The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors met Thursday in Columbus for its regularly scheduled April meeting. The following are highlights from the meeting. The complete set of meeting minutes will be posted later at OHSAA.org.
The board received an update that the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has selected Katie Horstman, legendary cross country and track coach from Minster High School, to be among the inductees into the NFHS Hall of Fame. Horstman will be inducted July 2 at the NFHS Summer meeting in Boston. A softball and baseball standout at Minster in the days prior to organized sports for girls, Horstman also played for the Fort Wayne Daisies from 1951-54 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which led to the film “A League of Their Own.” The OHSAA will provide a separate release with additional details on this announcement.
The attendance and financial reports from the five rounds of the 2013 football playoffs were presented to the board. The OHSAA added a division in 2013 and attendance was up 24,102 overall from 2013, but the increase in expenses was greater than the increase in revenue, thus the overall profit was down $49,298. Of note, profit from the football playoffs, which was $1,333,875 in 2013, accounts for approximately 30 percent of the OHSAA’s annual operating expenses since the OHSAA does not charge schools a membership fee or tournament entry fees, among other financial benefits to member schools.
The financial report from the state and regional cross country tournaments was presented to the board. The state finals drew an attendance of 10,406 and resulted in a profit of $27,009, but since tickets are not able to be sold at the regional tournaments, the overall tournament always operates at a loss. In 2013, the loss was $42,150.
The OHSAA’s annual audit report was presented to the board and will be posted on the OHSAA website. The OHSAA, audited by an independent auditing firm annually, received an unqualified opinion, which is the highest opinion that can be issued.
Seven schools were recently penalized for committing infractions of OHSAA bylaws or sports regulations. The complete list of infractions and penalties is always included in the complete meeting minutes posted at OHSAA.org, but media may request the list in advance from Tim Stried, OHSAA Director of Information Services, at tstried@ohsaa.org.
The board approved three proposals from the tennis coaches association that will take effect beginning with the 2014-15 school year for both girls and boys tennis. First, the season start date will be three days sooner so that matches can begin on a Friday to allow for additional weekend matches. Second, the number of matches permitted will increase from 20 to 22, including the option to play a fourth tournament during the season. Third, a third-set tiebreaker (10 points) can be used when the match has already been decided and both coaches agree.
The board approved one proposal from the volleyball coaches association and tabled two others. The board approved a proposal that varsity tri-matches can be played in a best-of-five format if approved by the participating schools. The board tabled two proposals, including one that would raise the height of the middle school net so that it is the same height as the high school net, and the other to modify the pregame warm-up periods.
The Ohio High School Swim Coaches Association made four proposals that the Board will take action on during its June meeting. First, that all statewide sectional tournament entries are due by noon on the Monday of the week of sectional competition. Second, that all statewide psych sheets be posted at 6:00 p.m. on the Wednesday of sectional competition. Third, that all sectional and district diving and swimming meets be required to post real-time results to Meet Mobile and eDive. And fourth, that all district swimming competitions follow the same schedule so that Division II competes on Friday and Division I competes on Saturday.
The board approved a request from Marion Harding to leave the Northwest District and join the Central District. Both district athletic boards had approved the request.
The board approved an OHSAA recommendation that beginning with the 2014-15 school year, the OHSAA’s PrivIT E-PPE (Pre-Participation Physical Exam Form) will be available to be completed online. In 2015-16, it will be required to be completed online. The OHSAA will send information to member schools regarding this change.
The board received an update regarding the next OHSAA Foundation Student Leadership Conference. The conference, which drew 1,300 student-athletes last fall, will be held October 7, 2014, at The Ohio State University Student Union, with capacity expanded to 1,500.
