By Ryan Schlehuber

At least for the 2005-06 school year, Michigan high school sports season schedules will likely not change, since the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, May 2, sent back to the 6th Circuit Court a case to change high school girls and boys sports seasons around to meet gender quality standards.

Had the Supreme Court let the lower court decisions stand, girls volleyball would have moved to the fall and girls basketball to the winter, beginning with the 2005-06 school year. Boys and girls tennis would have flopped seasons, and girls and boys soccer would play in the fall and spring, respectively.

The U.S. Federal District Court in Kalamazoo ruled that the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) schedules for high school girls’ sports violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. That clause prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.

Last July, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled 3-0 in favor of the Communities for Equity, a Grand Rapids-based group that sued MHSAA in 1998. The suit charged that girls in Michigan are discriminated against with athletic scholarships owing to certain times those sports are played.

The 6th Circuit Court based its original ruling on the equal-protection clause under the 14th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered Monday, May 2 that it must decide the gender-equity case based on Title IX, not on the equal-protection clause.

Title IX was passed in 1972, allowing for more opportunities for females in athletics.

As the case moved to the Supreme Court, and with next school year only months away, high school athletic directors were urged to prepare two different sports season schedules, one for gender equity and one for the way it has always been. With Monday’s action by the Supreme Court, they can implement the latter.

“What athletic directors had to do definitely was not an exercise in vain,” said MHSAA Communications Director John Johnson. “We hope they never have to revisit this again, but as far as litigation goes, you have to be prepared for anything and everything. At the least, this exercise has helped athletic directors paint a picture of what it would look like if the seasons were changed around.”

Other than Hawaii, Michigan is the only state in the country which plays girls basketball in the fall and volleyball in the winter, opposite from the collegiate schedules.

The MHSAA expects the stay the 6th Circuit Court issued in May 2002 to remain in effect until the case is resolved, which will allow the old schedules to continue until the court issues a new decision.

Mr. Johnson said MHSAA’s legal team will assess the Supreme Court’s decision to bring it back to the 6th Circuit Court Wednesday, May 4. From there, he said, MHSAA will start to analyze what to anticipate in the near future regarding the case.

“There’s a lot we don’t know yet and we will do our best to inform everyone as progress moves along,” Mr. Johnson said.