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Manchester Enterprise file photo
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Julie Fielder (#20, white) tries to put up a shot against Napoleon during a varsity girls basketball game in January. After the Michigan High School Athletic Association lost the scheduling lawsuit in April 2007, girls basketball was switched from a fall sport to the winter. Seven other sports switched seasons, including volleyball from the winter to fall. Many coaches across the state were originally against the change, but adjusted their schedules accordingly.
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When the Michigan High School Athletic Association was forced to make changes to its prep sports schedule, many coaches across the state, including in Manchester, were against the switch.
A year later, players and coaches have become more adjusted to the state's new era of high school sports.
Wednesday marked the anniversary of the MHSAA losing the case brought against it by Communities for Equity, prompting several sports to change seasons effective this school year. While many at the time were against the change and faced various challenges at the beginning of the school year, teams throughout the state eventually settled in.
Grand Rapids-based Communities for Equity sued the MHSAA in 1998, claiming the association discriminated against girls by having girls basketball as a fall sport and volleyball as a winter sport. Michigan was the only state following that format, as the schedules were reversed at the college level nationally and in 47 other states at the prep level.
As a result of the lawsuit, eight sports switched seasons this year. Girls basketball moved from the fall to winter, while volleyball went from winter to fall. Lower Peninsula boys golf and girls tennis went from fall to spring and Lower Peninsula girls golf and boys tennis switched from spring to fall. Upper Peninsula boys soccer (fall to spring) and U.P. girls soccer (spring to fall) were the other changes.
Manchester varsity girls basketball coach Cori Kastel and varsity volleyball coach Mike Mininger had the most adjustments to make locally. While his team's season didn't change, Manchester varsity boys basketball coach Bryan Barnard had to make adjustments to his game day and practice routines.
"Everything ended up going fine for us, and we made do with what we had," Kastel said. "One thing was that it was hard to get into a rhythm because every week was different with when we played and practiced."
With both basketball seasons taking place at the same time, Manchester scheduled its winter season alternating the sequence of dates for boys and girls games. Manchester sometimes ran into having the teams play on the same night, but did its best to keep the days separate.
"We really tried to cut down the number of days we played on the same day," Kastel said. "(Manchester Athletic Director) Wes Gall did a good job in that aspect. The problem with playing on the same night was that many students did not come out to support the teams."
One of the biggest challenges facing Manchester's basketball teams was developing ideal practice schedules. With five basketball teams (boys varsity, boys junior varsity, boys freshmen, girls varsity and girls junior varsity) sharing the gym with the school's wrestling and competitive cheerleading teams during the winter, there were fears that some practices would have to be held from 7 to 9 p.m. and 6 to 8 a.m. According to Kastel, she avoided the 7 to 9 p.m. slot at all cost and often claimed the 5 to 7 p.m. slot, when the gym wasn't as busy as the period immediately following classes.
"I'm glad that we have such flexible coaches," Kastel said. "We all worked together to come up with our practice schedules. It also helped that we have the big facilities or we would've been in trouble."
Manchester junior varsity boys basketball coach Corey Fether often took the morning practice slot, while the varsity boys team kept its normal practice time during the week.
"It wasn't a big change for us and didn't really effect our practice times," Barnard said. "Manchester is lucky that it has two full-size courts at the high school and middle school that we can use."
While Manchester's multi-purpose gym could handle the increased traffic, many schools with smaller gyms faced challenges with its game and practice schedules.
The big change in practice schedules came over the weekend. When teams played on Monday, athletes and coaches had to sacrifice part of their weekend's to hold Sunday practices. According to Barnard, having to play some games on Monday effected his team's game preparation.
"The biggest thing for me as a coach was scouting," Barnard said. "During the first week of the season we played three games, which made it hard to practice, watch film and prepare for our opponent."
Although the weekly alternating game schedules for each team reduced same-night situations, it did take away from the traditional Friday night home games, which Barnard said his players like.
With his team switching from the winter to the fall, Mininger said that participation in volleyball at Manchester wasn't effected by the change, as the school had 14 players on varsity, 12 on JV and 14 on the freshmen team. However, playing in the fall was still an adjustment for the teams.
"With it being the first year, it seemed like everything was at double speed," Mininger said. "The season crept up on us, and it felt like we were a week behind where we should've been."
Mininger said he also noticed attendance numbers for the team's games dip lower than previous seasons this year.
"Most gyms are not designed to be used for that length of time during the summer," Mininger said. "Attendance at the start of the season was down a little, but it wasn't a big deal once school started."
With volleyball training camp beginning in August, family vacations were cut short for student athletes. However, it also worked to teams' advantage. Players could go from club volleyball in the summer to training camp then right into the season. Girls basketball used to have that advantage, but with the schedule change now must wait three months before training camp.
"I know that AAU programs are still trying to figure out their schedules," Kastel said. "This past year I had none of my girls playing summer ball, but I have about four or five playing in the spring."
Staff Writer Ed Patino can be reached at 428-8173 or epatino@heritage.com.
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