Enrollment in Michigan High School Athletic Association member high schools continued a trend of slight declines in 2016-17.

But participation in sports held firm as records were set in three of the 28 sports for which postseason tournaments are sponsored by the MHSAA.

The MHSAA Ice Hockey Semifinals and Finals will continue to be played at USA Hockey Arena through at least 2022 thanks to a five-year extension confirmed today.

The arena, in Plymouth, has hosted the season’s championship weekend since 2003. The Semifinals and Finals will be played this upcoming season March 8-10, 2018.

Just under half of high schools responding to an annual MHSAA survey assessed participation fees to help fund interscholastic athletics in 2016-17, making it the first school year since 2009-10 that fewer than 50 percent of respondents reported not charging student-athletes to play sports.

It should be noted that the pioneering leaders of schools and school sports in Michigan were bold, cutting-edge administrators, far ahead of their time in many ways.