Upper Peninsula teams playing boys and girls soccer will have the opportunity to participate in a statewide Michigan High School Athletic Association Tournament beginning with the 2023-24 school year after the U.S. federal court in the Western District of Michigan granted on Wednesday, Aug. 16, a joint petition to adjust that portion of the 2000s seasons litigation compliance plan that had required Upper Peninsula boys and girls soccer teams to play in opposite seasons from their Lower Peninsula counterparts.
Two decades ago, the court assigned a separate U.P. boys tournament for the spring and a separate U.P. girls tournament for the fall as part of the compliance plan emerging from litigation in a lawsuit filed by Communities for Equity in 1998. The resulting compliance plan, with Lower Peninsula boys soccer season in fall and girls soccer in spring and Upper Peninsula girls soccer season in fall and boys soccer in spring, was put into place beginning with the 2007-08 school year.
Alan MacArthur, head coach of Sault Area Varsity Boys Soccer was elated hearing the news.
"It's huge. We always wanted to be in that tournament. There have been several good teams up in the U.P. especially Marquette, Houghton and we are not too bad either but it's nice now just to be able to play those other teams," MacArthur said.
And the players are equally excited.
"It is a long time coming. It's not just for us in the Eastern U.P., it's for the whole U.P., so, there is something at the end. We have something to play for now so that is kind of nice," added MacArthur.
You can read the entire decision here.
