NFHS Voice: Planning with Patience
May 30, 2020
By Karissa Niehoff
NFHS Executive Director
For several weeks, Americans have been awaiting answers to several questions. When will restaurants restart dine-in services? When will hair salons and gyms be open? When will people be able to congregate for worship services? And, of course, when will education-based sports and performing arts programs return?
And the answer to the all-important last question is the same as the first three – it varies from state to state.
If there was ever any doubt about the popularity and interest in high school sports and performing arts – and how much these programs have been missed during the past three months – it was erased last week as the NFHS released its Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities document.
The response was non-stop through the mainstream media as well as our social media platforms as the first nationwide discussion about the return of high school sports and other activities was in full swing.
Since that disappointing week in mid-March when it seemed like all of life came to a halt, millions of people – from high school students, coaches, parents, administrators, officials and fans – have been looking forward to the return of school-based sports and other activity programs. And the guidance document offered some hope that soon the light at the end of tunnel will not be the oncoming train we have felt for many weeks.
Now, state high school associations are developing timetables and protocols for return of activities in their states. And those guidelines will be different from state to state. This is not a one-size-fits-all plan. Depending on the specific circumstances of a state with respect to the containment of the virus, its progression through the various phases of returning to activities could be much different than another state.
As the guidance document developed by the NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee noted, our hope is that students can return to school-based athletics and activities in any and all situations where it can be done smartly. When it comes to education-based sports and performing arts within our nation’s schools, nothing is more important than the health and safety of the participants AND the individuals conducting those programs.
Some individuals have expressed concern that our guidance document is too cautious, noting that some non-school youth programs have already restarted in some areas.
In one state this past week, a non-school sports program was allowed to restart because the “data shows children are less affected by the coronavirus.” While the preponderance of evidence shows that to be true, plans in education-based activities will include also protection for adults who coach, officiate and administer those events, which may be seen as a more conservative approach.
Within high school sports, the drive of coaches and dreams of parents cannot run ahead of player safety. Last week, a successful high school football coach with three previous state titles was suspended for allegedly holding practices. And there have been reports of parents considering moving to another state with fewer COVID-19 cases to enhance the chance of their son playing football and earning a college scholarship.
The NFHS, through its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, took action in developing its Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities document. The various state high school associations are taking action in the coming weeks in developing plans for a return to activities at the state level.
Now, we would ask parents and other fans to take action – and that action is patience. The urge to return to normal is understandable, but the path back to where we were three months ago will take time, and that “time” will not happen at the expense of the safety and well-being of everyone involved in high school sports and performing arts programs.
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: Michigan's National Impact Begins at NFHS' Start
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 28, 2025
The beginning of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) predated the start of the MHSAA by about 4½ years. But Michigan played a leading role in creating the national organization for school-based sports and arts activities – and through its work with the NFHS continues to impact how school sports are played across the country.
On May 14, 1920, representatives from the Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin high school associations met to discuss common issues – especially national championships and eligibility rules in football, as returning World War I veterans were seeking to play on high school teams; and, according to meeting minutes, because “high school athletics were being handled in an unsatisfactory manner in contests under the auspices of colleges and universities.” At this time, Michigan school sports were governed by the MHSAA’s predecessor organization – the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) – and president A.W. Krauss, the principal at Grand Rapids South High School, represented our state.
Building on their desire to form common rules to govern athletics, those five states together formed the framework for the Mid-West Federation of State High School Associations, and the MIAA officially voted to join the organization March 31, 1921, becoming one of the four founding states (Indiana was absent when the Mid-West Federation constitution was adopted). Just about a year later, on March 1, 1922, with 11 states now present, the Mid-West Federation changed its name to the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations – which became the current NFHS in 1970.
Representing the MIAA at the 1922 Federation meeting was Ann Arbor High School principal L.L. Forsythe – cited frequently for his outsized contributions during this “Century of School Sports” series – and he was elected as Federation vice president, a role in which he served for 15 years. Obviously his impact in that role was significant for the growing organization, which now includes associations from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Another Michigan school sports luminary, retired executive director John E. Jack Roberts, also had significant ties to the NFHS. He served on staff from 1973-80 and was heavily involved with the implementation of Title IX at the local and state levels. He also made immense contributions as the NFHS representative to the landmark Amateur Sports Act of 1978, and played a significant role in the NFHS rules-writing process as the organization started writing and publishing rules for a number of new sports during the 1970s. Roberts began his 32-year tenure leading the MHSAA in 1986.
The NFHS’s primary contribution to state associations remains today as writer of game rules for nearly all school sports, and those rules govern the majority of MHSAA-sponsored programs. (Competitive cheer is exclusive to Michigan, and golf, tennis and bowling are regulated by national governing organizations).
By agreeing to follow NFHS game rules, the MHSAA receives the opportunity to help make them, serving turns on rules-making committees with other representatives from the NFHS’s Section 4 – which also includes Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. Michigan also sends a rotating representative to serve on the national record book committee.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
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
(Map graphic courtesy of NFHS.)