I have delayed writing about the devastation in Haiti; and still I hesitate and feel unqualified to offer any comments, except these.

First, as disasters always do, this latest one reminds us of how relatively unimportant school sports are.  Sometimes we behave like sports is life and death.  Of course, it is not.  The individual and team efforts in Haiti are truly life and death.

Second, as for the “Lost Boys” of Sudan and the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina, this catastrophe causes us to prepare to handle transfer eligibility requests flexibly and fast for Haitian students who might arrive in MHSAA schools without family or academic records.

We like to say that the MHSAA provides personal service, but only one set of rules.  We strive to handle every request like it is the only matter before us, and then render decisions that assure even-handed application of rules.  But every so often, something so terrible happens that both compassion and common sense cause the association to implement special processes and to make special rulings.  It doesn’t happen often.

But this is one of those times.