Michigan House Committee hears testimony on resuming high school sports

(The Center Square) – Testimony at a Thursday meeting of the Michigan House of Representatives Oversight Committee turned emotional as adults and student athletes presented their cases for allowing high school winter sports to resume.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Jan. 22 that high school winter sports such as wrestling, basketball and competitive cheerleading would not be allowed to restart until at least Feb. 21. The previous deadline set by the governor and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services had been Jan. 31.

Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Steven Johnson, R-Wayland, began Thursday’s proceedings by noting his perception of a double standard of the MDHHS allowing professional and collegiate contact sports to recommence, while benching high school athletic competition.

Additionally, Johnson noted the MDHHS deems 68 skaters at hockey practices as safe, but considers unsafe 11 hockey players on the ice together during an actual game.

An invitation for an MDHHS representative to testify before the committee was declined.

MDHHS Director Robert Gordon abruptly resigned last week, and Elizabeth Hertel was named immediately as his replacement. No reason has been given for Gordon’s resignation.

John Thompson, Brighton Public Schools athletic director and a Michigan High School Athletic Association representative council member, testified approximately 200,000 Michigan high school students were involved in school sports programs, and 500,000 people are “impacted by institutional athletics” in the state.

Referring to the five deadline resets MDHHS has placed on ending the pause on high school athletics, Thompson asked: “How many times will Lucy pull the ball out from Charlie Brown?”

Thompson added the social, emotional, and mental health toll the high school sports ban has inflicted on athletes, noting a marked increase in student depression and anxiety.

He also asserted 38 states are currently allowing winter contact sports, and 97% of MHSAA events have been conducted safely thus far.

Rep. Stephanie Young, D-Detroit, and Rep. David LaGrand, D-Grand Rapids, however, countered with their concerns over the variant strains of COVID-19.

LaGrand stated that the University of Michigan has closed down its sports programs as a result of the more contagious and more deadly variant.

Young asked Thompson if it would make more sense to wait to restart the winter sports season until more vaccines are administered and more data collected, to which Thompson responded high school athletic programs are running out of days on the calendar.

Former NFL tight end Jay Riemersma testified his nine years playing for the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers would not have happened if he hadn’t been allowed to play in organized athletics as a high school student in Zeeland.

Cheboygan Coach Jason Friday stressed the importance of athletes maintaining a reasonable grade-point average in order to play sports, which he said motivates students to hit the books when they may not otherwise.

Jayme McElvaney is head of Michigan’s Let Them Play organization, which is currently conducting an online fundraising drive to raise money for a potential lawsuit against the state.

According to McElvaney’s testimony, high school athletes are “targets of political games.”

Johnson said the pause of high school sports also presented unintended consequences such as incentivizing athletes to join travel teams that might compete in out-of-state competitions. This, he said, heightens the risk of them bringing back the coronavirus to Michigan.

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