COLUMBUS — On April 5, the Ohio High School Athletic Association opened the door for Spring football.
Allowing 7-on-7 competitions at any time prior to and after the football season, other than the 28-day no-contact period immediately after the season, the OHSAA Board of Directors unanimously approved changes to General Sports Regulation 7 that brings football under the same off-season regulations as other team sports. Football has always had separate and more restrictive off-season regulations.
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“We were so much more restrictive with football in Ohio than other sports,” OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute said. “Now, essentially, the quarterback gets to do what the point guard always got to do.”
The changes mean that prior to May 15, a limit of seven football players from the same school team can now play together in a 7-on-7 competition, and there is no limit on the number of 7-on-7 competitions in which a player or coach can participate. After May 15, there is no change to the current regulation, meaning there is no limit on the number of players from the same school team who can compete together in 7-on-7 competition.
In addition, there are 13 days of coaching permitted in excess of the seven-player limit from May 15 to July 31. Contact and equipment, other than helmets and cleats, remain prohibited during that time.
Which raises the question if 7-on-7 spring football could be coming to Ohio as a sanctioned OHSAA sport equipped with a state tournament and regular season.
During a meeting with the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association last week, Ute emphatically turned down any notion that spring football could become a sponsored sport in Ohio.
“Our association is 100% against sponsoring Spring football because we feel like it would be detrimental to track and baseball. But we are for opportunities for kids to get better. If a point guard can go to Orlando and play in a tournament, why can’t our football players do the same? They could do that, but as soon as the 7 on 7 started, they had to step back. A kid from Georgia and Florida could take 30 reps in front of Ryan Day without sanctions. Ohio kids will now have that same opportunity to get better.”
It will create some problems at schools that share athletes. June is usually set aside for basketball and July set for volleyball and several sports. The hope is a football coach will not do something that is detrimental to baseball and track, or any other sport, when it comes to spring football opportunities.
“Our schools will figure it out,” Ute said. “It does give our football kids the same opportunities as other kids in sports. That is what I like about it.”
While Spring football is off the table to become a sanctioned sport, there is one that is getting a lot of attention from the Ohio High School Athletic Association and it is girls flag football.
It is massive in the Northeast near Cleveland with 51 high school teams and a big playoff tournament hosted by the Cleveland Browns. It had 28 varsity teams in the tournament and most high schools that have teams also have junior varsity squads.
Ute had a meeting scheduled with the Browns and Cincinnati Bengals to discuss high school girls flag football and is seeing the NFL backing the sport at a massive rate and grow their fan base with females.
“It is very strong in Northeast Ohio,” Ute said. “For us, the process would be to have them form a coaches association and I would suggest to figure out a way to get representation throughout Ohio and not just in one pocket. They should align themselves to our bylaws and all of those things.”
Ute also recognizes that the sport really wants to be a part of the OHSAA. He told a story of a few years ago when girls wrestling was still in its infancy and not yet sanctioned that a wrestler won a state title in the coaches association tournament doing everything that the boys did to be a part of the wrestling program, but she wasn’t going to have her photo in the school along with every boy who won a state title. It took a school board meeting and the board said that it only recognizes OHSAA champions.
“How unfair is that?” Ute said. “So we want to make sure we are as inclusive as possible, but it will take some time. We just sponsored E-Sports and held their state championship a few weeks ago. A student told his superintendent thank you for providing an opportunity to do that. It made that kid feel like part of a student body. So we are all for those opportunities, but girls flag football will not be a sport next year, but it doesn’t mean we won’t sponsor it in the near future after everything gets aligned and grows around the state.”
And judging by how things are going, girls flag football is about to spread like wildfire.
“I have never seen a sport get as much backing as girls flag football,” OHSAA Director of Media Communications Tim Stried said. “I don’t know how much money the NFL is putting into their marketing campaign. Girls wrestling wasn’t like that at all, but flag football is.”
And anything that provides opportunities for kids, Ute is all for it.
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