COLUMBUS, Ohio – Some Cincinnati-area high school fall sports programs will see a change this fall.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s new competitive balance policy was finalized Thursday morning.
The OHSAA announced the tournament divisional breakdowns for football, boys and girls soccer and girls volleyball after the Board of Directors approved the plan for August 2017.
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Division assignments are based on school enrollment numbers provided by the Ohio Department of Education, and then modified in football, volleyball and soccer based on Competitive Balance factors that OHSAA member schools approved by referendum vote in 2014.
Of the 718 schools that play football in Ohio, 75 schools moved up to a higher division due to competitive balance and/or a higher base enrollment number. In volleyball (790 schools), 51 moved up a division. In girls soccer (522 schools), 24 moved up a division, while in boys soccer (571 schools), 30 moved up a division.
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The Cincinnati area football scene did see some changes.
Badin and Monroe moved up to Division III. Roger Bacon moved up to Division IV while Purcell Marian moved up to Division V.
La Salle, which has won three consecutive Division II state titles, remained at Division II.
Princeton, Walnut Hills and Miamisburg were among the football programs moving up to Division I based upon enrollment numbers alone from Ohio’s Department of Education.
The larger Division I schools were unaffected from a competition standpoint by the developments Thursday.
The playoff and regional formats will be announced June 6.
In girls soccer, Cincinnati Country Day moves up to Division II after being the Division III state runner-up in November.
In boys soccer, Summit Country Day - winners of the past two Division III state titles - will remain in Division III.
“This is a journey that we have been on for more than eight years to get to this point,” OHSAA Commissioner Dr. Dan Ross said. “Today’s approval of the fall sports divisional breakdowns is the result of countless hours of work by our staff and our member schools. For the first time in OHSAA history, enrollment isn’t the only factor in determining a school’s division in certain sports. But the journey isn’t over. We will study the results of this first go-around and discuss with the Competitive Balance Committee and the board.”
According to Competitive Balance regulations, the previous season’s roster data (grades 9-12) is used for affecting the following season’s additional roster count in the selected sports. The additional roster count is added to the school’s base enrollment number to determine the final adjusted enrollment count before divisional placements are made.
Assignments are for one year only; the OHSAA will go through the same assigning process every year.
Assignments listed below:2017 Football Divisional Assignments here (regions and playoff format will be announced June 6)
2017 Volleyball Divisional Assignments here
2017 Soccer Divisional Assignments here
2017 and 2018 Girls Golf:
- Division I – 255 and more girls (161 schools)
- Division II – 254 and less girls (160 schools)
2017 and 2018 Boys Golf:
- Division I – 277 and more boys (215 schools)
- Division II – 151 to 276 boys (214 schools)
- Division III – 150 and less boys (217 schools)
2017 and 2018 Girls Tennis:
- Division I – 304 and more girls (200 schools)
- Division II – 303 and less girls (200 schools)
2017 and 2018 Girls Cross Country:
- Division I – 325 and more girls (167 schools)
- Division II – 163 to 324 girls (167 schools)
- Division III – 162 and less girls (167 schools)
2017 and 2018 Boys Cross Country:
- Division I – 311 and more boys (199 schools)
- Division II – 161 to 310 boys (201 schools)
- Division III – 160 and less boys (200 schools)
Full divisional breakdowns index here
Winter sports divisional breakdowns will be presented to the board at its June meeting and spring sports will be presented in August.
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