Century of School Sports: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules?
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 18, 2024
MHSAA administrators are two trips into their annual seven-stop fall tour that has become a tradition during nearly half of the Association’s “Century of School Sports” – and this year, a focus has been on answering a key question at the heart of educational athletics since long before the MHSAA was formed during the 1924-25 school year.
The MHSAA’s Update meeting series is in its 47th year and includes half-day conferences in seven locations – generally in the Kalamazoo, Metro Detroit, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, northern Lower Peninsula and mid-Michigan areas, and at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. The six Lower Peninsula sessions begin with an athletic director in-service during which MHSAA assistant directors explain recent rules changes and discuss challenges our administrators face on a daily basis (with Upper Peninsula athletic directors participating in a similar in-service during the spring).
Those in-services are followed by a session with executive director Mark Uyl, who speaks to athletic directors, superintendents, principals and school board members on a variety of topics including the MHSAA’s current objectives and ideas for the future, while also reinforcing the longstanding values that remain the bedrock of our daily work.
And that leads to the question he’s presenting across the state this fall:
Why does the MHSAA have these rules?
Frankly, the answer goes back to the beginning of school sports in Michigan – all the way back to 1895, when the first MHSAA predecessor organization was formed.
The first MHSAA Representative Council president Lewis L. Forsythe explained in his book “Athletics in Michigan High Schools – The First Hundred Years” how regulations always have been necessary:
“Eligibility rules are a necessity in interscholastic competition. It was common acknowledgement of this fact that led to the first State inter-school organization in 1895. The rules at first were few, simple and liberal. But with the passing of the years they came to be more numerous, more complex, and more restrictive, again through common acknowledgment of desirability if not of necessity.”
That necessity – and the reasoning behind it – has not changed.
Two main points explain why rules are absolutely imperative for educational athletics to thrive.
► 1. Participation – through providing as many opportunities as possible for students to play – has been the mission of school sports since their start. Rules contribute to the value of participation.
If there are requirements for children to participate in athletics – for example, an academic standard or rules that dissuade students from switching schools every year – then school sports programs mean more to all involved.
If we raise the bar, raise the standards of eligibility and conduct, we raise the value of our school sports programs. If we lower the bar, we lower the value of being part of school sports – because without rules, contest results are meaningless, and the value of participating is diminished.
► 2. We have rules where the stakes are higher, and agreement is lower – because where the stakes are highest, there is the greatest tendency for some people to try to gain an unfair advantage, and the greatest need for rules to curb possible dishonest activity.
This statement goes to the heart of the history, rationale and application of MHSAA rules. Obviously and simply put, school sports mean a lot to those who take part, and that significance is high enough to stoke disagreement – and we need rules to govern those disagreements. We have the most rules for high school sports, where championships are at stake and the possibility of disagreement is greatest.
***
Finally – and perhaps providing the strongest reinforcement of the two points above – is this:
Schools choose to make MHSAA rules their own.
Quite literally, school districts vote annually to be part of the MHSAA – and confirming this voluntary membership comes with the requirement to follow all MHSAA rules.
When schools challenge our rules, they literally are seeking to break the rules they already have committed to uphold.
These rules, and this commitment, are the strength of our organization across 752 member high schools and several hundred more middle schools and junior high schools. They have been constructed on a century of precedents and after considerations by representatives of those same member schools – representatives those schools have voted to elect every school year during the MHSAA’s history.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
English's Hall of Fame Contributions to St. Francis Continue Behind Camera Lens
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
October 9, 2025
The name Julie English is now synonymous with Traverse City St. Francis football.
English spent her first two decades contributing to the school behind the scenes, helping the Gladiators launch boys and girls soccer programs, and scoring volleyball and basketball. She served as team manager for boys and girls soccer and even bus driver, so to speak, for the latter.
She’s also very noticeable on the sidelines of football, soccer and volleyball games, taking pictures with the aid of a motorized wheelchair.
This past Saturday, she was front and center. She was inducted into the Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools Hall of Fame – established in 2007 to recognize individuals who inspire others by being exemplary role models.
English was paralyzed 10 years ago as she reached the end of a zip line while chaperoning a girls soccer team trip weeks ahead of the 2015 season. Many recall snow on the ground as she went first, intending to take pictures of the team as they planned to follow. She decided to go first that March day despite a fear of heights.
“It was all part of God's plan because I am afraid of heights – I really had to talk myself into going on the zip line,” said English, who considers it a freak accident and doesn’t discourage anyone from giving zip lining a try. “I was thinking, you know, I'm trying to convince these girls to step outside their comfort zone. And if I'm too afraid to do something like that, what kind of an example am I? So I breathed it and went up and actually it was fun – until it wasn't.“
Past TCSF athletic director Tom Hardy introduced English at the induction ceremony last weekend. He lauded the “amazing women he had the privilege” of working with during his 18-year tenure.
“While such a devastating event might have broken many, it only served to strengthen Julie's unwavering faith,” Hardy said. “She approaches each day with grace, fully aware of the challenges ahead, yet she embraces them with joy, love, and laughter. Following her accident, Julie dove deeper into her passion of photography.”
English now generously volunteers her time capturing St. Francis athletic events and creating lasting memories for students and their families through her lens, leaving school officials, coaches, players and supporters in awe.
Current TCSF athletic director Aaron Biggar has personally been touched by English’s work, through her photographs of his boys playing football for St. Francis. He’s thrilled to have English for home game, and she also travels to – and is welcomed by – volleyball, football and soccer opponents.
“Julie’s ability to capture those life events for parents who are watching the game and not taking pictures, has been such a gift for our community,” Biggar said. “She's been around so long and (is) so accepted by our community. And even by opposing teams, they allow her to be on the field and make precautions and stuff so she can. Our opponents in other schools have also been so accommodating of her and helping.”
English was at Thirlby Field last week capturing the Glads’ big Homecoming win over Boyne City, 20-13. She won’t be on the road tonight as the Glads put their undefeated football record on the line against Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. But she will be back on the football sidelines Oct. 18 when St. Francis hosts Jackson Lumen Christi. And she’ll also be on the sidelines next week when the boys soccer team continues what it hopes will be another deep run into the postseason.
English’s humility, deep faith, and enduring optimism have had a profound and lasting impact, supporters note. Not surprisingly, her biggest concern as she takes pictures today is not her safety – it is the safety of the home and visiting athletes.
“I think sometimes I make people nervous, but I am always cognizant of what's going on, because the last thing I want to do is hurt anybody, like, have them run into me and then get hurt,” English said. “I want to be where I can get a good picture, but definitely not where someone could get injured if they ran into me.”
English’s photos are treasures for St. Francis families, points out Mike Kanitz, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside English. In fact, he nominated her. Kanitz is the junior varsity girls basketball coach, volleyball game manager, volleyball announcer and volleyball scorekeeper, football press box manager, and the Glads’ soccer game manager.
“Julie’s ability to capture time for SF families, I mean, is priceless,” said Kanitz, who also can be found at the scorer’s table for boys basketball. “She catches kids in their level of joy, and it's cool. It's a snapshot in time, and she does it for every family. I mean, this is all free. She posts it all free. She doesn’t charge anybody. And she she's such a hard worker. She's everywhere.”
Kanitz vividly recalls English’s efforts to bring soccer to St. Francis. It happened in 2002. The Glads first had a club team coached by volunteer Reggie Rix.
“She had to fight some hurdles and it was a lot of work, and to start a new sport – her vision was the correct vision,” Kanitz said. “There were coaches, but Julie was really the one that took care of everything. Julie was fair to all children. She wanted all kids to have that good experience of high school sports.”
Kanitz, one of many who regularly see English’s photos and read her inspiring messages on social media, finds it difficult to think about the zip line accident. His daughter was one of the St. Francis soccer players waiting to come down the line next.
“It's still hard for me to actually think about and talk about, but Julie's handled it better than anybody,” he said. “Her faith in God is so strong, and her message she writes … these Facebook stories about where she's at in her journey … they're moving and people read them, and it affects people.”
Early on, Julie recognized the vital importance of a Catholic education for her children and committed herself wholeheartedly to making it a reality, Hardy recalled. In addition to operating a full-time in-home daycare for more than 30 years, she worked weekends to help make ends meet and ensure that her four children – Ian, Caitlin, Jordan and Chelsea – remained enrolled in the Catholic schools.
As the owner of a daycare business, English drove a 12-passenger blue van. She often emptied the car seats in time to get 11 players – including Caitlin and Chelsea – to soccer games wherever TCSF was playing.
Caitlin English played on the first TCSF girls soccer team in 2002. She presented Hardy with a petition to offer soccer, signed by St. Francis athletes. As a club, English is proud to say, the team won all 17 of its games. When soccer became a school-sponsored varsity sport a year later, it was a cooperative with Traverse City Christian called Liberty.
Ian English was on the field for St. Francis boys’ first game, played through a co-op also with TC Christian during the fall of 2008. Chelsea English also played soccer for the Glads. Jordan English played rugby.
Ian, Jordan and Chelsea were at Julie’s induction ceremony. Caitlin, now living in the Grand Rapids area, was unable to attend because she is coaching soccer for her own daughter, Emilia, although Julie’s son-in-law did attend.
English gets around today with a vehicle adapted for her. She is supported regularly by Ian and Chelsea, along with a mother of nearby Kingsley High School athletes. She’s been spotted on the sidelines taking pictures at Kingsley volleyball and soccer matches, too. English also has been able to get to Grand Rapids and capture her granddaughter’s early soccer days with her camera.
She is enjoying a new beginning with soccer as well as her newer role for the Glads.
“Back in the day, I was able to run the clock, take pictures and do the book,” English said. “I don't think my brain would handle all of that now, but, you know, it was it was fun to do at the time. Not being able to do daycare anymore and not being able to do the things I did at St. Francis are the hardest things about being in a wheelchair – just not being able to do all the things I used to do.”
This spring marked the 10-year anniversary of the accident. English said she never asks, “Why me?” Rather, she is determined to can find the good and take advantage it.
Hardy agreed.
“Julie has said, ‘Never doubt who and what God puts in front of you,’” Hardy said. “This encapsulates the guiding ethos of her life.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Longtime Traverse City St. Francis supporter Julie English readies for her next shot while attending a Gladiators football game this season. (Middle) English captures a few frames. (Below) English recently was inducted into the Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools Hall of Fame. (Top two photos by Rick Sack/TC Rick Photo. Below photo by Tom Spencer.)