MHSAA to appeal court decision
Published 6:17 pm Thursday, August 5, 2004
By Staff
EAST LANSING - The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association affirmed today that the organization should continue to move forward on two fronts concurrently – planning for sports seasons changes and pursuing a legal remedy to preserve schools' authority to conduct sports in ways they are convinced maximize participation opportunities and the quality of those opportunities.
The Representative Council unanimously acted at a special meeting in response to a July 27 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which affirmed a Dec. 17, 2001, U.S. District Court ruling that some sports seasons of Michigan schools must be changed.
The original lawsuit filed in 1998 sought to put all girls and boys sports in the same seasons – affecting basketball, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, and tennis – and to move girls volleyball from Winter to Fall. The MHSAA has been successful in limiting the District Court's action so that only basketball would have to be played in the same season for boys and girls.
The District Court has also ordered an exchange of seasons for girls and boys in Lower Peninsula golf and tennis. No changes were ordered for soccer or swimming and diving in the Lower Peninsula, or to golf, tennis or swimming and diving in the Upper Peninsula .
At the same time the MHSAA is appealing the decisions of the Sixth Circuit and District Courts, it will continue to develop plans to change its tournament dates. Various options will be discussed by schools in the Fall and schools will be surveyed in November. By Christmas, schools will know when, where and how the MHSAA plans to reschedule its tournaments if the courts ultimately order the change.
The MHSAA will be requesting an en banc hearing by the Sixth Circuit, an appeal involving all 13 judges. The Association previously had a 3-0 decision in the Sixth Circuit reversed in an en banc hearing in 1996 in a case involving a student seeking eligibility beyond eight semesters under the Americans With Disabilities Act. "That effort preserved the rules-making authority of schools, which is the primary objective of our efforts in the current litigation," said John E. "Jack" Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA.
Roberts also pointed out that the Association is not being strained financially by the continued litigation; that it is only exercising its legal rights, and that nothing should be read into its work to develop alternative schedules.
The MHSAA sponsors 14 postseason tournaments for girls, and 14 tournaments open to boys and girls. Participation in Michigan for girls has hit record highs in each of the last two school years, with 124,978 taking part in 2003-04. Nationally, Michigan ranks third in participation in girls basketball, fourth in volleyball and fifth in overall female participation for the 2002-03 school year, the latest for which such information is available. In the latest U.S. Census, Michigan ranks eighth in female population, ages 14 to 17.