Southwest Ohio's high school soccer, girls' volleyball, basketball, softball and baseball divisions could expand if the Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors votes Thursday in favor of Executive Director Doug Ute's proposal. be.
OHSAA officials recently held six regional meetings with member schools to discuss the topic, including one on Jan. 30 at Princeton High School.
“This proposal would finally address the enrollment disparity between Division I and Division II, where the largest schools within the same division would be three times the size of the smallest schools. “Sometimes,” Ute said. “This is not driven by money, as we expect the expansion in the number of divisions to be a revenue-neutral change. There is definitely a need to restructure tournaments, add venues, etc., and staff It will take time and effort from the , district competition committees, and member schools.”
more:How will the potential expansion of the postseason affect the seven OHSAA sports?
What does this proposal include?
According to the release, the proposal calls for the following metrics to be used to guide the board's decisions regarding the number of divisions for women's volleyball, football, soccer, basketball, softball and baseball. The sports of lacrosse, field hockey, ice hockey and men's volleyball will remain unchanged from their current division numbers.
OHSAA media relations director Tim Streed said similar graphs have been used in soccer, but other sports had not adhered to any graphs until this proposal.
- No more than 199 teams in a sport correspond to one division
- 200-299 teams: 2 divisions
- 300-399 teams: 3 divisions
- 400-499 teams: 4 divisions
- 500-599 teams: 5 divisions
- 600-699 teams: 6 divisions
- 700+ teams: 7 divisions
For women's volleyball, soccer, basketball, softball, and baseball, the largest number of schools, 64, are placed in Division I, and the next largest number, 64, are placed in Division II. The remaining schools will be split between the remaining divisions as evenly as possible. The OHSAA already does something similar in football, with the top 10% of schools placed in Division I and the remaining schools split evenly between Divisions II through VII.
If the proposal goes ahead, soccer (men's and women's) would be in Division 5, softball would be in Division 6 or 7, and basketball (men's and women's), volleyball and baseball would be in Division 7, Streed said.
The proposal does not call for changes to the formula the OHSAA uses for individual sports to determine the number of players needed for team nomination. That number includes five in bowling and five in cross country (who was the team's leading scorer in the district tournament). There were four in golf, three in women's gymnastics, seven in swimming and diving, four in tennis, nine in track and field, and seven in wrestling.
However, the proposal calls for the following divisional tables to be used for individual sports, defined as types of sports in which an individual can advance to the postseason, regardless of team performance.
- 200 teams or less: 1 division
- 201-450 teams: 2 divisions
- 451-700 teams: 3 divisions
- More than 701 teams: 4 divisions
The proposal does not include expanding the soccer postseason, which is already divided into seven divisions. Additionally, OHSAA member schools will be required to vote on changes to the current development of the competitive balance process during the annual referendum voting process.
Why was this proposal necessary?
In other words, feedback from members over the past year leans in favor of expansion to close the enrollment gap between Division I's largest and smallest schools.
Although Ohio is the fourth-largest state in the United States in terms of number of schools, the number of divisions does not reflect its size when compared to release states, which are often smaller states.
“If we can give more kids an opportunity to have postseason tournaments and get the community involved and excited, that's a good thing,” Ute said. To win a championship. ”
Why is athletics not included in this proposal?
The Enquirer reported on efforts by longtime Loveland track coach Jim Vanatsky, who also stopped by Meler, to address similar disparities in track and field.
Vanatzky's problem was that schools with the highest enrollment, both public and non-public, consistently advanced to the state final four and won. From 2015 to 2018, the Division I state champions in boys and girls basketball and baseball all came from schools that were in the top 10 percent of the state in enrollment.
Tried said several meetings about expanding the athletics department have been held with more participants and a strong case for expansion. Current debate focuses on the number of individual athletes who make up a team. Hypothetically, Streed said, if a school has eight runners on its team and, say, nine are considered a “team,” that school would not officially count as a team.
But Stripe said the discussion is not over, as the athletics stadium expansion is still on the table.
more:'Everyone benefits': Loveland teacher pushes track and field expansion
What's next?
The board can choose to approve all, none or some of the proposals at an 8 a.m. Thursday morning meeting. It is also possible to defer some of the proposals to a future meeting.
If the board approves the plan, the OHSAA is expected to announce changes to the structure and dates of future state tournaments, likely starting in the fall of 2024, at a later date.
Brendan Connelly contributed to this report.
