OHSAA tournament expansion: What central Ohio ADs, coaches, athletes are saying
The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s board of directors on Thursday unanimously approved tournament expansion for seven sports, capping a process that had been discussed for years but for which a formal study was announced in December.
Baseball, boys and girls basketball, softball and girls volleyball will expand from four to seven divisions and boys and girls soccer will go from three to five.
Changes will take effect for the 2024-25 school year.
The goal was to mitigate enrollment disparity in the largest divisions while keeping the mid-size and small-school divisions as equal as possible.
Here is some reaction provided to The Dispatch from central Ohio athletic directors, coaches and athletes:
Jeff Warstler, Columbus Academy boys basketball coach
“I think seven divisions is great. It’s more chances for kids to celebrate district, regional and state titles. We’re not sure how it will affect us yet.”
(NOTE: Academy is the top seed in the upcoming Division III district tournament.)
Nick Magistrale, Dublin Scioto athletic director
“I commend the OHSAA and board of directors on this decision as the expanded divisions will create more opportunities for high school student-athletes in Ohio. The current enrollment disparity, particularly in Division I, is significantly greater than the enrollment disparity in the smaller divisions. OHSAA approving the expanded divisions addresses that issue specifically.”
Tom Neubert, DeSales athletic director and baseball coach
“I didn’t know it would be this quick, but I figured they had to do something. There’s a disparity within Division I. They added in competitive balance, but all it did was affect the middle-of-the-pack private schools. …
“It’s nice that they finally admitted that this disparity is doing a disservice to the kids. It’s fantastic for our kids. We’re in the boat where just about all our sports, except for the ones that are currently successful, are all in Division I. Wrestling, boys volleyball (and) both lacrosse are Division II. Because of competitive balance, we were pushed into Division I last year. We’ll be Division III.”
Molly Feesler, Thomas Worthington athletic director and OHSAA board of directors member
“This was a long and tedious process in the board of directors working with the OHSAA staff to give our students more and better opportunities. There has been talk for years about the disparity in numbers at the Division I level. … This model will also be more in line with what other states do as far as state championship ratio to the number of teams participating.
“Now the real work begins in coordinating with our district boards and each of the OHSAA sport administrators that are impacted to make this process successful.”
Kevin Jarrett, Northridge athletic director
“We kind of get accustomed to what we’ve always done, but things have changed. Schools have changed around here and they will again in a few years.
“If we grow, then things will take care of themselves. We’ll stay in those like-sized divisions, whether we grow or decline.”
David Dennis Sr., Harvest Prep athletic director and boys basketball coach
“Communities, schools and programs will really believe that a state title can be achieved now. I pray that decisions like this are all about the kids. That’s why we coach, that’s why we’re here, that’s why we’re making these decisions.”
Ryan Alexander, Grove City baseball coach
“I do think in basketball and baseball that it may make the state titles a little more watered down. However, maybe with more state title opportunities this will help increase state participation across the board in sports like baseball. I know at a lot of the smaller schools, sports like baseball are having serious number issues.”
Gavin Lawler, Grove City baseball junior center fielder
“We really don't think about that. We just focus on ourselves and focus on being the best we can be and go out and compete against anybody. As long as we compete and try our hardest then I feel like it doesn't matter what division you're in.”
Andy Ey, Westerville Central athletic director
“Overall, I do believe that the OHSAA decision to increase the number of divisions is a good thing because it will give more kids, schools and communities the opportunity to be part of a long tournament run and potentially a state championship. However, it may prove that seven divisions is too many for some of those sports.”