NEWS RELEASE – Ohio High School Athletic Association
Executive Director Doug Ute
For Immediate Release – August 26, 2021
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. The following are highlights from the meeting. Complete meeting minutes will be posted at OHSAA.org.
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The Board approved the list of schools that renewed their membership with the OHSAA for the 2021-22 school year. There are currently 817 member high schools and 747 member 7th-8th grade schools. The OHSAA remains the fourth-largest state association in the country for member schools.
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The Board approved the tournament regulations for the upcoming fall sports tournaments and received other updates from the OHSAA sport administrators. Fall sports include:
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GOLF: The state tournaments return to The Ohio State University Golf Club and NorthStar Golf Club in Sunbury. On October 15-16, the Division III boys and Division II girls play at OSU, while the Division II boys play at NorthStar. Then on October 22-23, the Division I girls and boys play at OSU. The statewide tournament draw is September 19.
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GIRLS TENNIS: The state tournament returns to the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason October 22-23. The statewide tournament draw is September 26.
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FIELD HOCKEY: The state tournament returns to Thomas Worthington High School November 4 and 6. The statewide tournament draw is October 10.
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CROSS COUNTRY: The state tournament returns to Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park November 6. The statewide tournament draw is October 10. The 7th-8th Grade Invitational is also at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park on Sunday, October 24.
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VOLLEYBALL: The state tournament will be played at the Nutter Center at Wright State University in Fairborn November 11-13. The statewide tournament draw is October 10.
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FOOTBALL: The Harbin computer ratings will be used this season and teams must qualify for the playoffs, which will include the top 16 schools in each region. Due to some games being cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, the minimum number of rated varsity games that a school must play has been lowered to five games instead of eight for the 2021 season. The regular-season ends Saturday, Oct. 23 and the playoff qualifiers will be announced Sunday, Oct. 24. The state championship games return to Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton December 2-4. The Canton announcement was made June 16 and is posted at:
https://www.ohsaa.org/Sports/News/ohsaa-awards-pro-football-hall-of-fame-state-football-championships
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The Board was provided the OHSAA financial reports and the overall OHSAA financial outlook. Of note, 80-percent of the OHSAA’s profit for the entire 2020-21 school year came from the spring tournaments, as attendance restrictions were lifted at that time.
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The Board reviewed and discussed tournament proposed ticket prices for the 2021-22 school year and is expected to approve a final recommendation on ticket prices from the Executive Director’s Office at an upcoming meeting.
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The Board was updated on the upcoming annual OHSAA Student Leadership Conference, which will be held virtually this year on Tuesday, October 5. There is no cost for schools to participate in the conference and it will be available for viewing afterwards. Previously, the in-person conference has been the largest one-day student leadership conference in the country with 1,500 students gathering at The Ohio State University. The OHSAA anticipates an even larger number of participants online and welcomes entire classrooms to watch the conference together. Registration will begin the week of September 13.
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In accordance with Constitution Article 8-1-1, the Board approved an emergency referendum item for a vote by member school principals to take place between September 1-15, 2021. The referendum item, if approved, will restore the bylaws/exceptions that were previously removed due to legislative action in August 2019 and are currently shown as “strike-throughs” in the current OHSAA Handbook under the Transfer Bylaws. More information about this emergency vote will be forthcoming to schools in the near future. A complete text of the bylaws/exceptions which are being presented for restoration are outlined at:
https://ohsaaweb.blob.core.windows.net/files/SchoolResources/refvote/EmergencyReferendum-FINAL.pdf
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The Board reviewed the list of recent infractions by OHSAA member schools. Since the Board’s last meeting, consequences were issued to five schools for violations of OHSAA bylaws or sports regulations. The list of infractions will be included in the complete Board meeting minutes posted at OHSAA.org.
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The OHSAA staff conducted two in-person school administrator workshops in August and will conduct a third workshop virtually on August 31 to provide updates and reminders in several areas and answer commonly asked questions.
Recent Headlines at OHSAA.org