On Aug 8th the Ohio High School Athletic Association met and via their pure asinine methodology of determining state wide championships. Has in all their great wisdom again chosen to maintain that all 82 teams playing ice hockey are of equal caliber and that all 82 will battle for one, single state championship.
What a joke. When will the hockey people of Ohio take action? This governing body is NOT the right fit. The member schools need to individually maintain the Varsity heading for their programs and leave this backward ass organization behind.
Reality check. There are 82 member teams. That play at 3 very distinctive competitive levels. It is not excusable that at this juncture there are not at least 2 levels of play. More over it is really time for the state to adopt a model that allows double rostering. Those players who so choose should be allowed to play for their HS and for a more elite Midget program. The HS games simple are moved to Tuesdays and Wed or Wed and thur. While the MM or Mm games remain contested F, S,S.
It is likely nothing will materialize to facilitate the above changes. What is likely is that the top organizations could easily withdraw for OHSAA and form an Ohio Eliet league to replace. As it stands there are 3 teams allready in existance, Team Cleveland, Team Ohio and the Sylvania North Stars ( formerly Maple Leafs). Whats to say these organizations could not organize a meeting, with the Cleveland Barrons, Cleveland Aliance, Columbus Blue Jacket AAA and Queen City ( which has AAA at the 16u level now, it is a stretch but not a long one to add the Toledo Cherokee to the list either. That is not a bad start it takes no stretch of the imagination to see this coming together as a fantastic league, with in Tier1 hockey. Teams that would up the ante for the state of Ohio. Up the bar for youth programs/players even coaching.
Its just time to think out side of the Ohsaa box. Which is far to limiting, for no good reasoning.
