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Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2007 / Change of seasons

Rick Schulte, Special to The Michigan Catholic
Published November 23, 2007

Gregg McIntosh | The Michigan Catholic Erica Boreczky, a senior at Shrine High School, is once again able to be on the swim team now that it no longer competes with tennis. The writing on the back of her right hand, common among swimmers, are the events she'll swim and the and times she hopes to reach.

Members of the Shrine High School girls team gathers for a prayer prior to a meet at East Detroit High School, in Eastpointe.

Metro Area — Erica Boreczky, a senior at Shrine Catholic High School, Royal Oak, is back in the swimming pool.

She was able to return to a sport she loves as the result of a change in the high school athletics schedule, mandated to the Michigan High School Athletic Association after a court ruling. That's because, up until this year, both girls' swimming and tennis took place during the fall sports season.

As a freshman, she was on the Knights' swim team. But Boreczky also enjoyed playing tennis – so much, in fact, that she opted to move over to the tennis team for the past two years.

The change in the state's high school athletic schedule shuffled the seasons for several boys' and girls' sports. The result? Many of the athletes have new choices to make about which sports they want to play, as dictated by the new schedule. It has opened up new opportunities, but also forces student athletes to choose between sports that now conflict. In addition, since boys' and girls' basketball will run concurrently beginning this winter, there is a concern about the number of officials available. Previously, many referees handled both boys' and girls' basketball.

Changes What sports are affected by the federal ruling that demands a change in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Schedule? All of them, although six have actually had to change seasons. The result has given student athletes a chance to play new sports, or to choose sports that now run at the same time. Fall Current: Boys'/girls' cross country, football, girls' golf, boys' soccer, girls' swimming, boys' tennis, girls' volleyball. Previous: Volleyball was a winter sport; boys' tennis and girls' golf were spring sports. Winter Current: Boys'/girls' basketball, boys'/girls' bowling, competitive cheer, girls' gymnastics, boys'/girls' skiing, ice hockey, boys' swimming, wrestling. Previous: Girls' basketball was a fall sport. Spring Current: Baseball, softball, boys' golf, boys/girls lacrosse, girls' tennis, boys/girls track. Previous: Boys' golf and girls' tennis were fall sports.

New opportunities and decisions

Boreczky is able to swim in the fall, since it no longer conflicts with tennis.

"At the end of my freshman year, I swam on varsity," she said. "But before my sophomore year, I went to a tennis camp and really loved the sport. I told my swim coach I'd come back if they ever switched the seasons for the sport, which they had been talking about back then."

There are some instances where the switch in seasons has been beneficial to the student athletes. But Boreczky is also proof there are some difficulties involved, too.

Girls' tennis has been moved to spring, the same time softball is played.

"It's really challenging," Boreczky said. "I really play a key role for both teams. A lot of people I know have to choose between sports. It's the big question of the year – 'What sport will I play?'"

What precipitated the change in seasons? It began in 1998, when Communities for Equity (a Grand Rapids-based group organized by supporters of volleyball) perceived there to be inequities with the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) schedule, which differed from most other states.

At the time, volleyball was played as a winter sport, and girls' basketball was in the fall. That made Michigan's schedule unique, especially since it didn't coincide with the collegiate schedule for both sports. The schedule, Communities for Equity argued, prevented college coaches from having an opportunity to scout high school volleyball players (and other sports) as well as they could, in theory, in other states.

After much litigation, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals determined the schedule indeed needed to be changed. In April 2007, the United States Supreme Court denied the MHSAA's petition to challenge the ruling, putting the Circuit Court's ruling into effect. This is the first season the change has taken place.

What does it mean?

While Communities for Equity saw the ruling as a victory, many coaches, administrators and student athletes were put into a quandary: How would the season change affect them?

"There are a number of kids who do not like the change because they now have to make a choice of sports they want to play," Shrine athletic director Pete Donaldson said. "For others, it's great, as they can now play a sport they were not able to play due to conflicts."

At Shrine, he noted some student athletes chose football over boys' tennis (which now run concurrently). Conversely, those who had to choose between golf and soccer (which previously ran at the same time for both the boys and girls) can now play both, as those seasons were separated.

However, if the ultimate goal was to make volleyball more visible to college recruiters, running the high school volleyball season in the fall – for now – is a challenge.

Betty Wroubel, athletic director at Notre Dame Prep and Marist Academy, Pontiac, noted that it was enough of a challenge to get everyone in the mindset that some seasons were changing this year – despite the fact the season swap was well-publicized.

Wroubel, who also coaches Notre Dame's volleyball team, noted the length of season is a bigger issue. The fall volleyball season is three weeks shorter than the previous winter volleyball season.

"If we avoid scheduling on Labor Day weekend, homecoming and the Prep Bowl, there isn't room for much flexibility in scheduling," she said. "We used to be able to use the months of November and December to condition and train at a slow pace, with our league play starting up in January. That training period was reduced into team selection and preparation for league play. After team selections, we had two days to prepare for our first scrimmage, and then only five days until our first competition. That was indeed a huge adjustment."

Cabrini High School girls' varsity volleyball coach Cheryl Szczodrowski, left, goes over the gym schedule with Debbie Norman, the boys' varsity basketball coach.

Getting used to a new schedule

There's another adjustment for the student athletes – deciding what sports to play.

"The girls have fewer options in the fall and more in the spring and the boys are just the opposite," said Tim Kluka, athletic director at Cabrini High School, Allen Park. "Kids have to make choices in what they want to play. The girls need to decide tennis or softball, the boys between baseball and golf."

The issue still lurking, however, deals with boys' and girls' basketball being played concurrently in the winter. Most involved concede that while other states have long had the two sports at the same time, the biggest issues in Michigan will include gym time (and who gets to play during the high exposure Friday night slot) and officiating.

With a shortage of officials already and twice as many basketball games being played in the wintertime, no one knows exactly how it will shake out.

Said Donaldson: "We will have to go through the first year and see how it unfolds, make notes and try to adjust in the future."

Vic Michaels, director of athletics for the Catholic High School League, agreed.

"We've been working hard at this for a while, and it may take some getting used to," he said. "But other states use this schedule, and everyone will adjust to it."

At Cabrini, Kluka is hopeful things go well, too. He also said the issue of officials having to do more work, or new officials being recruited to help out with basketball, is already a topic of conversation.

"We have worked at informing our parents and students about the possible problem with officials working more games and possible calls being missed," he said. "Sportsmanship is going to have to be emphasized. Scheduling is the major hurdle we all have to jump over this winter."

Finding gym time shouldn't be a major problem with most schools, as girls' volleyball and girls' basketball, in essence, will swap places in the schedule. In basketball, any concerns of one gender getting preferential treatment over another are being looked at closely, Wroubel said.

"Our girls and boys will both play on Saturday and Friday nights," she said. "I think that after a couple of years both basketball and volleyball will be able to work through the scheduling quirks and things should run more smoothly."

Although the length of schedule is an issue at all schools, single gender schools really don't have as many concerns as co-ed schools, said Debbe Pavle, athletic director at Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills.

"It is being received fairly well at our school," she said. "We have just a few coaches and athletes that the decision is affecting."

Traditionally, there have been some instances where boys have opted to play football and soccer at the same time. Schools are looking at playing multiple sports in a single season in their own ways.

"We are allowing our seniors to play two sports this year only if they think they can handle it," Pavle said. "No one has yet made this choice."

At Shrine, Donaldson said the option is open to play multiple sports, noting, "It is really up to the coaches to work together in order to make it work out."

Cabrini's Kluka said his school doesn't want its students to put too much emphasis on athletics.

"We decided not to have the kids play more than one sport," he said. "Educational athletics should emphasize school. Playing two sports is asking the student to do too much."

No matter how it shakes out this year, student athletes like Boreczky are trying to make the most of the change in seasons.

"I'm very happy to be back swimming," she said. "The girls have dubbed me 'Miss Morning.' I'm always the first one in the pool every morning. And I love it."