MHSAA implements changes for competitive cheerleading state
tournaments

Originally published January 21, 2007

BY DAN STICKRADT

STAFF WRITER

JOHN STORMZAND | STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHER

The Michigan High School Athletic Association has
made some changes to the sport of competitive cheer, bringing in
unification of a sport divided for more than a decade. Lake Orion
is currently ranked fifth in Division 1, formerly Class A.

CHEERS OR UPROAR

The
Michigan High School Athletic Association has adopted some changes in the
sport of competitive cheer, which became sanctioned by the MHSAA in
1993-94.

CHANGES

·  Instead of Class A, Class
B and Class C-D, the sport will be divided into four separate but equally
balanced divisions.

·  The MHSAA has
abolished the long-standing MCCA state tournament that used the two-round
sideline format. Any MHSAA-member school competing in cheerleading must
enter the MHSAA tournament which features three rounds of competition.

·  The number of schools
participating in the MHSAA has risen by more than 100 schools this season
and by more than 140 schools the past two years. There are 315 programs
registered to enter the MHSAA tournament this season.

·  The state finals will
be spread over two days instead of one day as in the past 13 seasons. The
finals will return to the DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids. There will be one
division on Friday evening and the other three divisions on Saturday
morning and afternoon. Either Division 1 or Division 2 will take place on
Friday, which will be determined in February by the MHSAA executive
committee.

HOLDING
FORM

·  The regional patterns
will remain the same, although the number of schools participating in
each region will increase. There will be anywhere from 14 to 19 schools
per region, depending on location of the state.

·  There are five regions
per division. The top two teams from each region will still advance to
the state tournament.

·  Both schools from the
lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula will
remain in the same state tournament.

·  No rule changes to
the three-round MHSAA tournament format.

The Michigan
High School Athletic Association became the first prep sports governing body
in the nation to sponsor competitive cheer. That came just before the 1993-94
school year.

More than a
decade later, the MHSAA has made some major changes to the sport.

Beginning
this school year, any cheerleading team that wishes to compete in a state
tournament must participate in the MHSAA-sanctioned tournament.

During the
past 13 school years, schools in Michigan
had a choice to either compete in the MHSAA tournament or enter the
tournament sanctioned by the Michigan Cheerleading Coaches Association, which
had been in operation since 1978.

"It all
happens this year. School's cheer teams that compete, they need to be just
like any other sport, that being in the MHSAA format (tournament)," said
John Johnson, communications director for the MHSAA. "Any group that
calls itself a sideline squad that goes out and competes must now participate
in the MHSAA tournament."

The MHSAA
tournament is different than the old MCCA tournament. The MHSAA tournament is
three rounds of competition and none of those feature music or props. The
MCCA tournament was two rounds of competition, including the usage of music
in one round and props, such as sings and poms, in
the others.

"You
look at the history of cheer. When this all was created in the early '90s,
schools had all of their the athletics teams, and
cheerleaders wanted to be treated like other athletes," Johnson said.
"But cheer teams could practice anywhere, anytime, and had no rules.
That was driving administrators crazy. The sport needed some type of
framework. So we finally started the MHSAA tournament in 1994.

"Fast
forward to present, and in some parts in the state you had mostly teams competing
in the MHSAA tournament and in others it was almost entirely the sideline
format. The (MHSAA) council took the next step a year and a half ago and
merged it all into one, effective for the (2006-07) school year. Any
(MHSAA-member) school that fields a group that cheers in competitions will
compete in MHSAA

tournament just like every other sport."

Last season,
the number of schools in the MHSAA tournament increased by 40. This year, the
numbers grew by more than 100.

Now, there
are 315 schools registered to enter the MHSAA tournament, which takes place
March 3 with regional competition and March 9-10 with the state finals, which
will return to the DeltaPlex in Grand
Rapids. There will be four equal divisions (1
through 4) in the sport this year, instead of three classes (Class A, Class B
and Class C-D) as in the past.

Most coaches
feel this is good for the sport.

"It will
be a time for adjustment, but in the long run everything will work out,"
said Lake Orion coach Nancy DeAvila, whose team
has competed in the MHSAA tournament since 1994. "I think it's something
long overdue. True, it will be easier for the teams that have been in the
MHSAA tournament for some time, but in a couple of years everybody will be at
the same spot."

Two of the
biggest holdout areas of schools not entering the MHSAA tournament were Macomb and Oakland
counties, where 75 percent of the schools still participated in the MCCA
tournament as recent as two years ago. Several of those schools made the
switch last season and the rest this school year.

For former
Rochester Adams cheerleader, Courtney Kezlarian,
now in her seventh season as head coach for the Highlanders, she has been on
both sides of the fence. When she competed for Adams
(in the mid-1990s), the school participated in both MCAA and MHSAA
tournaments. After 1998, schools had to make a choice.

"We've
been in the sideline format (for years) and enjoyed the music and some of
those things we don't have in competitive format," said Kezlarian. "Honestly, I'm excited to do something
different, to change a little."

Clarkston is
another one of the schools that has made the jump to the MHSAA-format this
year.

"I think
we're excited about it, but it's different," Clarkston seventh-year
coach Chandra Price said. "I think you'll need more endurance with three
rounds. And there is no more music or props and signs. We'll have to get used
to it. It will all be based strictly on cheering ability (and gymnastics) in
routines."

And for
powerhouse programs such as Rochester -- which has won a record 10 state
titles and two runner-up trophies in the past 13 years participating in the
MHSAA tournament, along with multiple top-10 finishes in the MCCA tournament
from 1978-93 -- this simply means that there will be more competition for everyone.

"That
will just make everyone work harder," Rochester veteran coach Susan Wood said.
"I think this is a great thing for the sport. Now we're all on the same
page."