Petition Aims to Split OHSAA State Tournaments

A significant petition is circulating among Ohio high school principals, seeking to establish separate state tournaments for public and private schools within the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). Organized by administrators within the Suburban League, the petition requires 75 signatures, including at least five from each of the six OHSAA districts, by December to be considered for the May 2027 ballot.

If approved by a majority of principals in the May 2027 vote, this proposal could lead to the implementation of separate tournaments starting in the 2028-29 academic year. This is not the first time such a separation has been discussed; similar attempts occurred in 1978 and 1993, both of which were voted down by member schools. More recently, competitive balance measures were approved in May 2014 and implemented for the 2017-18 school year to address competitive disparities.

Discussions regarding this split have been ongoing for years, with administrators meeting with the OHSAA to prepare the referendum item. As of September 2026, the petition is actively soliciting signatures. This initiative comes as Ohio stands as the third-largest state for high school sports participation, with 347,994 student-athletes in the 2025-26 school year.