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May 3, 2005
Season switch put on holdSupreme Court vacates earlier decisionByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Charlevoix's Keith Haske doesn't have to give up his night job. At least he doesn't have to make a decision about it anytime soon. Haske, who coaches both boys and girls basketball at Charlevoix High School, can continue to do both. Changes in Michigan's high school sports seasons appear unlikely for 2005-06 after the United States Supreme Court, acting on an appeal by the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), sent back to the Sixth Court of Appeals a civil lawsuit filed in 1998 that would have changed the seasons for six boys and girls sports in the state. The primary thrust to the suit was to switch girls basketball from the fall to the winter and volleyball from the winter to the fall. The other changes were to switch girls golf and boys tennis - currently spring sports - with boys golf and girls tennis in the fall. Haske, who said he will sit down with athletic director Jim Kanine next week to discuss coaching both basketball teams again, was pleased with Monday's announcement. "At least for basketball, it's good that the girls are in the fall; it gives them their own space and their own time," Haske said. "I think for the good of the game, the kids, the coaches and the officials, it's better in the fall ... whether I'm coaching it or not." Anne Morrison Perry, gender equity coordinator at Traverse City Area Public Schools, said keeping volleyball in the fall and girls basketball in the winter - opposite of how it is scheduled in college - contradicts the spirit of the Title IX provision, especially when 48 other states play girls basketball in the winter. "It's a setback," Perry said. "It's not the darkest of days, but it is a setback for both boys and girls. It's a setback for our boys and girls athletes in gender equity and playing in advantageous seasons. "It's two steps forward and one step back." Manistee Catholic Central girls basketball coach Todd Erickson welcomed the news, saying "girls get a better shake the way it is." Even volleyball players? "(Leland volleyball standout) Alisha Glass got a Division I scholarship - as a junior. Don't tell me they aren't getting exposure," Erickson said. The decision, which the MHSAA said should keep all seasons the same for the upcoming school year, was greeted with relief by most area athletic directors. Because the switch would have gone into affect this fall if not remanded back, schools were being forced to double-schedule - one for the current system and one for the proposed switch. "It certainly is going to make our lives easier as far as officials and gym scheduling," said Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City West athletic director and girls basketball coach. "We were in such a state of flux and now we can proceed. "We were double scheduling everything which was a huge headache. Plus the officials situation, if the seasons would have switched, would almost be irresolvable in northern Michigan." "At least for next year, it will be the status quo," said Tom Hardy, athletic director at TC St. Francis. "We don't have to change the way we do things." One thing the successful appeal by the MHSAA does is put off athletes having to make a choice this summer. Hardy said he could think of two athletes at his school that would have a tough decision to make. "I am happy for athletes who don't have to chose which sport to play next year," Hardy said. "That will be the one bad thing if and when it does switch. "I think of people like Matt DeMerle, who was on a state championship golf team but who also plays baseball. Or an Emily Kring, who was on a state championship ski team and who also plays basketball. They don't have to make that choice." Even though the proposed switch appears off for next school year, it still looms over high school sports in Michigan. Communities for Equity, a group based in Grand Rapids that sued the MHSAA for discrimination against female athletes, won in federal district court and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld that ruling in July on a 3-0 vote. "The question is when, and that'll stay with us," Hardy said. That's what concerns TCAPS athletic director Jim Leyndyke. "It's kind of surprising to me that (the court would) go this way," he said. "Really, they haven't decided anything, they just sent it back to the court that originally decided it. "For me, it's like, 'Oh boy, what are you telling us?' We're no further along than we were before. They just delayed the decision." The court's ruling does give schools a chance to reevaluate scheduling girls and basketball in the same season. How to schedule both in the same season varied from conference to conference, but also town to town. But Perry said girls basketball players still won't get the chance next school year to experience the "March Madness" of tournament play or the opportunity to play on Friday nights. "That tells boys and girls that what boys do is more important," she said. Record-Eagle staff writers Jeff Peek and James Cook contributed to this story
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Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
