacrosse was in its first years as a sanctioned sport by the MHSAA. Now, she has seen it grow by leaps and bounds.
“One of the most rewarding parts has been seeing the long-term impact,” she said. “Many of the players I once coached are now youth, high school or college coaches themselves. Some are officials, and some I’m even coaching against or alongside now. That’s been incredibly meaningful and really speaks to the strength of the community the sport has built.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Deanna Radcliffe, here during the 2025 Division 1 Final, has reached 299 career coaching wins. (Middle) Radcliffe raises the championship trophy after last season’s clincher.