54 | SEPTEMBER 17 • 2020 Billy Slobin didn’ t think there would be a high school football season this fall. So the strength and conditioning coach for the North Farmington High School football team is perfectly happy with what the truncated prep football season will look like: Each team will play six regular-season games and make the state playoffs. “I was not a proponent of a spring football season. You need to keep the clock ticking, play football in the proper time of the year,” Slobin said. “I want to use the winter and spring to train players for the next fall season, get them prepared physically and mentally. “I’ m elated for our North Farmington kids and their families that there will be a fall foot- ball season. Coaches have many seasons in which to coach. Kids have a finite amount of time to play and spend time with their team- mates and coaches.” The Michigan High School Athletic Association’ s Representative Council voted Sept. 3 to reinstate fall sports after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order the previous day that allowed organized sports to resume in the state. The MHSAA had made football a spring sport Aug. 14, but left the door open for a fall season. The North Farmington football season will begin Sept. 17 with its Week No. 4 game at Rochester Adams. Games in the first three weeks were scrapped. Instead of playing Traverse City West at home on Oct. 23 in Week No. 9, the Raiders will play host to Birmingham Seaholm. Slobin was the strength and conditioning coach at Farmington Hills Harrison High School for 34 years before the school closed in 2018. This is his second season at North Farmington. quick hits BY STEVE STEIN Inter-Congregational Men’ s Club Summer Softball League’ s 25th year was historic for many reasons STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER I t was a season like no other in the Inter-Congregational Men’ s Club Summer Softball League. The major reason, of course, was the COVID-19 pandemic. There were rule changes. Players wore masks and social distanced. Using hand sanitizer was an important as catching a fly ball with two hands. There were no post-game high-fives between teams. The rule changes weren’ t uni- versally popular. But having dou- ble-elimination playoffs for the first time in the weekly league’ s 25-year history was well received. “It would have been nice to spread the playoffs over three weeks, but two weeks were fine, ” said Steve Achtman, a league director along with Michael Betman. Also getting applause was a deci- sion to name a recipient of the Jeff Fox Sportsmanship and Michael Yendick Good Heart awards from each of the three divisions for the first time since the league went to a divisional setup in 2017. “It was a tough season, but I’ m glad we had a season, ” Achtman said. “It was a trying season, ” said umpire-in-chief Rob Landaw, one of the league’ s seven umpires. “But given what’ s going on in the world, we were fortunate, ” Landaw said. “Everyone in the league — players, umpires and directors — made it work. ” Jeff Sandler was manager of the Adat Shalom Synagogue No. 1 team sports HIGHlights NMLS#2289 brought to you in partnership with ‘It Was a Tough Season, But I’m Glad We Had a Season’ ABOVE: Temple Israel No. 6 softball team celebrates its Greenberg Division championship. CAROLYN KLINGER COURTESY OF THE SLOBIN FAMILY. Jeff Fox was a beloved member of the Temple Shir Shalom team in the Inter-Congregational Men’ s Club Summer Softball League. Since his death in 2011, the league has presented the Jeff Fox Sportsmanship Award to the league’ s best sport. This year, for the first time since the league went to a divisional setup in 2017, the league presented the award to a player in each of the three divisions. Each man- ager nominated a player for the award, and the recipients were selected at random. Jeff Kaplan (Greenberg Division), Lonnie Myers (Koufax Division) and Eric Wolfe (Rosen Division) are the 2020 award recipients. BRANDON ACHTMAN Eric Wolfe