Minding Our Business: Focus on Mental Health
December 30, 2019
By Mark Uyl
MHSAA Executive Director
For as long as I can remember, rules have played an important role in my life.
My father officiated high school and youth sports. So my brother and I did the same, and were fortunate enough to earn the right to work contests at the collegiate level. Today, my sons are officiating high school and youth sports.
I was hired by the MHSAA as an assistant director in large part due to my officiating background. Rules and regulations remain the backbone of athletics specifically, and society in general, as I learned more acutely when I entered the working world as a teacher and coach, then school administrator.
What also became abundantly clear to me within that framework was that it is our responsibility to provide our students not only the opportunity for competition, but also for our games and practices to take place under the safest conditions possible. From preseason physicals to equipment inventory and facility maintenance, a premium was placed on the well-being of participants and spectators.
Throughout my time at the MHSAA, various initiatives continued to target the growing list of health and safety concerns. My predecessor, Jack Roberts, often pointed to the “4 Hs” of the MHSAA’s health and safety campaign: Health Histories (Physicals), Heat and Hydration, Heads, and Hearts. Those pillars still hold the bulk of the content and resources on the Health & Safety resource pages of MHSAA.com. A few years ago, an extensive section promoting multi-sport participation was developed as an increasing amount of overuse injuries among single-sport athletes was being reported.
This fall, another section has been added as a sub-category to “Heads.” While attending an NCAA meeting in the summer of 2017, the topic of concussions came up, which I assumed to be the No. 1 issue concerning health and safety of student-athletes. It was quickly pointed out that student mental health – not concussions – had become the top health concern among our young people. That knocked me back.
Medical personnel have determined that depression, anxiety and other issues related to mental health are the No. 1 concern among adolescent-age children. There’s a real opportunity to provide some leadership and guidance in this area.
We need to offer resources on the subject, and also be prepared to provide guidance for our membership. The MHSAA has developed a Mental Health Speakers Bureau (please visit our Health & Safety page online). The first statewide Student Mental Health Summit scheduled for Lansing in October provided an opportunity for school principals, counselors, student leadership advisers and student leaders to convene on the topic.
The gathering was quickly sold out, indicating not only the growing nature of concern for this issue, but once again displaying the willingness of our educational leaders to recognize and react to another challenge.
This week, Second Half will publish the latest benchmarks report on the MHSAA’s mental health initiatives and those being undertaken by other states as well.
Century of School Sports: These Record-Setters Were Nearly Impossible to Defeat
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 13, 2025
Most days, across Michigan high school sports and athletics at every level, a rare big-time upset is going to grab a bigger headline over yet another win by a usual favorite that comes out on top all the time.
But today, we’re going to celebrate teams that have made winning something of a daily routine over long stretches during the MHSAA’s 100-year run.
For the majority of head-to-head team sports, the MHSAA tracks winning streaks and lists the longest in their respective record books. And while all making those lists are impressive, the longest seem almost inconceivable.
Let’s start with the 192-match winning streak by Marysville from Dec. 10, 1996, through Jan. 15. 2000, the longest by number of victories. That incredible run made up most of the first half of an also incredible eight-straight Class B Finals championship seasons for the Vikings. Three others volleyball teams have won at least 92 straight matches, but none more than 98.
Traverse City Central girls tennis’ 107-dual match winning streak from 1989-2000 is the longest by length of time, and the only other to reach triple digits for total wins – with a seven-year, 71-match run by the Okemos boys tennis team from 1990-97 also reaching toward nearly a decade of similar success.
Several more have approached the 100-consecutive-win milestone. Hudsonville Unity Christian girls soccer won 86 straight games from 2005-08, and actually was 97-0-1 over those four seasons. The Allen Park Cabrini softball team won 80 straight games during the 2006-08 seasons, the Powers North Central boys basketball team won 84 straight games between 2014-17, and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s baseball team became our latest winning streak record-setter with 84 straight victories from May 1, 2021 through May 3, 2023.
Okemos is the one of only two schools with two record winning streaks, having also won 64 straight girls lacrosse games from March 21, 2009, through May 3, 2011. The other is North Central, which also won 41 straight 8-player football games between Sept. 18, 2020, and Sept. 15 2023, with many of the same athletes who played on the record-setting boys basketball team.
Also from the Upper Peninsula, Carney-Nadeau’s girls basketball teams of 1989-91 held on to their record of 78 consecutive wins despite a 76-victory pursuit by Pittsford from 2015-18. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice won the first 13 Division 1 boys lacrosse championships, and the early years of that run included a 29-game winning streak during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
The record holders in boys soccer and 11-player football require a little bit of explanation. While Genesee Christian owns the boys soccer winning streak record of 33 from 2015 and beginning of the 2016 season, Detroit Country Day easily outpaces the rest for longest unbeaten streak in that sport having gone 69-0-10 between 1991-94.
Hudson football also remains legendary for its record streaks of 72 straight wins (including playoffs) from 1968-1975 and 81 straight during the regular season from 1968-1977 – although that playoff era streak included only one playoff win, as the Tigers won their Semifinal in 1975 but fell to Ishpeming in the inaugural Class C title game. The longest football playoff streak built entirely during the playoff era belongs to Ithaca, which won 69 straight games beginning with its opener in 2010 and ending in the 2014 Division 6 championship game as the Yellowjackets pursued what would have been a fifth-straight title in that division.
The lack of winning streak lists in wrestling and ice hockey are a noticeable gaps in this collection. Those lists hopefully will be constructed in the future.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
May 6: 200+ Representatives Fill All-Time Council Roster - Read
April 29: MHSAA Programs Prioritize Health & Safety - Read
April 23: Patches Signify Registered Officials' Role in MHSAA Story - Read
April 16: Student Advisory Council Gives Voice to Athletes - Read
April 9: State's Storytellers Share Spring Memories - Read
April 2: Sharp Leadership Synonymous with MHSAA Success - Read
March 25: Athletic Directors Indispensable to Mission of School Sports - Read
March 18: 2025 Finals Begin Next Half-Century of Girls Hoops Championships - Read
March 11: Boys Basketball's Best 1st to Earn MHSAA Finals Titles - Read
March 5: Everything We Do Begins with Participation - Read
Feb. 25: Slogans & Logos Remain Unforgettable Parts of MHSAA History - Read
Feb. 19: MHSAA Tickets Continue to Provide Fan-Friendly Value - Read
Feb. 11: We Recognize Those Who Make Our Games Go - Read
Feb. 4: WISL Conference Continues to Inspire Aspiring Leaders - Read
Jan. 28: Michigan's National Impact Begins at NFHS' Start - Read
Jan. 21: Awards Celebrate Well-Rounded Educational Experience - Read
Jan. 14: Predecessors Laid Foundation for MHSAA's Formation - Read
Jan. 9: MHSAA Blazes Trail Into Cyberspace - Read
Dec. 31: State's Storytellers Share Winter Memories - Read
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time - Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate - Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
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
PHOTOS Clockwise from top left: Allen Park Cabrini catcher Amanda Chidester celebrates her team's 2007 softball championship. (2) Genesee Christian's Caleb DuPree (11) controls possession as Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep's Kawika Singson pursues during their 2015 championship match. (3) Shaleene Glombowski sets for Marysville during the 1998 Class B Final. (4) The 1995 Okemos boys tennis team takes a photo after clinching another Finals championship. (5) Carney-Nadeau's Jill Wetthuhn drives against Fowler during the 1990 Class D Final.