Of course, it had to come.

Echoes of the hullabaloo along the sidelines of the National Football League – whether to  kneel, sit or any other expression of protest during the playing of our national anthem – have trickled down as one would expect to the collegiate and high school levels.

In the state of Michigan, it appears the notion of protests have caught fancy somewhat among college squads, and hardly at all among high school teams.

I could find just six published stories about high school protests. One that got national attention was carried out by four kneeling players at Lansing Catholic. Administrators and coaches responded: two players were benched for part of each game remaining on the schedule, while the other two players transferred out.

Players at Jackson High reached a sort of compromise in their protest: kneeling before the anthem was played, then standing with locked arms during it.

Here’s a twist: a photo in the Holland Sentinel newspaper showed a long line of football players from Holland High all standing – and behind them, 11 cheerleaders kneeling.

So, how do we handle this quandary, the protocol of proper respect for our anthem and flag vs. the constitutional right to protest?

The Michigan High School Athletic Association says it’s “a local issue. Schools should look at these situations as opportunities to engage their students and talk about the issues.”

At the Catholic High School League’s annual meeting of principals and athletic directors in September, league director Vic Michaels said, “We were split if we should have a league policy or not. We agreed that we needed to continue to work on the education of our young men and women and ask them why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

Michaels said the CHSL has no reports of any instances of players protesting this season.

Here’s one approach employed by tiny (215 students) Michigan Lutheran Seminary High School in Saginaw:

During football games, 11 players, including all four team captains, sang the national anthem with the school choir before kickoff. One player, who has a brother serving in the Air Force, carried the American flag as the team took the field.

It’s always bothered me that we stand like statues during the singing of the national anthem. The PA announcer should invite us all to sing, right along with a guest performer, if there is one, or a recording.

I’ll bet every school could find a benefactor who would underwrite the cost of having a sheet of paper printed and distributed to spectators with the words of the anthem and the history and rationale behind the national anthem and the flag.

Can you imagine the pride you would feel as shoulder to shoulder we saluted America in a full-throated salute, and what a powerful example it would be of patriotism to our youngsters?

A year-end chuckle … Dave Joseph retired last summer after 41 years coaching girls basketball in the CHSL. He started out in 1987 at Pontiac Catholic — which transformed into Oakland Catholic in 1988 and into Notre Dame Prep in 1994 — and then moved over to Madison Heights Bishop Foley in 2005, where he directed the Ventures to their first CHSL championship in 2014.

His career record was 363-294. But of all those 657 contests, he’ll long remember the very first one.



Pontiac Catholic and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook were tied 32-32 with about 10 seconds to play. One of the PC players was dribbling at the top of the key.

“Everybody was yelling ‘Shoot! Shoot!’” he recalled.

The player kept on bouncing the ball until the buzzer sounded.

“I asked her why she didn’t shoot,” Joseph said, “and she told me she thought I’d be happy with a tie.”

Joseph got his happy ending with a victory in overtime.

... and a year-end greeting – I wish you the merriest Christmas season and the happiest new year!

Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].