The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Game over: MHSAA gives up the fight
By Joe Slezak, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: April 5, 2007
EAST LANSING — It took nine years, but a group of Grand Rapids volleyball moms has brought the Michigan High School Athletic Association to its knees.
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On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will not hear an appeal of the sports seasons lawsuit brought by Communities for Equity against the MHSAA on June 26, 1998.
After losing with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year, the MHSAA filed a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court on Jan. 29 with the hopes it would hear the case in the next docket year, which starts in October.
The 6th Circuit ruled on Aug. 16, 2006, that the MHSAA is violating the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act — which is what U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen ruled Dec. 17, 2001.
The case had two stops at the 6th Circuit and two at the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court justices discussed the case at their conference Friday, and announced their decision Monday morning.
This fall, eight sports will switch seasons: statewide girls' basketball from fall to winter, statewide volleyball from winter to fall, Lower Peninsula boys' golf and girls' tennis from fall to spring, Lower Peninsula girls' golf and boys' tennis from spring to fall, Upper Peninsula boys' soccer from fall to spring and U.P. girls' soccer from spring to fall.
Dexter High School Athletic Director John Robinson doesn't believe the changes will cause major problems.
"Most of the schools in the SEC have the facilities to handle the change," Robinson said. "Our gym is capable of holding three teams at once. That (practice space) shouldn't be an issue with us. We also have our older gyms to use, too. I don't see it being a big deal overall."
Robinson thinks the change could be a problem for the smaller schools that have just a single gym but most will adjust without much difficulty.
"I don't see it (switch) as a bad thing, it's just change," he said. "People will get used to the change. There's always going to be some adjustment. It'll feel funny the first year, but I think it'll be fine.
"Volleyball will have the gym all to themselves now," he said. "Volleyball plays on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see if attendance will go down since they'll be competing with college football.
"Our biggest problem could be officials. There will be so many more games to cover. Will there be enough (officials)?"
The suit stemmed from the fact that volleyball was a fall sport and girls' basketball was a winter sport. It's the other way around at the collegiate level nationally and in virtually every other state on the high-school level. The only exceptions are Hawaii, where girls' basketball is a spring sport, and Vermont, where volleyball is not sanctioned.
Communities for Equity also maintained that girls' collegiate scholarship opportunities were harmed in the current setup.
"CFE is looking forward to working with school districts in ensuring that they understand their responsibilities under the law," Diane Madsen, one of CFE's founders, said in a press release.
"This final ruling has given young men and women in Michigan the opportunity to join together with equal protection and support for maximizing their potential," said Jay Roberts Eveland, another CFE founder.
Among the points of victory, according to the release, is that the MHSAA is a "state actor." The association maintained it was not because it is a voluntary association that has 760 member public, charter and private high schools in 2006-07, not a function of state government. It also has member middle schools.
CFE also said that the MHSAA must provide competition-worthy venues for both genders, including equal sites for basketball. This school year, the respective final fours both were at Michigan State University's Breslin Student Events Center, but the girls' final fours have been at different, smaller venues in recent years.
The CFE also wants a better facility for the softball final four, not a "men's recreational slow-pitch diamond." The softball and baseball final four both are at Bailey Park in Battle Creek. The softball finals are at 3,000-seat Flannery Field; the baseball finals are at 4,000-seat C.O. Brown Stadium, which has been the home to minor-league baseball teams.
In addition, CFE said school athletic directors and the MHSAA's Representative Council "cannot dictate policies that violate laws. They and schools will be held legally responsible."
And, CFE wants equal media coverage for both genders.
The National Women's Law Center, which was of counsel to CFE in the case, also hailed the victory.
"MHSAA has now reached the end of the line," said Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the center, in a press release. "The Supreme Court's refusal to hear this case means that Michigan girls soon will receive the justice for which they have long waited. (The) MHSAA now must practice the good sportsmanship it preaches and give girls the equal opportunities they deserve."
Shortly after the Supreme Court announced its decision, MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts sent an e-mail to member high schools' principals and athletic directors.
"Those involved in the affected sports have provided many examples of the negative effects of these changes, but none of this persuaded the district court, whose unusual findings of fact could not be seriously challenged under our system of jurisprudence," he wrote.
Among the MHSAA's concerns are that thousands of student-athletes must change the combination of sports they play; that college volleyball coaches and players can no longer coach at the high-school level; that volleyball officials who work at the college and high school levels must choose one; that basketball coaches who coach both genders, and officials who work at games for both, must choose one; and that media attention for basketball would be more thinly spread.
The MHSAA continued the fight until Monday because of support from its member schools. In a 1998 survey, 472 of the 573 responding schools — or 82.4 percent — wanted the seasons to remain the same. Four other surveys conducted between 1979 and '94 had the same findings.
"We apologize to schools, not for making the efforts, but for not making successful efforts," Roberts wrote in the e-mail. "We are disappointed with the results, but we could not have lived with ourselves if we were also disappointed with the effort."
He also challenged member schools to ensure that participation numbers don't drop because of the changes. He wrote that some states had double-digit drops in participation in basketball and volleyball when the seasons were switched.
Roberts urged member schools to accept the ruling with "guts and grace" — having the courage and persistence to play the full contest, and accepting the final outcome.
"As Jack has said many times, the athletes, the schools and all the participants indicated we were doing a lot of things right," said Gibraltar school Supt. Eric Federico, a member of the MHSAA's Representative Council. "We were ready for this to go to the Supreme Court because we thought our arguments had merit."
Roberts said in a press conference Monday afternoon that he thought the Supreme Court would take the case because there is a philosophical split among the courts of appeal, but the Supreme Court disagreed.
"This wasn't the vehicle," he said.
The suit hasn't cost its member schools anything because the MHSAA purchased two $1 million insurance policies. So far, Roberts said, about $1.4 million of those policies has been spent on the case. Communities for Equity waived any claim for punitive damages about one-third of the way through the case, but could go after the association for legal fees. That would be decided at the U.S. District Court level, Roberts said.
He said that the MHSAA would pay anything above the $2 million, adding that while he doesn't think there would be reductions in services and programming, there might be slowdowns in growth and improvements.
He also said that he would not extend an olive branch to CFE to help with the transition to the new seasons.
Roberts called the ruling disappointing for the member schools.
"It discourages our members to feel that when they decide something in the best interest of boys and girls, it can be overturned by the voices of the few," he said. "They thought democracy matters."
The MHSAA already had determined two sets of tournament schedules for 2007-08.
In the new setup, the first practice date, first contest date and tournament dates for girls' basketball will be one week ahead of the boys. In the two intersecting tournament weeks — girls' regionals/boys' districts and girls' final eight/boys' regionals — opposite-gender games will not be played on the same days.
The girls' basketball finals are scheduled for March 8, 2008; the boys' finals are scheduled for March 15.
The 2007 volleyball finals will be Nov. 17. The 2006 girls' basketball finals were Dec. 2.
The MHSAA offers tournaments for 14 boys' sports and 14 girls' sports. In the Lower Peninsula and statewide, tournaments for both genders are offered in the same seasons for both genders in cross country, track and field, bowling, lacrosse and skiing.
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