OHSAA Board of Directors Meeting Highlights

August 8, 2019

NEWS RELEASE – Ohio High School Athletic Association

Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass

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For Immediate Release – August 8, 2019

OHSAA Contact – Tim Stried, Director of Communications, [email protected]

OHSAA Board of Directors Meeting Highlights

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors held its regularly scheduled August meeting Thursday morning at the OHSAA office, which marked the first Board meeting of the 2019-20 school year. The 2019-20 Board is posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/about/BOD

The following are highlights from the meeting. Complete meeting minutes will be posted at OHSAA.org.

The Board approved a new OHSAA mission statement, which reads: “To serve our member schools and enrich interscholastic opportunities for students.”
The Board approved the updated OHSAA membership list, which currently stands at 816 high schools (same number as last year) and 760 7th and 8th grade schools. The number of 7th and 8th grade schools is lower due to a number of schools dropping official school teams this year and therefore deciding not to remain OHSAA members. Ohio is the fourth-largest state for high school sports participation behind California, Texas and New York.
The Board was updated on upcoming meetings and events, including the OHSAA School Administrators Workshop on August 13, the OHSAA Regional Update Meetings in September and October and the OHSAA Foundation Student Leadership Conference on October 1. Details for the OHSAA Regional Update Meetings are posted at: https://bit.ly/2Kyep3H
Since the Board’s last meeting, six member schools were penalized for committing infractions of OHSAA bylaws or sports regulations. The list of infractions and penalties is always included in the complete meeting minutes, but media members may request the list in advance from Tim Stried, OHSAA Director of Communications, at [email protected].
The Board approved the financial reports from the 2019 girls and boys basketball regional and state tournaments. The girls basketball state tournament drew 30,771 fans and the regional tournaments drew 41,957, resulting in combined proceeds of $143,083. The boys basketball state tournament moved to doubleheader sessions for the semifinals, resulting in an increase in revenue but a lower number of total tickets sold (66,895). When combined with an attendance of 78,414 fans at the regional tournaments, the boys basketball regional and state tournaments resulted in proceeds of $982,138, which is one of the primary revenue sources for the OHSAA.
The Board approved the tournament regulations for the fall sports of cross country, golf, soccer, girls tennis, field hockey and volleyball. The tournament regulations will be posted on the respective sport pages at OHSAA.org. The football tournament regulations were approved at the Board’s June meeting.
The Board approved the divisional breakdowns for the spring sports of girls and boys lacrosse and boys tennis for 2020 and 2021. The track and field divisional breakdowns are expected to be approved at the Board’s September meeting. The updated breakdowns will be posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/School-Resources/Divisional-Breakdowns-2019-20-School-Year
The Board approved the individual wrestling tournament divisional breakdowns and tournament representation for the 2020 and 2021 tournaments. Representatives from all six OHSAA District Athletic Boards met in July to discuss the equitable assignment of schools to mixed athletic district sectional tournaments and any rotational district tournament sites.
The Board approved Chad Shawger, Superintendent of Zanesville West Muskingum Local Schools, to fill a vacant seat on the East District Athletic Board on a one-year interim basis. He will replace Bill Love, who accepted a new position.