Michigan High School Athletic Association

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The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) sanctions the vast majority of high school athletic competition in Michigan and is headquartered in East Lansing. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

Unlike many other NFHS member organizations,

The MHSAA does not charge membership fees for schools; it derives its income from ticket sales at tournament level games and a handful of corporate sponsorships.
It is independent of and not officially recognized by any governmental body, local or state-wide.
Membership is voluntary; no Michigan high school is compelled by law to be a MHSAA member.

As of March 28, 2007, the MSHAA has 762 member high schools, comprising virtually all high school athletics in Michigan, public and private. Only a small number of private schools and a few nontraditional public schools in Michigan forego MHSAA membership. Also, while homeschoolers not enrolled in a member school are barred by the MHSAA from participating on MHSAA member school teams, independent teams made up of homeschoolers may compete against MHSAA member teams in regular season competition.

The MHSAA sanctions 28 sports.

BOYS: Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Alpine Skiing, Soccer, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling

GIRLS: Basketball, Bowling, Competitive Cheer, Cross Country, Golf, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Alpine Skiing, Soccer, Softball, Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball

Technically, all "boys" teams are officially "boys & girls" teams, while "girls" teams are "girls only," although having girls actually play on "boys & girls" teams is approximately as uncommon as in the many other States using a similar arrangement.

Traditional classifications used are labeled A, B, C and D from largest to smallest, unlike the naming system of most other states. Each grouping consists of 25% (or as close as is mathematically practicable) of all member schools sorted by student population, including a variety of correction factors. Since the 1990s, the usage of these traditional classifications has been reduced to only basketball, volleyball, and in determining football playoff qualifiers (but not in the actual football tournament). Total 4-year coed enrollment cutoffs for the 2007-08 school year are as follows:[1]

Class A: 1,055 and above
Class B: 507-1,054
Class C: 249-506
Class D: 248 and below

For 2007-08, Classes A and B consist of 190 schools, while C and D have 191.

The traditional classifications have the same number of schools (or as close as mathematically possible) in each of them, but not necessarily the same number of teams in a given sport's tournament; smaller schools are unable to support as many sport teams, although they may form cooperative programs classified by the combined enrollments of the schools involved. In order to prevent distorted tournament structures, for most sports the MHSAA uses "nearly equal divisions," where only those schools sponsoring a team in the given sport are broken into as many equally-sized groupings (or as close to equal as is mathematically possible) as the Association feels is appropriate given the number of schools sponsoring the sport. From largest to smallest, these groupings are called Divisions 1-n, where n is the number of nearly equal divisions the MHSAA has chosen to establish for that sport. The MHSAA's tournament structures are similar to those used in many other States; schools are assigned to Regions and, in those sports where it is appropriate, Districts. Assignments are made on a sport-to-sport basis, meaning that as no two sports have identical classification methods and sponsorship levels, a given school will usually have at least minor variations in its overall tournament path from sport to sport.

Unlike in some states, regional and district placement has no bearing on regular season scheduling; schools must form conferences on their own or compete as independents. Except in football, all schools fielding teams in a sport participate in that sport's postseason tournament which crowns a champion, although some sport championship tournaments are divided into separate Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula tournaments.

For football, postseason inclusion is determined by wins and a computer point value, calculated for each team based upon its record and strength of schedule, with the top 256 teams (including all teams with six victories if playing a nine-game schedule) qualifying. These 256 teams are then ordered by enrollment and divided into 8 divisions of 32 teams each. This is unique amongst high school football competition in the U.S. in that many teams do not know which classification they will compete for a state title in until after the regular season has ended.

A comprehensive account of the current season's championships, as well as a great deal of historical results, can be found at the MHSAA's website. [2]

Participation in Michigan is generally limited to eligible 9th through 12th graders and students are given eight consecutive semesters of eligibility beginning with the 9th grade. Schools with a four year high school enrollment of 99 or less may draw upon the 8th grade for varsity competition in all sports except football, ice hockey and wrestling, while schools with a four year high school enrollment of 49 or less may also draw upon the seventh grade.

Despite ranking eighth in school-age population among the states, Michigan ranked fifth in high school athletics participation in 2005-06, ahead of three larger states: Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. [3]