COVID pandemic brings down Michigan high school sports participation - mlive.com

At first glance, the drop in participation in Michigan high school athletics is jarring.

Which means it’s a pretty typical measurement of the impact of the COVID pandemic.

In the 2020-21 school year, 244,012 high school students participated in Michigan High School Athletic Association-sponsored sports, the lowest recorded number and more than 30,000 fewer than in 2019-20, when the spring sports season was canceled because of COVID.

The 2019-20 sports season was canceled on March 12, 2020, before the spring sports season began.

“Even though spring sports was canceled in 2020, teams were practicing and were within days of playing,” MHSAA communications director Geoff Kimmerly said. “We were still able to count them. We counted them to let us know how many were taking part in athletics. We accepted those numbers.”

Still, a drop of more than 30,000 athletes was tough to stomach, although not as tough to explain.

“It’s still not apples to apples because in the fall of 2020, we had a handful of schools that completely did not participate in fall sports,” Kimmerly said. “When entire sports programs are out, those are some big numbers, especially in football.

“Even if you only have 10 schools not playing football, that’s 300 to 500 athletes. Then you add the other fall sports, and it makes a big difference.”

Schools that did not participate in fall sports in 2020 included Lansing Eastern, Lansing Everett and Lansing Sexton, Flint, Muskegon Heights, Detroit University Prep, Detroit University Prep Science and Math, Detroit Old Redford and Pontiac Academy for Excellence.

“I saw numbers decline last year when the pandemic first started up,” Davison athletic director Dave Beamer said. “But I think things are getting better. Masks don’t help with everybody because everybody doesn’t agree with it, but it is what it is.”

Even with the resumption of football and fall sports in 2020, the pandemic still hurt the overall numbers of participants.

“There were a lot of stops and starts last fall,” Kimmerly said. “Obviously, the pandemic had a lot to do with it. And you had enrollment going down also. That plays a role.”

Enrollment in MHSAA member schools dropped 2.1 percent from 2019-20 to 444,085 students overall.

The MHSAA follows the counting method set by the National Federation of High School, which counts participation per sport, not per athlete. A three-sport athlete counts as three participants, while a one-sport athlete counts as one, which puts an emphasis on the multi-sport athlete.

“There are few multi-sport athletes, and we really encourage ours,” Grand Blanc athletic director Jerrod Dohm said. “You’re going year-round in one sport. They’re being fed that they have to do that. I disagree with that.

“You’re seeing a lot of large Class A schools that are fielding fewer freshman teams. A couple years ago, I think it was girls soccer, we didn’t field a freshman team for the first time in ages. You see soccer and hockey, there are options competing with us as a high school sport because they’re going year-round through our season.”

Football remains the highest participation sport with 30,630 students playing 11-player football and 1,737 in 11-player football. For boys, basketball is second with 18,806 players and track third with 17,390.

Volleyball remains the most popular girls sport with 18,430 participants. Basketball attracted 13,285 and track 12,739.

“We use the participation numbers to track trends,” Kimmerly said. “But you just can’t do it over the past two years. Even now, there are going to be families wary about participating in sports. That’s understandable. Until we are truly out of the pandemic, there will not be a good apples-to-apples comparison.

“One basketball team last year didn’t play because they didn’t want to wear masks. Any teams that decided not to play because of COVID-related things had a significant impact on the numbers.

“I think we all expect it to bounce back. You expect everything in the world of sports will bounce back, but until the pandemic is completely over, our best comparisons are going to apples-to-oranges.”

MHSAA participation numbers since 2000

2020-21: 244,012

2019-20: 274,126

2018-19: 281,992

2017-18: 284,920

2016-17: 283,625

2015-16: 284,227

2014-15: 282,623

2013-14: 288,230

2012-13: 293,810

2011-12: 297,317

2010-11: 301,921

2009-10: 301,833

2008-09: 304,343

2007-08: 307,112

2006-07: 313,093

2005-06: 313,589

2004-05: 304,568

2003-04: 293,957

2002-03: 294,012

2001-02: 301,544

2000-01: 287,036

2020-21 Participation numbers by sport

BOYS

Baseball: 16,035

Basketball: 18,806

Bowling: 3,465

Cross Country: 8,372

Football (11-Player): 30,630

Football (8-Player): 1,737

Golf: 6,075

Ice Hockey: 3,221

Lacrosse: 4,497

Skiing: 818

Soccer: 13,129

Swimming: 4,051

Tennis: 5,879

Track: 17,390

Wrestling: 7,296

GIRLS

(Second number is girls who played on boys teams)

Baseball: 0/18

Basketball: 13,285/15

Bowling: 2,414/51

Competitive Cheer: 5,191

Cross Country: 7,248/16

Football (11-Player): 0/115

Football (8-Player): 0/23

Golf: 3,585/108

Gymnastics: 613

Ice Hockey: 0/13

Lacrosse: 2,777/13

Skiing: 778

Soccer: 11,130/60

Softball: 11,389

Swimming: 5,111/56

Tennis: 7,125/25

Track: 12,739

Volleyball: 18,430

Wrestling: 0/283

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