By Staff
EAST LANSING – The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has denied a motion of the Michigan High School Athletic Association to have the full panel of the Sixth Circuit review a divided decision of a three-judge panel on Aug. 16, 2006.
That panel had affirmed the U.S. District Court in Kalamazoo, which had found that the sports seasons established by Michigan schools violated state and federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Supreme Court will be asked by the MHSAA to take up the case again.
Filings are expected to be made by February 2007, which under normal circumstances would result in the Supreme Court deciding by mid-May if it will give further review to the case.
The MHSAA previously approved and distributed a Contingency Plan for the rescheduling of sports seasons affected by the litigation in the event appellate reviews fail.
Here are some of the highlights of the Contingency Plan:
The Girls Volleyball Tournament must be conducted in the fall.
The Girls Basketball Tournament must be conducted in the winter. In the Lower Peninsula . . .
The L.P. Girls Tennis Tournament must be conducted in the spring.
The L.P. Girls Golf Tournament must be conducted in the fall.
The L.P. Boys Tennis Tournament must be conducted in the fall.
The L.P. Boys Golf Tournament must be conducted in the spring. In the Upper Peninsula . . .
A U.P. Girls Soccer Tournament must be offered in the fall.
A U.P. Boys Soccer Tournament must be offered in the spring.
Girls Volleyball
MHSAA Finals would conclude on the Saturday before Thanksgiving (Regionals two Fridays or Saturdays before Thanksgiving; Districts three Fridays or Saturdays before Thanksgiving).
No Finals site is confirmed.
For schools that wish to enter the MHSAA tournament, the start of practice would coincide with the start of other team sports conducted in the fall, and the earliest date of competition would be 11 calendar days after the first practice.
Girls Basketball
MHSAA Girls Finals would conclude on the weekend prior to the Boys Finals (Girls Districts and Regionals would precede Boys Districts and Regionals by one week each).
No Finals site is confirmed.
For schools that wish to enter the MHSAA tournament, the starting date for girls practice and games would each precede the boys date by one week.
Girls Regional games and Boys District games would not occur on the same days/nights; Boys Regional games and Girls Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final games would not occur on the same days/nights.
L.P. Golf
Twenty-five percent fewer Regional sites and one less Final site would be utilized in the fall; 33 percent more Regional sites and one more Final site would be needed in the spring to accommodate boys golf which has twice as many sponsoring schools and one more division than girls golf.
For schools that wish to enter the MHSAA tournaments, girls golf would assume first practice and competition policies previously applicable to boys golf, and vice versa.
The MHSAA Girls Golf Tournament would assume the current dates for the Boys Regional and Final Tournaments. However, to accommodate regular season practices and meets for nearly twice as many boys programs on fewer available golf courses in the spring as well as a District level tournament for boys, the MHSAA Boys Golf Tournament would be delayed (compared to girls, boys Regionals two weeks later; Finals one week later); and because school will be dismissed most places, the Finals could move from the weekend to weekdays (from Friday/Saturday to the following Monday/Tuesday).
L.P. Tennis
Boys and Girls Tennis Tournament dates would switch.
Most Finals sites would continue.
For schools that wish to enter the MHSAA tournaments, girls tennis would assume first practice and competition policies previously applicable to boys tennis, and vice versa.
U.P. Soccer
For schools which wish to enter, the MHSAA would offer separate U.P. Soccer Tournaments, for girls in the fall and boys in the spring, each concluding one week prior to the Lower Peninsula Soccer Tournament.