(2-8-24) In a Toledo Blade story by Dave Briggs… Van Wert Superintendent Mark Bagley told Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Executive Director Ute. 

“I would love to know the amount of people in our district in northwest Ohio who are in favor of this. I have not heard names. I would love to slow this down … Why not put it to the members — 819 schools and we vote? If it goes that way, great. Let’s move forward. No problem with that. But nine people are going to vote on the future of three expansion divisions?”

RELATED: Ute And 9 OHSAA Board Of Directors To Decide Possible Additional Divisions

The OHSAA Board of Directors meet next week on February 15th, 2024. It is assumed by many that the board will approve the expansion plan. The board agenda is never released to the media before the meeting. Members will NOT be able to vote on the change.

Editor’s Note– SSN requested from the OHSAA the agenda. If the agenda is not available, please advise if the board will discuss division expansion.

Thanks to members of the media Ohio coaches have been able to express their opinions on the expansion of divisions. The one issue being asked by many is why is the OHSAA Board of Directors have the final say and not a vote of member schools?

From around the state the issue has drawn mixed thoughts from coaches and AD’s.

In an email reply to SSN….Coldwater Athletic Director Eric Goodwin commented–

I cannot really say if the new format is good or bad for our sports. I see some positive aspects and I see some negative aspects. Not sure 7 divisions is needed at this point for sure. I have a couple of concerns though.

1) Member schools do Not have a vote or say so on the new proposal. We keep being told that this is what the majority want. However, I haven’t found too many that necessarily want it and if it is the majority, I would think a vote would be perfect to establish that. I think it is a vocal minority in the correct positions that want it and are speaking for the masses which is not good on something this major. I’m really concerned as schools no longer feel they are being treated as member schools but are told what we need to do (such as with all of the money the OHSAA is keeping of ours).

2) The second concern I have is I truly feel the individual sports (track, cross country, etc.) are the ones that truly need more divisions but are being left out of the equation, at least for now.

Unfortunately, we can attend all the meetings we want, but this will pass no matter what the member schools want. I have been around long enough to understand how this process works. Again, I cannot say if it is good or bad at this point, but I just would like the opportunity to actually vote on what we are doing. If the majority truly wants it and votes for it, then not a problem at all.

Here is an email that was shared with SSN from Marion Local Boys Basketball Coach Kurt Goettemoeller and sent to some of the nine OHSAA Board Members –

  I wanted to send an email regarding some of the decisions being made by the OHSAA recently and specifically changes to the number of divisions in multiple sports that may be voted upon in February. I want to first state that I understand that being in your position is not an easy job. Tough decisions have to be made at times and it is impossible to please everyone. 

  My first point involves representation of member schools. During the divisional expansion video that I watched on YouTube from the zoom meeting that took place this past week, you said I am “REPRESENTING” Northwest Ohio. Regarding division expansion, have there been any surveys sent out to Northwest District member schools (administration and/or coaches)? Have you gotten input from the majority of the schools in the Northwest District that would allow you to make an informed vote? If not, will your February vote be representative of what the schools in our Northwest District want? This will likely lead to an incredible amount of travel required in early round games for some schools in the new Division 1 and Division 2 in Northwest Ohio.The OHSAA should be member driven, not a dictatorship. Doug Ute opened the video by stating: “This is a Member Driven Initiative.” My question would be, is it really member driven, or is it a vocal minority that wants to see a change? To the best of my knowledge, there has been no proposal for this initiative from anyone in NW Ohio.

 Divisional Changes are currently part of the GENERAL SPORTS & REGULATIONS category and therefore only need to be voted on by the 9 OHSAA board members. I feel this is wrong and major changes like this should be reclassified into the BYLAWS so that all 800+ member schools have a say in such a major decision. I understand we have missed the deadline for member schools to propose changes to allow schools to vote on these, which is all the more reason to put the brakes on this division vote. 

We can’t hide behind the thought process that “schools can’t see the big picture”. This reeks of a dictatorship. Instead we should return the OHSAA back to the member schools by allowing each school to have input if they so choose. Recent decisions have been made with little to no input from member schools. These include:

1. Moving to Max Preps from Martin RPI to determine seeding in boys and girls basketball: The move to Max Preps was done without any input from member schools or the OHSBCA. 

2. Going from Arbiter to Dragon Fly for scheduling purposes:  From people I have spoken with, Arbiter seemed to be working just fine and no change was necessary. Again, this may be a move to make more money? I don’t know. The big issue is that it was done with little input from member schools. 

3. Changing the number of divisions: For the sake of simplicity, I am going to focus on basketball, since that is what I coach.  I recognize that there is an issue with the disparity in enrollment at the D1 level and it should be addressed. However, jumping from 4 to 7 divisions seems CRAZY to me. At no time in the History of the OHSAA (over 100 years) has the organization ever added THREE divisions to a sport and only once that I can see (from the video presentation) has the OHSAA even added TWO divisions in a single year (Football went from 3 to 5 in 1980). Why the need to grow so fast? Can we not start with a 1 division jump and see how it works? More importantly, all of this is being done on a 6 month time frame with only a memo, powerpoint & an eventual town hall set of meetings around the state. Most are saying this is already a done deal. Once this is decided, it is almost impossible to shrink divisions. This type of major decision should be part of the BYLAWS (like Competitive Balance is) and voted on by member schools. Short of that, the 9 board members should be seeking input from those they are REPRESENTING to make an informed decision based on what the schools they are representing want. In my opinion football should have the most divisions because of the numbers it takes to field a good team and the physicality of the game. In basketball, many schools can be competitive because there are only 5 players on the court at one time which kind of levels the playing field a little because smaller schools only need to come up with 5-6 good players. Too many divisions waters down the accomplishments in my opinion. I realize my point of view is not shared by all but if REPRESENTING member schools, it is important to give everyone the opportunity to share their school’s opinion before rushing to a major change like this. Send out surveys, send out “the data” to all schools, get input from a majority of schools and make a more informed decision. 

 I want to close by saying that I fully understand that I am not privy to all of the information and data that the OHSAA has so there may be a lot of factors I am not aware of. I know you can’t always involve all member schools when making many decisions but changing the number of divisions is a MAJOR decision that should involve input from all schools.  My request is simply to slow down the process to better inform and get input from the member schools that the OHSAA is representing.  There should be more data gathered, the complete regulations should be written 1st and shared with schools before a change in number of divisions is voted on, hopefully by all 800+ member schools. Thank you for your time. 

Lima Central Catholic AD Mike Rumschlag

As an athletic director, I have my concerns. It seems that the OHSAA is rushing into a decision without truly getting valued opinions on the matter from OHSAA members schools and their administrations. The move is similar to the state transitioning, without member consultation, from Arbiter to DragonFly. AD”s in the state of Ohio are some of the most knowledgeable men and women in the field and it’s unfortunate the OHSAA isn’t giving them their opportunity to discuss the impact (positive and negative) of expansion. I’m not sure I see how leveling the playing field makes our state tournaments better. I do see how by expanding divisions the OHSAA profits more from our tournaments.

Around the state….

The VW independent – Hoops coaches polled on hot topics - polled 20 area high school basketball girls and boys high school basketball coaches. The coaches were invited to state if they’re in favor or against RPI, higher seeds hosting, expansion and the shot clock and if they wanted, their reasoning, under the condition of anonymity. 16 of the 20 coaches responded.

In another part of the state…in a Morning Journal story Area coaches, athletic directors weigh in on possible OHSAA divisions expansion

Brett Larrick, Elyria boys basketball coach–

“The difference between Division III and Division IV, and Division I to Division II, there’s such a large gap. There’s so many big school and so many small schools. I don’t know what the right answer is, I haven’t researched enough because I think we’re pretty much where we’re going to be. I’m not sure how much it would affect us, except for shortening our tournament a little bit.”

In a Toledo Blade story...Survey: Many area basketball coaches are in favor of OHSAA’s potential expansion of divisions

Perrysburg boys coach Dave Boyce

“The real argument is that most divisions are stuck with a powerhouse school or two/three that is either recruiting or is parochial,” Boyce said. “And, the chances of winning a state championship are slight due to that factor. All of us with a defined boundary area who coach and develop the kids only in that attendance area face the same uphill battle. On the other hand, going to five divisions, or seven divisions or 11 divisions is not going to change that. At some point, yes, you could win a state championship. But, I’m not sure being the champion of a division with 30 or 40 teams is remotely the same thing.”

In a Columbus Dispatch story…Should OHSAA add tournament divisions in seven sports? Central Ohio coaches say yes

Grove City Christian athletic director Brian Leland

“Our (division) number might change, but it will be close to the same schools. I didn’t really think that it was needed. We play the same schedule no matter what. It’s just the tournament that’s different.”

Reynoldsburg boys basketball coach and assistant athletic director Andrew Moore

“I think it’s going to make for really good games, a lot more competitive games, That’s a good thing. People want to see the best teams play the best teams, and I think you’ll have that now.”

In a cleveland.com story – Is the OHSAA’s proposal for 7 basketball divisions a step in the right direction or out of bounds?

Lutheran West coach Jordan Duke, whose team is the No. 1-ranked team in the current Division II-

“I hope it doesn’t pass. state-title game. “If it does, we have to deal with it, but I think you’re going to see a lot of watered down playoff games.”

Why No Vote?

The question members should ask the Executive Director and the Board Members…

Why don’t you want 800+ member schools vote on this and other important changes?