OHSAA Fall Sports Practices Get Underway Thursday

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OHSAA Fall Sports Practices Get Underway Thursday

New inclement weather policy now in effect; reminders for acclimatization period, contact rules and sports medicine

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Preseason practices officially begin this Thursday, August 1, for OHSAA member schools for the fall sports of football, girls and boys golf, girls tennis, girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls cross country and girls field hockey.

UPDATED OHSAA INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY

A modification to the OHSAA’s inclement weather policy is now in effect, which states, “At night under certain atmospheric conditions, lighting flashes may be seen from distant storms. In these cases, it may be safe to continue an event if no thunder can be heard and the flashes are low on the horizon.” Otherwise, if thunder is heard or lightning is seen, outdoor activities shall be suspended for 30 minutes and all personnel, athletes and spectators shall evacuate to available safe structures or shelters. The full policy is posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/sports/inclementweatherpolicy

HEAD, HEAT AND HYDRATION

The OHSAA has many resources and guidelines for schools to take precautions in extreme heat. In addition, the OHSAA reminds student-athletes and coaches to follow the proper medical regulations when there is any chance a concussion may have occurred. Those regulations and other helpful tools are posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/sportssafety

NEW FOOTBALL PLAY CLOCK REGULATION AND PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

In football, 713 schools will field varsity teams this season. Divisional breakdowns, tournament regulations and statewide composite schedules from MaxPreps are posted on the OHSAA football page at: https://www.ohsaa.org/sports/football

A national rule change this season is that a 40-second or 25-second play clock will be used to determine delay of game, depending on the result of the previous play or the officials’ signal. Previously, the ball was marked ready-for-play when, after it had been placed for a down, the referee gave the ready-for-play signal and the 25-second count began. The new play clock regulation is posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/Portals/0/Sports/Football/PlayClockInstructions.pdf

The complete NFHS release is posted at: https://bit.ly/331iGFm

The first Friday night of the regular-season is August 30. Looking ahead to the playoffs in November, Division I, II, III and VI teams will play on Friday nights, while Division IV, V and VII teams will play on Saturday nights. All playoff games during the first four rounds will kick off at 7:00 PM. The state championship games return to Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton December 5-7.

New divisions and regions were announced in June and are posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/Sports-Tournaments/Football/Football-2019

2019 OHSAA Football Calendar

August 1 First Day of Coaching

August 9-24 Scrimmage Dates

August 26 Regular-Season Begins (First Friday is August 30)

Sept. 24 First Weekly Computer Points Released

Nov. 2 Regular-Season Ends

Nov. 3 Final Computer Points and Playoff Qualifiers Announced

Nov. 8-9 Regional Quarterfinals

Nov. 15-16 Regional Semifinals

Nov. 22-23 Regional Finals

Nov. 28 Thanksgiving

Nov. 29-30 State Semifinals

Dec. 5-7 State Championships in Canton

FOOTBALL PRESEASON NOTES

Football teams must follow the five-day acclimatization period. During practices within the acclimatization period, players may wear helmets only on the first two days. On days three and four, helmets and shoulder pads are allowed. From day five onward, full pads are allowed. Prior to the sixth day of practice, no full contact is permitted. During the first five days of practice, athletes may engage in conditioning, speed, strength and agility drills and may use “dummies” for drills and walk-throughs. All athletes joining the team for the first time at any point during the season must participate in a five-day acclimatization period prior to any contact drills.

Coaches must ensure that there is adequate recovery time between practice sessions. Sundays, August 4 and 11, are mandatory days off. After full contact is permitted, teams must also adhere to the OHSAA’s contact regulations. Details are posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/Portals/0/Sports/Football/FootballPracticeGuidelines.pdf

A reminder that kickoffs are no longer permitted in freshmen games, and they are only permitted in junior varsity games if both head coaches mutually agree. Kickoffs are already not permitted in junior high games. In games with no kickoffs, the ball will be spotted at the 35-yard line to start halves and after scores. The ball will be spotted at the 50-yard line after a safety.

Additional Reminders for All Schools, Coaches and Student-Athletes

 
 
This is still one of the most baffling things OHSAA does. August 1. 16 game schedule.

It's all archaic. Yet, people will criticize the DA for their moves and say nothing about these HS rules.
 
DonJuanDeMarco said:
What?
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It was pretty simple.

But, let me draw it out a bit more. Just go across the river from Cincinnati to Kentucky. They can start HS practices on July 15, with the week before it being a "tryout" week. They are permitted a 20 game schedule. They just hosted the Bluegrass State Games, where interested schools can go get three friendlies. Northern Kentucky will now have the Soccerama, where interested schools can get some competition.

That's basically 2-3 more weeks of training, and potentially 5+ more matches.

So many people want to criticize the DA for what they do in restricting HS play, but how do these rules like OHSAA has make any sense? Why does the DA get the criticism but OHSAA escapes from their structure? Oh yeah, add in their "5-player rule" and "no HS coach can coach kids in club," that really helps kids doesn't it?
 
belied dat said:
But, let me draw it out a bit more. Just go across the river from Cincinnati to Kentucky. They can start HS practices on July 15, with the week before it being a "tryout" week. They are permitted a 20 game schedule. They just hosted the Bluegrass State Games, where interested schools can go get three friendlies. Northern Kentucky will now have the Soccerama, where interested schools can get some competition.

That's basically 2-3 more weeks of training, and potentially 5+ more matches.
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Soccer is allotted 10 days of pre-season (prior to August 1) practices with coaches present, so the July 15th start date is pretty close to the real starting time for OH soccer teams as well (just that the pre-season practices technically are "non mandatory").

As far as the number of games on a schedule, I'm not completely certain that the volume of games makes a huge difference in the quality of the teams or the soccer player development. I do agree that the 5 player per club rule does hurt the quality of HS soccer, in that the players all split up after the HS season and are often trained in completely different fashions, so putting together a cohesive team in July/August is very difficult for HS coaches.
 
soccerdad72 said:
Soccer is allotted 10 days of pre-season (prior to August 1) practices with coaches present, so the July 15th start date is pretty close to the real starting time for OH soccer teams as well (just that the pre-season practices technically are "non mandatory").

As far as the number of games on a schedule, I'm not completely certain that the volume of games makes a huge difference in the quality of the teams or the soccer player development. I do agree that the 5 player per club rule does hurt the quality of HS soccer, in that the players all split up after the HS season and are often trained in completely different fashions, so putting together a cohesive team in July/August is very difficult for HS coaches.
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The 10-day rule is a joke. It has always been treated as such. I played in it, I've coached in it, I know exactly what it is. Coaches have no idea on who or when anyone will show (sure they could, but if they keep track of things it's an OHSAA violation).

The game schedule is a factor. If people want to truly talk about development within sport, then the games are a factor. Think of it this way, if you take a 16-game schedule and a 20-game schedule over four years of HS, then a Kentuckian gets 16+ games more than an Ohioan. I've been in states where teams only play 10 games, does that not matter either? I've been in states where HS games are only played on Tuesdays/Thursdays, with a very rare Saturday game. Imagine that, really zero days for true development at training.

By the way, the July 15 date was "official" practices. They held "tryouts" the week before that.
 
If I'm not mistaken, a DA team only plays about a 20 game season (not including playoffs) - and that is a full year schedule. I'm not actually a critic of DA's (at least the programs that are funded and truly looking for the best talent, not just taking people's money), but to me, the development is more around the training year round under one coach and philosophy and less about how many games they're playing.

belied dat said:
I've been in states where HS games are only played on Tuesdays/Thursdays, with a very rare Saturday game. Imagine that, really zero days for true development at training.
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I don't understand the issue here? That sounds like a regular HS soccer schedule - about two games a week (either two weeknights or a weeknight plus a Saturday game. Non game days, there's practices. So they're training 2-3 days a week and playing 2 days a week. Not sure how that equates to zero days for development?
 
soccerdad72 said:
If I'm not mistaken, a DA team only plays about a 20 game season (not including playoffs) - and that is a full year schedule. I'm not actually a critic of DA's (at least the programs that are funded and truly looking for the best talent, not just taking people's money), but to me, the development is more around the training year round under one coach and philosophy and less about how many games they're playing.
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The development is based on a few different aspects here:
  • one game a week -- as much as possible
  • training-to-game ratio -- it's important to have a fair ratio of training sessions to games played
  • REST -- something that most club and/or HS does not factor into what they do
One cannot say that playing 2-3 games a week is quality. The amount of quality training is minimal. And, with such a tight schedule, no one gets to truly recover.

Players develop no matter who is or isn't coaching. There's a lot to having numerous coaches throughout the development process. Same goes for any philosophy.

soccerdad72 said:
I don't understand the issue here? That sounds like a regular HS soccer schedule - about two games a week (either two weeknights or a weeknight plus a Saturday game. Non game days, there's practices. So they're training 2-3 days a week and playing 2 days a week. Not sure how that equates to zero days for development?
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If you play games on Tuesday/Thursday, when will you truly have time for a quality training session? Monday is somewhat prep for Tuesday. Wednesday is a [poor] recovery day AND planning for Thursday game. Friday may be a recovery day, but it'll be less as Friday Night Lights is a focus for a lot of high schoolers. Possibly off on Saturday and/or Sunday -- Saturday could be the only day for a "good" training session as there doesn't need to be a great focus on next game, recovery, etc.

Whereas, if you play games on a variety of days, but still play two times a week, you can build in extra days for focused, intentional development. Take a Tuesday/Saturday week -- prep Monday, game, recover/train, train, prep/train, match, recover (that's a Monday-Saturday schedule). Then, it can alternate another week with a Wednesday/Saturday game schedule. Then, some weeks it's a one game week.

You think it's not an issue. But, you haven't coached or played in that schedule before. Sure, it looks similar on paper (two games a week), but the structure is completely different.
 
I suppose I'm confused how starting organized practices only 2 weeks earlier is going to accomplish your goal of having an additional 4 games per season?

I see your point about adjusting the game schedule to better accommodate training and rest. Unfortunately, soccer tends to get slotted into stadium time (few schools having dedicated soccer-only fields) that football doesn't take, so Fridays are obviously off the table and, at least around here, Thursday night tends to be reserved for Freshman football (with Saturday morning being JV football). So soccer teams are limited in their schedule flexibility.

Again, I'm not putting down the DA system - for those players who are truly focused on developing as a soccer player, I tend to agree that DA is the way to go. HS and College soccer in the US is a bad system for improving the quality of play in the country. But for 99% of the kids playing soccer, it's more about competing on the field with their friends and classmates.
 
soccerdad72 said:
I suppose I'm confused how starting organized practices only 2 weeks earlier is going to accomplish your goal of having an additional 4 games per season?

I see your point about adjusting the game schedule to better accommodate training and rest. Unfortunately, soccer tends to get slotted into stadium time (few schools having dedicated soccer-only fields) that football doesn't take, so Fridays are obviously off the table and, at least around here, Thursday night tends to be reserved for Freshman football (with Saturday morning being JV football). So soccer teams are limited in their schedule flexibility.

Again, I'm not putting down the DA system - for those players who are truly focused on developing as a soccer player, I tend to agree that DA is the way to go. HS and College soccer in the US is a bad system for improving the quality of play in the country. But for 99% of the kids playing soccer, it's more about competing on the field with their friends and classmates.
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It's not just the two week earlier start, or the 4 more games per season, it's not the separate aspects but the whole. The OHSAA system is archaic. I didn't even touch on it, but with the US being even more focused on the health and well-being of a student-athlete, wouldn't two additional weeks (it's really three from Kentucky, but you keep saying two so I'll keep it there) be better for conditioning and acclimation to the rigors of the sport? No player will certainly be physically ready within 7-14 days before playing a game.

As I stated in my first response, those who support HS soccer (and I'm not against it) want to criticize the DA structure, but fail to do the same with the HS structure. If those who supported the HS structure would do more to evolve, then there'd be less need or issues with what DA is doing.

There's states that allow these things:
  • No restriction on HS player numbers playing club together
  • No restriction on HS coaches coaching HS players
  • No restriction on playing club AND playing HS in the same season
  • More contact time for increased practices
  • More competition dates
Yet, OHSAA lags behind terribly in all of these.
 
Sounds like you've got a lot of solutions in search of problems. I don't think Ohio's reputation is hurt on a national level by OHSAA's policies.
 
belied dat said:
This is still one of the most baffling things OHSAA does. August 1. 16 game schedule.

It's all archaic. Yet, people will criticize the DA for their moves and say nothing about these HS rules.
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yeah.... because no one is doing anything before tomorrow

sure
 
DonJuanDeMarco said:
Sounds like you've got a lot of solutions in search of problems. I don't think Ohio's reputation is hurt on a national level by OHSAA's policies.
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You don't see the constant complaining on Yappi or other forums? Are you not around coaches, parents, players?

Nothing but complaints, but no one doing anything to fix it.

What exactly is "Ohio's reputation"? I know the reputation of a few schools in major metro areas that have a positive reputation.
 
belied dat said:
You don't see the constant complaining on Yappi or other forums? Are you not around coaches, parents, players?

Nothing but complaints, but no one doing anything to fix it.

What exactly is "Ohio's reputation"? I know the reputation of a few schools in major metro areas that have a positive reputation.
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Complaining? Sure. What I'm saying is that Ohio's players aren't falling behind the rest of the country regardless of how much you complain about it.
 
belied dat said:
You don't see the constant complaining on Yappi or other forums? Are you not around coaches, parents, players?

Nothing but complaints, but no one doing anything to fix it.

What exactly is "Ohio's reputation"? I know the reputation of a few schools in major metro areas that have a positive reputation.
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I'm around coaches and players year round. And I'm a parent.

I don't hear any complaining from anyone.
 
Most hs players are 14-18 years old. They have played enough and coached enough to know what and how to prepare for the season. If the player is not in shape by day 1 that is the players fault. Rules have nothing to do with it.
 
shoprat2 said:
Most hs players are 14-18 years old. They have played enough and coached enough to know what and how to prepare for the season. If the player is not in shape by day 1 that is the players fault. Rules have nothing to do with it.
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This is one of the most far-fetched ideas I've ever heard.
 
I guess there aren't a ton of people that have had direct interaction with the OHSAA. If there ever was a good ol boys club...that is it. Good luck getting any rule changes that they don't want. They certainly don't poll the public for their opinion.
 
Gr8tS0ccr said:
I guess there aren't a ton of people that have had direct interaction with the OHSAA. If there ever was a good ol boys club...that is it. Good luck getting any rule changes that they don't want. They certainly don't poll the public for their opinion.
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I can't say directly it's a "good ol' boy's club," but I can say I've tried to offer services for some things, and got the silent treatment.

You're exactly right that getting anything changed is nearly impossible.
 
The OHSAA will look at changes that are brought forth by the sports state coaches association. Each sport has a state coaches association and they can submit proposals for changes, it is difficult to have that proposal accepted but the OHSAA will only look at changes if brought to them from the coaches.
 
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