OHSAA membership votes down competitive balance
OHSAA member schools have voted down a competitive balance proposal for the third time in three years, the organization announced Thursday afternoon.
Member schools voted 327-308 against the measure, which focused on players on specific teams that do not live in a designated geographical attendance zone. There were 191 of the OHSAA's 826 member schools that did not vote.
FROM THE OHSAA:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Seven of the nine proposed Ohio High School Athletic Association constitution and bylaw revisions passed as voted upon by OHSAA member schools, Commissioner Daniel B. Ross, Ph.D., has announced. Highlighting the voting was approval of a significant change to the transfer bylaw, but a proposal to change how schools are placed into their tournament divisions for team sports failed for the third consecutive year. Overall, changes were approved to two constitution items and five bylaw items.
The change to the OHSAA transfer bylaw reduces the penalty for transfer from one year to the first 50 percent of the maximum allowable regular season contests in any sports in which the student participated the previous year and reduces the number of exceptions for immediate eligibility. This change, which will be applied both retroactively and prospectively, passed 346 votes to 288 and becomes effective June 1, 2013.
Highlighting the two bylaw issues that did not pass was a proposal to change how schools are assigned to tournament divisions in the team sports of football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball to address competitive balance. Rather than place schools into OHSAA tournament divisions based strictly on male or female enrollment, an adjusted enrollment count would have been used. The adjusted count would have been derived by multiplying a sport specific factor by the number of students in grades 9 through 12 on each specific team roster whose parents reside outside the public school district or the attendance zone of the school, then adding that number to the original enrollment count. The competitive balance proposal failed 327 to 308 (51.5 percent to 48.5 percent). Other similar competitive balance proposals failed 339 to 301 (53 percent to 47 percent) in 2012 and 332 to 303 (52 percent to 48 percent) in 2011. Approval of this year’s proposed amendment would have been implemented in 2015.
“When this new proposal was placed on the ballot, we said at the time that the vote would come down to the wire, and it certainly did,” Ross said, “It’s disappointing that it did not pass because we believed this formula addressed the main issue to which schools voiced concern: the impact on athletic success by students on a school’s team roster who are from outside that school’s geographic boundary or attendance zone.
“As everyone is aware, this is the third year in a row a competitive balance proposal has been narrowly defeated. I will be consulting with our Board of Directors to see what action, if any, we take next, but I anticipate at a minimum that a proposal on separate tournaments for public and non-public schools will again be placed on the ballot next spring via the petition process.”
A proposal that called for all OHSAA tournaments to be conducted separately for public schools and non-public schools was removed from this year’s ballot in late March when the OHSAA and the petition originator, together with representatives from his group, mutually worked to reach a resolution on the issue. It was replaced by the latest competitive balance proposal.
“I believe separation of our tournaments is not the best option,” Ross added. “That being said, I also believe almost 50 percent of our member schools believe some type of change is needed, but no one seems to have the answer for what change would satisfy the most people. One thing seems pretty certain, though: this issue is not going to go away. It’s something in which many, many other states are also struggling to find an answer.”
All nine 2013 proposals were placed up for referendum vote by the OHSAA Board of Directors. High school principals had between May 1 and 15 to cast their votes on eight of the issues, and one issue was voted upon by 7th- and 8th-grade principals. A simple majority is all that is required for a proposed amendment to be adopted.
The complete final voting results are available on the OHSAA website (ohsaa.org