Director MHSAA: “No metrics or data provided” by the state government to support the decision

Follow Josh VanDyke on Twitter

The Michigan High School Athletic Association will face another obstacle in creating a roadmap for the return of Michigan winter sports.

The MHSAA was surprised to learn on Friday morning that Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) postponed the start date for Michigan winter sports to February 21.

The previous emergency order was set to expire at the end of January, which would have allowed all winter sports to begin contact activities on February 1. Now, winter sports like women’s and men’s basketball, competitive cheering, ice hockey and wrestling will remain in non-contact capacity for another month.

MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl joined Bill Simonson’s sports radio program The Huge Show earlier this afternoon to express his frustration at the current process of trying to bring high school sports back to students in Michigan.

“We heard at the same time that everyone heard this morning that winter contact sports, like basketball, competitive cheering, ice hockey and wrestling, were postponed even more,” said Uyl. “We received no metrics, no data while we are on this current break. We did not obtain data in terms of what must be changed for the activity to begin.

“We are ready to start winter sports as early as November. It is now two months when we have not received figures in terms of whether it is based on positive test cases or rates, etc. They haven’t given us any idea of ​​what needs to happen in order for us to play, so I’m not sure how we can continue to take responsibility and blame for decisions about which we have no opinion, no vote and no opportunity to express our opinions. Just like any other walk of society at this time in this pandemic, we have to follow government orders that are continually updated. “

Uyl said the quick response test that was done in December with football, volleyball and girls swimming and diving was an overwhelming success, but whether or not the MDHHS used this data is a debate.

“We had more than 30,000 quick COVID tests carried out in the last month with our three autumn sports,” he said. “The negative rate of these COVID tests over 30,000 is 99.8 percent. I’m not sure how you can get much stronger data than that. All we can do is continue to collect the information, continue to share it, continue to share it with our schools, which we have done countless times. However, I cannot speak on behalf of the state government because I simply have no idea how to use the data we provide. “

The MHSAA is now addressing the possibility for student-athletes to choose to play club sports outside the state, rather than waiting for a winter sports season that remains in question.

“What is incredibly frustrating is that we believe that, at the school level, this is the safest environment for children to play, given all the safety procedures and protocols that we have in place,” said Uyl. “I’m not sure if the kids are going anywhere to play all the sports in their club in the next three weeks, and then thinking that we might somehow be able to restart again here in Michigan is the correct answer.

“I just think that all this increased mobility for travel would only make the situation worse, it wouldn’t improve. But again, I think these are issues that are certainly above our salary level. These guys (the state government) are the ones who have to make rules for the entire Michigan governing body.

The frustration was evident when Uyl defended his organization’s efforts in the past two months to boost a winter sports season, despite criticism from parents, players and fans.

“There are three neighboring states of Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin that have been opened and have been participating fully in winter sports for weeks,” he said. “For people to suggest in any way that the MHSAA doesn’t want to play winter sports now or hasn’t fought for it for two months, I’m not going to waste a lot of time defending that position.

“All of our actions in the past two months have done this absolutely. This is something that we continually share with our schools, as an association of member schools, we will continue to be responsible and communicate with our members constantly. This is what we are going to do here while we are learning, with luck, some of the things that today’s order means on the weekend, and you have a good understanding of which way to go on Monday. “

The biggest obstacle facing MHSAA and its associated schools in the future is just getting a clear outline and plan of attack to make the winter sports season a reality.

“I think we need to start the conversation with, at this point, what the numbers are like, the data, how they should be so that we can start winter sports,” asked Uyl. “This is a question that I feel we all deserve an answer to. We need some numbers here about what currently prevents us from starting.

“I just think that, at this point, we need to know what the benchmarks are if this is a decision driven by science and data that we have been listening to for months. I think all of us, and this is not just the association, but also the children, the coaches, the parents, the families, I think we all deserve to know what this roadmap will look like for the future and that’s where the conversations really are need to start . “

—

MORE HIGH SCHOOL MLIVE SPORT COVERAGE

Executive Director of MHSAA surprised by recent state government decisions

Some high school winter sports may be postponed until the end of February

Bars and restaurants will have a curfew at 10 pm when indoor meals are reopened on February 1

The stadium’s capacity increase comes too late to include more fans in the MHSAA football finals

How to Attend Michigan High School State Football Championships

Michigan representative calls for lifting restrictions on the eve of college football finals