Martin, Plainwell change MHSAA classification for ‘23-24

By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
EAST LANSING—The Michigan High School Athletic Association recently announced its school classifications for the 2023-24 school year.
And a pair of Allegan County schools are on the move.
Martin is moving up from Class D to Class C, while Plainwell is moving down from Class A to Class B.
It’s worth noting that these traditional classifications aren’t as important as they once were. Because while they were formerly used to determine classification for postseason tournaments, they are now used only for purposes of MHSAA elections.
Each MHSAA-sanctioned sport determines its own classification for postseason tournaments based on the number of schools that participate in that sport. Tournaments are conducted with schools assigned to equal or nearly equal divisions.
Classifications for the upcoming school year—both traditional and per sport—are based on a second semester count date, which for MHSAA purposes was Feb. 8. 
The enrollment figure submitted for athletic classification purposes may be different from the count submitted for school aid purposes. This is because the MHSAA count does not include students ineligible for athletic competition because they reached their 19th birthday prior to Sept. 1 of the current school year. The MHSAA count also does not include alternative education students if none are allowed athletic eligibility by the local school district.
For 2023-24, there are 750 tournament-qualified member schools. Schools recently were notified of their classification, and sport-by-sport divisions were posted to the MHSAA Website on Thursday, April 6,
MHSAA executive director Mark Uyl said schools may not subsequently lower their enrollment figure. However, if revised enrollment figures are higher and indicate that a school should be playing in a higher division, that school would be moved up.
To determine traditional classifications, after all counts are submitted, tournament-qualified member schools are ranked according to enrollment and then split as closely into quarters as possible. For 2023-24, there are 187 member schools in Class A, Class B and Class C, and 189 member schools in Class D.
Effective with the 2023-24 school year, schools with 807 or more students are in Class A. The enrollment limits for Class B are 380 to 806 students, while limits for Class C are 177 to 379. Schools with enrollments of fewer than 176 students are Class D.
The break between Classes A and B decreased eight students from 2022-23; the break between Classes B and C decreased 11 students; and the break between Classes C and D is six students fewer than for the 2022-23 school year.
The new classification breaks will see 21 schools move up in Class for 2023-24 while 24 schools will move down.
Visit the respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website at https://www.mhsaa.com/ to review the divisional alignments for all MHSAA-sponsored tournament sports. Click the “SPORTS” menu on the home page to access the page for each sport, then the “Assignments” link on the selected sport page and then “DIVISION LIST” to see the 2023-24 division.