NFHS Voice: Lights Signal Thanks, Hope
April 24, 2020
By Karissa Niehoff
NFHS Executive Director
The closing of schools and the cancelling of spring activities is a disappointing end to high school for this year’s senior class. However, there is still reason for optimism.
We anticipate that senior athletes and activity participants in the class of 2020 will move on to the highest of leadership roles in their chosen professions in the years to come.
Prior to this year, these seniors have accrued the general benefits of high school sports and other activity programs in which students learn self-discipline, build self-confidence and develop skills for practical situations – teamwork, fair play and hard work. Not to mention that many have higher grade-point averages, better attendance records and are set for a higher success rate in their chosen careers.
Seniors in this year’s class, however, will be among the toughest graduates ever as their lives have been the bookends to two of the worst tragedies in our nation’s history. Born sometime during the 2001-02 school year, which began with the horrific events of September 11, 2001, these resilient 2020 graduates had an abrupt ending to their high school days with the ongoing national health crisis.
Understanding their disappointment of not getting to compete this spring, people from coast to coast are expressing their support for these high school students.
With an idea apparently born in Texas, further developed in Colorado and supported by many others during the past several weeks, lights at high school stadiums throughout the country have been brightening the night-time skies. The #BeALight hashtag accompanies post after post of schools participating in this recognition of seniors who are missing their final season of high school sports or performing arts.
In some cases, the lights come on at 8:20 (20:20 in military time) and glow for 20 minutes, 20 seconds – a connection to the 2020 spring season at hand. Currently, 38 states have officially cancelled spring sports and activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is likely more will follow.
Among the traditional spring sports of track & field, baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis and golf, almost three million girls and boys will be affected by this shutdown, including upward of one million seniors.
These lights have been turned on to say thanks to those seniors and to let them know they will be missed. Their contributions to high school activity programs will be remembered forever, and the benefits they received will guide them throughout their chosen careers.
Electric bills notwithstanding, perhaps these lights can burn for 20 minutes every night until the games return later this year. The lights signify hope – a hope that these lights will burn again this fall to showcase high school sports and performing arts.
While the timing of the return of high school sports and activities will rest with each state high school association in consultation with local governments and state health officials, the positive impact on communities nationwide will be tremendous. Once all the critical medical precautions have been addressed, high school sports and performing arts could take center stage once again. Although it is still too early to forecast the return of high school sports, its impact could be extraordinary.
With the loss of many non-school and club sport opportunities due to financial issues, high school sports and performing arts could fill an even larger void in the lives of our nation’s youth. And we look forward to that time ahead when student-athletes are on the field and fans are in the stands. Be safe. Stay healthy.
Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff is in her second year as executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is the first female to head the national leadership organization for high school athletics and performing arts activities and the sixth full-time executive director of the NFHS, which celebrated its 100th year of service during the 2018-19 school year. She previously was executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for seven years.
Century of School Sports: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 10, 2024
This Friday, December 13, 2024, the Michigan High School Athletic Association will commemorate its 100th anniversary, a special day selected from a milestone school year as the MHSAA continues to celebrate a “Century of School Sports.”
But why December 13?
Short answer: On that day, the first Representative Council of the newly-formed MHSAA met for the first time.
Longer explanation: The MHSAA’s predecessor – the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association – had provided oversight of school athletics from 1909-24, and adjourned its final annual meeting Dec. 5, 1924. The reasons for the end of the MIAA and formation of the MHSAA are fascinating on their own, and we’ll cover that at a later date.
But as for this important date we are discussing this week:
- At the end of the MIAA, all that remained was a committee elected to represent various sections of the state and various sizes and types of schools during the transition – a 12-member Representative Council.
- Prior to the MIAA’s conclusion, a basketball rules interpretation meeting had been scheduled and publicized for Saturday, Dec. 13, 1924, in Ann Arbor. Several athletic directors, basketball coaches and officials were expected to attend, and it was decided to also conduct the first meeting of the Representative Council that day as well.
- The Council meeting was held at the Michigan Union. Ten of 12 Council members were present, with the board including representatives from multiple regions and both peninsulas, schools large and small, public and nonpublic; junior high schools and the state department of education, and with expertise in physical education, administration and coaching – in essence, the same mix that makes up much of the Council a century later.
- Officers were elected, funds were transferred from the former MIAAA to the new MHSAA, a committee was appointed to begin discussing policies for junior high sports as they had begun to emerge, and the first Executive Committee – then known as the “Committee on Appeals” was formed to consider appeals of eligibility decisions made by the state director. The 1925 MHSAA Basketball Tournament was discussed and a committee formed to work toward those arrangements. Finally, a football eligibility situation was considered and a member school suspended, to be reinstated two months later after satisfying a series of conditions to make restitution for the use of ineligible players.
And the rest is history, with more made every year.
To commemorate this 100th anniversary, the MHSAA has received tributes from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, and the Michigan Legislature signed as well by Sen. Sam Singh and Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou from the MHSAA office’s legislative districts.
The gubernatorial declaration states in part, “We honor the MHSAA’s rich legacy and the countless athletes, coaches, and volunteers who have contributed to the success of Michigan high school sports. The MHSAA’s commitment to enhancing the lives of student-athletes and strengthening communities across the state is truly remarkable.”
The legislature’s proclamation adds, “May this day serve as a testament to the MHSAA’s remarkable achievements and its enduring commitment to the advancement of high school athletics and the well-being of student-athletes across Michigan.”
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
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 At left, gubernatorial and legislative commemorations recognize the MHSAA's 100th anniversary. At middle, the book "Athletics in Michigan High Schools - The First Hundred Years" is opened to the chapter introducing the early days of the MHSAA.