OHSAA Hides Behind Memo to Cancel Tournaments

Throughout the years the Ohio High School Athletic Association (ie; OHSAA) has ruled with an iron fist over high school athletics. All the while making a good buck on the backs of the schools and athletes it supposedly represents. Today they proved just how uncaring, unfeeling and, let’s call it as it is, cowardly, they really are.

This morning the OHSAA announced it has canceled the remaining winter sports tournaments due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. As a result, Ohio will not be crowning state champions in hockey, wrestling and girls’ and boys’ basketball in 2020. Snodgrass also said that the cancellation of state tournaments would cost the OHSAA an estimated $1.4-$1.5 million.

“I cannot put kids at risk for this,” Snodgrass said in the release.

The announcement was not unexpected, but the manner in which it took place was. Unlike any other time the OHSAA has stepped up, today they cowered behind a memo and news release to the member schools and media.

OHSAA executive director Jerry Snodgrass said in a press conference March 19 the OHSAA planned to make a decision on the winter sports tournaments within the next “24 to 48 hours.” Those 1-2 days turned into a week. Still, the OHSAA monitored the situation daily.

Snodgrass looked for any microphone possible when calling the press conference last week to let people know the Association was “contemplating” canceling the tourney’s. He sat in front of the media, that he called together, to announce nothing. At the time it was peculiar that an official like would gather around people just to announce nothing.

Today Snodgrass and the OHSAA went one step further in their strange, unexplained behavior. Instead of calling for a press conference, standing before all and announcing the decision, then answering questions, Snodgrass took the easy way out. He issued a memo to the schools and a press release. All done, of course, in the name of no large gatherings and the stay at home edict put in place by Governor DeWine.

Snodgrass also conveniently placed in the release the cancellations would cost the OHSAA “ an estimated $1.4-$1.5 million”. All that statement did was give the Association a good reason next year to increase ticket prices, broadcast rights fees, parking, T-Shirts, concessions. Everything involved will go up in price next year. Count on it.

For years the OHSAA had ridden the backs of high schools across the state. They have been mired in lawsuits for years in one form or another from the LeBron James incident to other smaller cases that include the open enrollment rule to athletes simply moving into another district. They have never really took on the recruitment issue in High School sports, and probably never will because they know it is un-winable.

Just recently a lawsuit between Roger Bacon and other GCL Coed schools in Cincinnati was settled out of court in their “competitive balance” issue. This is a common occurrence for the OHSAA, and any other typical entity in this country. Let time go by and try and drain the plaintiff with longevity in the case, until a settlement is inevitable.

In this instance, time was not on the side of the OHSAA. Snodgrass had no problem taking the hard questions last week, when he knew he had no answers. Or worse yet, had the answers but didn’t want to divulge them. That several thousand Senior athletes around the state of Ohio that worked hard for years to reach the pinnacle, will never be allowed to achieve what their hard work put them in line for.

That is not the OHSAA’s fault. The decision was easy and understandable. And it could have been announced last week. Snodgrass will say the OHSAA waited until the last possible minute to pull the plug. And nobody can deny they did that.

However the timing and method is unquestionably cowardly. Snodgrass could have called a press conference online and announced the decision, then took questions and explained, in person, their decision. But as always, the OHSAA ruled with an iron fist from behind a desk and a press release.

David Mitchell is the co-host of the Ohio Baseball Weekly show, resuming April 13 at 7. He also has been providing radio play by play for over 25 years of high school and collegiate sports. You can follow or message him on twitter at ohbbcohost