Michigan high school sports will soon be going through some major changes.
On July 27, the three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of the United States Court of Appeals ruled that the current alignment of interscholastic sports seasons violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The case, involving the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), began in 2001. On December 17, 2001 a U.S. District Court decided that the current schedule of girl’s sports at the high school level violated the Equal Protection Clause. The decision by the Sixth Court of Appeals upholds this verdict and calls for a realignment of the seasons.
‘We’ve been kind of half expecting it for the past two years,? said OHS Athletic Director Pat Ball, ‘so I’m not surprised.?
On August 1, 2002 the District Court ordered the placement of girls basketball in the winter and girl’s volleyball in the fall. While simultaneously filing an appeal, the MHSAA formed a compliance plan that was adopted by the District Court on November 8, 2002.
According to a statement released by the MHSAA, the compliance plan, in addition to switching the girl’s basketball and volleyball seasons, will reschedule the MHSAA’s Lower Peninsula golf and tennis tournaments ? moving girls tennis and boys golf from fall to spring, and boys tennis and girls golf from spring to fall. The soccer seasons will also change with the Upper Peninsula soccer tournaments being held for boys in the spring and girls in the fall.
Locally, Oxford Schools have not done much in preparation for the switch. Ball said officials have talked about possible changes, but no solid plan for action is currently in place.
‘There was always the hope that it would not have gone through,? explained Ball.
Athletic directors across the state will be dealing with three distinct problems when arranging the new sports seasons: inadequate facilities, the number of officials and timing.
Ball explained that smaller districts especially will have difficulties scheduling the use of facilities for the same sport in the same season. He did note though that Oxford High School will be better off than most.
‘I’m very comfortable here,? he added. ‘We’ll be okay with plenty of space.?
However, OHS will join many other districts in the hunt for enough officials. Ball predicts that winter will be the worst, especially the basketball season. ‘I’m having difficulties imaging too many officials who would want to work that many nights in one week,? he explained.
Finally, all districts will have to work on scheduling who plays at home when, who plays away when and who gets priority over the possibly limited facilities.
‘We’ll have to work within our leagues on all of these,? explained Ball. ‘That’s definitely going to be our first step. We’ll be meeting as a league and discussing the scheduling first in September. That’s when we normally start the planning, we’ll just be discussing different things this year.?
The MHSAA can appeal the Sixth Circuit of Appeals decision to the Supreme Court. At the time of publication, the MHSAA had not released any statement announcing whether or not they will take this course of action. They are taking steps to ensure that the new season alignments will not take place until 2005-2006.
Locally, Ball said there is not much athletic directors can do but prepare. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered for the MHSAA’s compliance plan to go into effect with the start of the 2005-2006 seasons.
‘I’m so far removed from all of this, I can’t even venture a guess whether or not this should continue,? he stated. ‘All I can do is wait and see what they (MHSAA) decide.?