Cold weather and crowded gyms are customary during the first weeks of practice for Michigan schools as they press to get spring sports underway.

Ongoing discussion about the best date to start schools’ spring sports practices across Michigan may be quieted briefly because the MHSAA Representative Council determined March 26 that it would not place on its May meeting agenda a proposal to delay the earliest start of spring sports practices by one week.

The Council took this action in spite of recent online survey results which indicated 62 percent of 613 responding schools favor a week’s delay.  However, some of the affirmative responses were conditional; and opponents of the change provided some strong arguments for keeping things as they are.

Here’s the history of the rule:

• Prior to the 1975-76 Handbook, an earliest spring sports starting date is not stipulated; but in that year, a new rule established “Monday, the week of March 1 for all sports” as the earliest starting date.
• Then in 1987-88, the rule was revised to read:  “Monday, the week of March 1 for all sports except girls soccer which may not begin before Monday the week of March 15.”
• In 1989-90, the rule was revised to read:  “Monday the week after March 1 for all sports.”
• Since 1998-99, the rule has been:  “The second Monday after March 1 for all sports.”

 That remains the rule through at least the 2010-11 school year.  And we’ll hazard these two guesses:

1. The topic will come back again as schools search for the best date that does the most good for the most school situations, which is a tough task in an association as widespread and diverse as this; and
2. We’ll be talking about the transition from fall to winter seasons sports just as much as this transition from winter to spring.

 Stay engaged in both discussions.