BY MIKE ECKERT
TRAVERSE CITY -- What started as frustration over Traverse City St. Francis' dominance in the Lake Michigan Conference has turned into an in-depth look at football across northern Michigan, and beyond.
Representatives from nine conferences, four independent schools and the MHSAA will meet in Grayling on Feb. 19 to explore future options for football scheduling.
"We learned that all the leagues are experiencing difficulties in football," East Jordan Superintendent Chip Hansen said. "Travel, enrollment, strength of competition and the strength of the playoffs are all challenges."
Hansen got the ball rolling with a meeting of Lake Michigan schools in November. From there, further gatherings have occurred with more conferences involved.
"We had unanimous support to look at doing something on the regional level, to come up with a solution to solve some of the challenges we are all facing in football," Hansen said.
The start
Since joining the Lake Michigan Conference in 1997, St. Francis has amassed an 81-4 league record. The Gladiators last league loss was in 2001 -- and that dominance hasn't sat well with some schools.
"There are some schools that want them out only for football," Grayling athletic director and football coach Tim Sanchez said. "And there are some that don't want them out. Some schools recognize teams shouldn't be punished for being good."
St. Francis athletic director Tom Hardy understands the frustration. While the Gladiators have won five state titles since 1999, others in the league have struggled to make the playoffs. Harbor Springs hasn't had a winning record or made the playoffs since 2000. Kalkaska's last winning season was 2002, and East Jordan's was 2003.
"I understand that there are challenges in all programs, in the development of those programs," Hardy said. "Harbor Springs has a great coach, a very supportive administration and they've got supportive families right now, and they're developing that program. But when you're playing against a program that's been established, been around for years and years, and has had success, it puts everybody in a tough spot."
There have discussions for several years about St. Francis' participation in the league for football, but an official vote has never been cast.
Hansen said after the initial meeting in November with the conference schools, he believes the biggest issue facing the Lake Michigan Conference is the discrepancy in talent among teams.
"We continue to believe we have an outstanding conference, but there is some concern with the makeup of football," he said. "We have some schools that are not competitive and other schools that are ultra competitive. So, we got together and said what can we do for football only to preserve the integrity of the league."
More meetings have been held and more conferences were brought into the mix. That led Hardy to take a proactive approach and volunteer to head the committee meeting on Feb. 19.
"We will help in any way we can," Hardy said. "That's part of who we are as a school system. We'd love to be part of the solution and not be the problem."
'Almost desperation'
Competition isn't the only problem facing football teams across the state, but the majority of the issues are driven by the playoff system and the required six wins needed to guarantee a spot in the postseason.
"That has created a monster somewhat to get those six wins," Benzie Central Athletic Director Karen Leinaar said. "It's the expectation of success because in football only 256 schools qualify for the playoffs."
Because wins are so important, some schools across the state have struggled to fill their schedules. Some schools have been forced to travel across the state to find willing competition with matching open dates. Others have turned to crossing the border.
In metro Detroit, Inkster played three Ohio schools and had an open date last fall. And in the Upper Peninsula, Menominee scheduled four Wisconsin opponents while Kingsford played two Wisconsin teams, one from Minnesota and another from Ontario.
"The majority of the schools, by far, are comfortable enough with the current situation not to look for any radical changes," MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts said. "But the independents or the leagues with eight, seven, six or five football-playing schools are struggling mightily to find games. The comfortable schools far outnumber the distressed, but there are some seriously distressed schools in isolated areas. For them, it's not inconvenience, but almost desperation."
That desperation could become even bleaker for Upper Peninsula schools. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has considered solving its football problems by adopting a "closed border" policy, shunning U.P. teams. That proposal has been held off for 2010 but could be considered again for 2011.
The emergence of eight-man football also has complicated scheduling in Michigan. Bellaire is one of the schools switching formats this fall as the MHSAA looks to get 20 committed teams by the April 1 deadline.
No stone unturned
While it's unlikely anything will be resolved during the Feb. 19 meeting, those involved are hoping to work toward finding a solution for what's best for northern Michigan football.
"The goal in mind is not to leave anything unturned," Hardy said. "If we don't do that, we're not challenging ourselves and we're really not doing what we're in this business for, and that's for kids. In these times, we have to explore all of the options we have, and with the groups we've put together, it's going to force us to do that."
Topics including forming a mega conference are expected to be discussed, as well as possible alliances between like-sized leagues. Some schools are also exploring options outside of their own leagues.
Leinaar -- who is also a member of the MHSAA's representative council -- is happy with her school's place in the Northwest Conference, but would like to find a better way of scheduling non-conference games closer to home. And if the best resolution for everyone would be a mega-conference, she said she'd be the first to vote for it.
"The old age of being one conference for everything doesn't fit anymore," Leinaar said, adding that this problem reminds her of when the MHSAA moved from classes to divisions. "That was a hurdle. I remember sitting in meetings across the state hearing people say we were going to ruin high school sports. We haven't. We've equalized them."
The Big North Conference is the largest league involved in the meetings in terms of enrollment. And that league could be expanding.
Principals from the Big North will meet on Feb. 10 to discuss expansion. Currently, Ogemaw Heights has applied to join the league for all sports while Bay City John Glenn has applied for football only. If approved, those additions would begin in 2011.
One change that appears unlikely is expansion to the playoff system on the state level.
"Whenever this comes up, it's interesting to look at other states with expanded playoffs," Roberts said. "You find they have the same problems. There's some kind of sickness here. Defining a program's success by making the playoffs is insidious. I really wish in educational athletics we defined success differently.
"We're smart enough to know it won't fix everything. We're smart enough to know it won't be good for some kids. Imagine the 0-9 vs. 9-0 games. And, we're also smart enough to know that if we did it, it would be the most controversial thing we've ever done."
Those taking notice
The reach of the Feb. 19 meeting stretches across the state. While northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula schools will be involved in the meeting, the MHSAA will once again send assistant director Nate Hampton, who was also at the previous meeting in January.
And struggling schools across the state could take note if a solution is found.
"We would hope the work we do here could be replicated elsewhere," Hansen said. "We all will certainly be facing the same problems next year and the year after. They're not going to fix themselves."
While the talks may have begun with St. Francis, Leinaar said they've grown beyond the Gladiators.
"Does St. Francis compete better at times than others? Yes," Leinaar said. "But to say we're only drawn into this because of St. Francis' success is giving them too much power.
"This is superintendents looking at their bottom lines."
