Special Year Thanks to No Specialization
August 7, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As we embark on another sports-filled school year Monday, we can look to a recent Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central grad for the value of a school year filled with sports.
As specialization at the highs school level continues to be debated, Bryce Windham will start his college baseball career this fall at Division I Old Dominion University – after playing baseball but also football and basketball for the Falcons.
The MHSAA has long advocated athletes taking on as many sports as they have interest instead of focusing on just one in pursuit of a college scholarship – a position that’s received plenty of public backing of late, be it from stars of the U.S. women’s soccer team after their World Cup championship run or former Lansing Waverly multi-sport athlete John Smoltz during his enshrinement in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Enter Windham – who easily could’ve been excused for focusing on baseball, or even basketball as his dad is the St. Mary’s varsity boys coach. Instead, Bryce quarterbacked the football team to last season’s Division 6 championship – breaking Ithaca’s national-best 69-game winning streak in the Final – before being named Class C Player of the Year by The Associated Press in basketball and earning a Most Valuable Player honor at the baseball state coaches association all-star game at Comerica Park this spring.
All three of Windham's teams reached at least the MHSAA Quarterfinals.
“His participation in football and basketball helped land a Division 1 baseball scholarship to Old Dominion. They were able to see his athleticism in basketball and toughness in football, and ODU’s coach loved it,” dad and hoops coach Randy Windham said.
“He probably would’ve given up football, and that ended up his greatest memory by winning a state championship.”
Click to read about Windham’s multitude of accomplishments as reported last month by the Monroe Evening News.
Honors Abound
National coaching honors were bestowed on a trio of Michigan coaches over the summer:
- Retired Trenton ice hockey coach Mike Turner – the winningest hockey coach in MHSAA history with a record of 629-126-52 from 1974-81 and then 1995-2014 – was named National Coach of the Year in Special Sports by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. His teams won 11 MHSAA titles and finished runner-up four times. “I was there when the MHSAA added hockey as one of their sanctioned sports and crowned their first MHSAA state championships in 1975. At that time there were 60-70 high school teams participating, and now there are 170,” Turner said. “It has been great to be a part of the advancements made in the sport of high school hockey, with more teams participating, more player development, and more opportunities that exist for players after high school.”
- Traverse City Central boys track and field and cross country coach John Lober won his second national coaching honor of the 2014-15 school year, named the NHSACA Coach of the Year for track and field to go with a previous honor earned in January from the National Federation of State High School Associations. He has coached the Traverse City Central boys track and field team since 1977 and also the boys cross country team since 1989. His 1992 track team won the Class A championship, and he has coached 17 individual MHSAA Finals champions. He was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006.
- Ann Arbor Pioneer assistant girls swimming and diving coach Liz Hill was named the Assistant Coach of the Year for all girls sports by the NHSACA. Hill, a former All-American at the University of Michigan and standout sprinter at Pioneer, began assisting her husband Denny Hill in 1983 before becoming his fulltime assistant a few seasons later. Together they’ve led the Pioneers girls to 15 MHSAA team titles, the last two as co-head coaches.
Michigan Mourns
Fremont and the high school athletic community statewide mourned the death July 21 of longtime coach Rich Tompkins, who led Fremont’s boys cross country teams to six MHSAA cross country championships including three and a runner-up finish during his last decade of coaching before retiring in 1997.
The Muskegon Chronicle reported that his boys and girls cross country teams and boys track and field team combined for 45 league championships, with his boys cross country team winning 116 straight duals from 1977-88. Tompkins was executive director of the Michigan High School Coaches Association for more than a decade and served on its board for more than two decades.
Click to read more from the Chronicle on Tompkins’ legacy.
Officials in the News
The Monroe County Officials Association took to the county fair to encourage passers-by to “Be the Referee” – and received 47 sign-ups from people interested in the avocation. Visitors to an MCOA booth at the fair were told in some detail what is involved with being an MHSAA official, and those who then signed up to find out more about officiating football, basketball, baseball or softball (sports the MCOA trains for and schedules) will be invited to an orientation session where they will become eligible for one of 20 complimentary registration fees for this school year.
The West Michigan Officials Association marked a decade of support at the start of this summer for the Visually Impaired Sports and Activity Day, sponsored by the Helen DeVos Children’s Foundation. The WMOA has contributed nearly $18,000 to the event over the last 10 years as well as taking part in the event, which includes a number of sports and other activities.
The Saginaw Athletic Officials Association sent along this photo of five members who worked 2013-14 MHSAA Finals, from left: Mark Jarlock (baseball), Tom Behmlander (softball), Scott Helmka (football), Dale Brown (softball and football) and Mark Schoenow (football). The Baseball Final was Jarlock’s first; the other officials had worked Finals in the past.
PHOTO: (Top) Monroe St. Mary quarterback Bryce Windham unloads a pass during last season's Division 6 Final win over Ithaca at Ford Field.
East Kentwood Run Part of Memorable Start on Knuble's Way to NHL, Olympics
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
July 24, 2024
KENTWOOD – It’s been more than 30 years since the 1990 Class A championship hockey game was played in Flint.
However, Mike Knuble still recalls vividly a key moment that helped East Kentwood upset favored Trenton.
“One of our players scored on a fluky bounce with about seven or eight minutes left,” said Knuble, who recorded a hat trick in the 5-4 victory. “(Trenton) threw everything at us after that, and somehow we held them off and they weren’t able to score. Our goalie had a heck of a game, and it happened to be our night.”
The state title was the program’s first. It also marked the final game of a remarkable high school career for Knuble, who would eventually go on to have a lengthy career in the NHL.
The Falcons had lost in the 1989 Semifinals to Flint Powers Catholic, which helped fuel their run to the championship game the following season.
“We felt we should be there as a team,” said the 52-year-old Knuble, who tallied an eye-popping 103 points (63 goals/40 assists) his senior year.
“We got by Flint Powers, and the question was if we could win the final game. Trenton had a nice program for a number of years, and a lot of history. We wanted to keep it close and then hang on.”
The emergence of the East Kentwood hockey program, guided by legendary coach Ron Baum, was a community initiative.
“We had a real grassroots effort in the 80s to get a youth program started, and that filtered to the high school,” said Knuble. “We built the rink by hand, and I remember hauling hoses into the building for the sand flooring. It was a unique time in Kentwood with the amount of focus on the program and buy-in from the community.
“It was a real nice high school to play for in the late 80s and early 90s, and we always had competitive teams and nice players. We played a lot of hockey when we were younger.”
In 1991, Knuble was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the fourth round, 76th overall, and played the next four seasons at University of Michigan.
He earned Central Collegiate Hockey Association second-team honors twice and was named an NCAA West All-American in 1995.
“I was pretty raw so I had to develop my skills as a player, and someone in the Red Wings organization identified some potential in me,” Knuble said. “It’s one thing to be drafted and another thing to sign a pro contract, so the good thing was Michigan gave me a longer runway to develop as a player on and off the ice. It gave me extra time to get my game in order in the right environment under a great coach.”
Knuble made his NHL debut on March 26,1997, against the Colorado Avalanche. He played nine games, but not during the playoffs as the Red Wings went on to win their first Stanley Cup championship since 1955.
Knuble made the roster the following year and was a part of Detroit’s 1998 team that won the Stanley Cup for the second straight season.
“I didn't have a huge hand in it; the players that were there really drove that bus, and we were younger guys,” Knuble said. “We had a lot of fun and enjoyed ourselves, but at the end of the day you know who really won things and it was a great experience as a young player.
“You learn what it takes to be a pro, you watch how guys operate and how a winning team works. Everyone accepted their roles.”
Knuble, who resides in the Grand Rapids area, would ultimately play 16 seasons in the NHL with Detroit, the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers.
He played in 1,068 games and scored 278 goals along with 270 assists.
“As a player you go through cycles,” Knuble said. “Your first step is to get a foothold in the league and try to get in the league, and the second one is to stay there.
“And the third one is to be an everyday guy, and then fourth is to sign repeat contracts and play for as long as you can. And then you become one of the old guys. When I was younger I saw players who had their kids in the room, and I said that I wanted to play as long as that guy. I wanted to do that, and it means you've played for a long time.”
Knuble also was a member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team and won four world championships with Team USA.
“It’s a year-to-year, day-to-day business in pro sports, and it can go south at any time, but I got a lot out of it and had some great experiences,” Knuble said. ”I played in a lot of great cities, met a lot of great people and played a ton of games. It was a really good run, and we had kids and they were old enough to remember stuff and experience that, too.
“I played until I was 40, and if you are going to play until you're 40, you really don't have a lot to complain about.”
Knuble had been an assistant coach with the Grand Rapids Griffins for several years, but stepped away in order to spend time with his three children. He watches his two sons play collegiate hockey while also assisting a local youth hockey program.
Cam is in his fifth year at Western Michigan University, and Cole is beginning his second season at Notre Dame. Anna is a student at Michigan State University.
“I had two kids playing college and a daughter in the middle of college, so I learned to like my flexibility,” Knuble said. “I took last year off and now help with the Fox Motors program that has 15 and 16-year-olds. I’m staying in the game, just trying to help young players find their way and make decisions whether to play juniors or high school.”
After Knuble played his final season with the Flyers in 2012-13, he had the opportunity to coach both of his sons.
“That was really important to me,” he said. “I had many opportunities to work full time, but I wanted to be around to coach my sons and do the driving and take them places. To see where they could be as players. I played long enough where I could make a decision like that and take that route.”
Knuble is enjoying ‘the college life’ as he travels around supporting his children.
“We are seeing a lot of college campuses with tailgating and hockey games, and it’s been a lot of fun,” Knuble said. “Both have great hockey environments, and both are lucky to play in different types of programs. We’ve been very fortunate to have them play and go down to see them.
“That’s why I didn’t want to get locked into something fulltime where you wish you were watching them play versus what you’re doing.”
2024 Made In Michigan
July 22: Monroe High Memories Remain Rich for Michigan's 1987 Mr. Baseball - Read
July 17: Record-Setting Viney Gained Lifelong Confidence at Marine City - Read
July 11: High School 'Hoop Squad' Close to Heart as Hughes Continues Coaching Climb - Read
July 10: Nightingale Embarking on 1st Season as College Football Head Coach - Read
June 28: E-TC's Witt Bulldozing Path from Small Town to Football's Biggest Stage - Read
PHOTOS At left, East Kentwood’s Mike Knuble as a high school senior in 1990, and at right with his family. (Photos provided by Mike Knuble.)