Court Rules Against OHSAA’s Use of Competitive Balance

[theusbc@yahoo.com]

Court Rules Against OHSAA’s Use of Competitive Balance
https://statelinesportsnetwork.net/2018 ... ve-balance

could have a national ripple

[bsee12345]

This is big news! This may cause the OHSAA to remove the competitive balance formula from enrollment numbers for all schools. Even though this ruling only applies to the 8 Cincinnati schools- the OHSAA is not going to remove the competitive for those 8 schools only- this would cause a big out cry from other school effected by competitive balance. So football regions may change due to this ruling. One major impact could see Toledo Central Catholic drop back down to Division IV based on enrollment.
My issue with this was it was passed by the majority of the schools- so if you don't like the outcome you just go to court and have it overturned.
The OHSAA has its back against the wall because if OHSAA fights this ruling it would cause schools to seriously think about dropping out of the OHSAA if competitive balance does not favor them- but if OHSAA does not fight it then schools are to be upset with the advantages schools are seen as having over other schools by using enrollment only for tournament divisions.
I guess Dan Ross has to be glad he retired and Jerry Snodgrass has inherited a huge headache.

[Proud_Pirate63]

Wow that’s big!

[Ironmen#2588]

I think they need to get rid of it all together for the entire state.

[eagles73Taylor]

HYPOCRISY at its finest, but of course nothing new from our fine Christian friends!

[Omega]

Do the parochial schools bail from the OHSAA and form their own governing body? Does the OHSAA start over with new rules regarding transfers (i.e. all transfers sit out one year)? Does the OHSAA say to heck with it and focus on just the on field rules and running tournaments without worrying about equality of competition.? My guess is a court facilitated compromise which solved nothing.

[EasternDspy]

Competitive Balance is a good thing.

[Otto]

Competitive Balance is a good thing.

Couldn't agree more. The only ones who have been cryin' about this are the private schools who have seen their years of dominating weaker competition come to an end. They now have to play teams who are equally as strong and talented, and they don't like it.

[danicalifornia]

Competitive Balance is a good thing.

I wasn’t sure how I would like it when it was first announced, but yeah it’s a really good thing. I’m interested in seeing how this all plays out, but I hope it sticks, even if the OHSAA has to slightly reconfigure a couple of things.

[Omega]

Competitive Balance is a good thing.

I am for equal opportunity, not presumed equality of result. Then again I am a doddering old fool who needs his Depends to be changed.

[Cato]

Competitive Balance is a good thing. It needs tweaked, but definitely a step in the right direction.

It's a shame, but rules now need to start in the 7th instead of the 9th. Middle school recruiting is getting bad because the rules aren't in place there.

[Pioneer94]

I''d like to see the OHSAA have two tournaments, a "Public" school State Tournament and a "Private" school State Tournament. That way you get apples to apples in terms of competitiveness. Just a thought... bottom line, you will not stop the transferring of students based on athletics. Too many loop holes.

[Abe Froman]

Doesn't look like anything is overturned yet just a TRO was granted.

Typically doesn't take much to get a TRO - low standard all things considered. Looks like the school filing is arguing that even though CB was voted on that its implementation is arbitrary and therefore discriminatory. So the judge made a decision that the burden of proof was met, thus the TRO.

Next comes the harder part which is the preliminary injunction. Even though you got the TRO you may not get the injunction. Just means you now get a hearing. 65-35 OHSAA prevails at the hearing but it is OHSAA so all bets and odds making are off.

Plaintiffs will argue CB (or components thereof) are discriminatory and OHSAA will of course argue the contrarian side of that argument.OHSAA will argue it is providing a necessary function to level the playing fields by regulating the inherent advantages of private schools. They will point to NCAA D1, D2, D3, etc., etc. and a number of similar situations.

It seems that most of the bluster is from some of the catholics getting penalized by Tier 1 points when those kids come from "their feeder schools" and thus should receive zero penalty. Eh, probably a valid point but I am not a lawyer nor do I hail from a catholic or private educational background.

I am just waiting for the case from the parent that sues regarding the arbitrariness of the new transfer rule and that that OHSAA rule is arbitrary and capricious and thus unenforceable. There has to be one out there somewhere or if not I imagine one coming soon.

Trying to legislate this stuff and put a standard to fairness is impossible and I supposed OHSAA is doing their best. They could tell the private schools(s) plaintiffs I suppose that brought the CB lawsuit hey if you don't like the CB rules we will go to a separate public/private playoff system and championship and divide the 80 some privates into regions and then let the other 700 or so public districts play in a separate one like we do every year. But I doubt they do that, even though I might consider it.