The Division I question: OHSAA studies enrollment disparity

Difference between biggest and smallest schools is a concern.

OHSAA still studying options for how teams are placed in divisions

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer Updated 8:42 AM Friday, September 30, 2011

According to the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s enrollment figures, which count students in grades 9-11 every two years, Fairborn High School has 497 boys.

By comparison, that’s not very many. The Skyhawks are members of Division I, Region 4 in football. Like every region, the top eight teams after Week 10 make the playoffs, and Region 4 is considered one of the toughest in the state.

This week, the top eight teams in that region averaged 730.6 boys. Fairborn, meanwhile, is the fourth-smallest school in Division I, with just four more boys than the biggest D-II programs.

Such a disparity — the difference between the largest and smallest D-I football schools is 494 (Avon Lake) and 1,164 (St. Xavier) — has long been a talking point for Ohio high school sports officials.

“I hope the state does change something,” said Fairborn coach Roy Thobe, whose 3-2 team has beaten Stebbins (411 boys), Fairmont (881) and Sidney (413).

“There’s just such a disparity.”

The OHSAA has heard enough of that sentiment to consider taking action. The organization has said it will form a committee to study the issue of D-I’s bulging enrollment difference and possibly recommend changes, particularly in football.

Options considered in the past have included placing schools in the top 10 percent for boys enrollment in D-I while splitting the remaining schools evenly or creating a seventh division with the top 64 schools.

In the current climate of attention to competitive balance — a proposal that would’ve created a new formula for placing teams in divisions was narrowly defeated in May — the D-I issue has forced itself onto the OHSAA front-burner.

“Do I personally believe we need to work on this? Absolutely,” said Dan Ross, the OHSAA commissioner. “We’ll be forming a committee in the next three or four weeks, and we’ll work hard on this.”

D-I issue has history

For years, the OHSAA has split divisions so a nearly equal number of schools will be in each. With no ceiling, Division I always provided the widest gap in enrollments, which some feel gives the biggest schools an unfair advantage in potential players and their size.

In June 2006, the OHSAA Board of Control approved a change meant to ease the disparity in D-I. The proposal stated the top 10 percent of football schools by size, about 82 or 83, would make up D-I while the remaining schools would mostly be divided evenly. The size of D-I would have been different for sports with four divisions (22 percent), three divisions (28) and two divisions (45).

Seven months later, in January 2007, the Board of Control revoked the proposal before it could take effect that fall. Many felt the other divisions would suffer a trickle-down effect and take on larger schools squeezed out by higher divisions.

Last year, when a committee was formed to address competitive balance, the Division I issue was not explicitly addressed. But members of the committee recommended it be dealt with this year after hearing concerns from many school officials.

The OHSAA will now have two separate committees, one to look at Division I enrollment disparity and the current committee studying competitive balance. Some officials have said the reason they didn’t vote for last spring’s competitive balance proposal was that it did not change D-I.

Ross said the D-I committee will probably have about 15 members. Because a possible Division I change is considered a sports regulation and not a referendum item, it would be voted on by the Board of Directors and not the state’s principals.

“We want to look at how we can help Division I without adversely affecting the other divisions,” Ross said.

Two of the area’s three biggest schools in OHSAA enrollment, Fairmont and Centerville, will meet in tonight’s Dayton Daily News Game of the Week. Although both large, they have seen different successes.

In the past five seasons, Centerville went 41-15 while Fairmont went 23-28, although the Firebirds made the playoffs in 2008. Andy Aracri, the second-year Fairmont coach, said a program’s environment is as important as its size.

“I’m a big believer in if you do things the right way, that leads to success,” he said. “That attracts the right people.”

But not always bigger people just because you’re at a big school, said Beavercreek coach Scott Clodfelter. The area’s second-largest school, Beavercreek has struggled to produce winning teams, going 21-29 in the past five seasons.

The Beavers have a starting offensive line that averages 226 pounds, including a 195-pound center, but have started the season 3-2 with the Greater Western Ohio Conference’s second-best rushing offense. Clodfelter agreed the tradition of a program is key.

“We’re not anywhere near humongous, but it’s about how you work together,” Clodfelter said. “Every school is different, and assumptions aren’t always true.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Ready for kickoff

Check out Saturday’s Dayton Daily News for game reports on these Week 6 matchups:

Vandalia Butler at Troy

Piqua at Trotwoood-Madison

Fairmont at Centerville

Miamisburg at Fairborn

Valley View at Bellbrook

Fort Loramie at Dayton Chr.

Northmont at Beavercreek

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