Beachwood Schools Soccer Moves Down A Division

BEACHWOOD, OH - Beachwood Schools soccer programs are being busted down a division. The boys and girls program will officially move from Division II to Division III due to OHSAA's new Competitive Balance Formula.

The decision to shake up divisional alignment was made using the Competitive Balance formula that OHSAA member schools voted into place in 2014. Every student on a team roster must be registered with OHSAA, regardless of whether or not they are on varsity, junior varsity, or freshmen teams. If a student's parents do not reside in the same district as the school, OHSAA modifies how that student is weighted when determining divisional placement. The system was specifically designed to "level the playing field" between public and private schools.

According to OHSAA, 75 schools in Ohio moved up a division due to the Competitive Balance formula/a higher base enrollment number. In volleyball, 51 schools moved up a division. In girls soccer, 24 moved up a division and in boys soccer 30 schools moved up a division.

“This is a journey that we have been on for more than eight years to get to this point,” Dan Ross, OHSAA Commissioner, said in a press release. “Today’s approval of the fall sports divisional breakdowns is the result of countless hours of work by our staff and our member schools. For the first time in OHSAA history, enrollment isn’t the only factor in determining a school’s division in certain sports. But the journey isn’t over. We will study the results of this first go-around and discuss with the Competitive Balance Committee and the board.”

OHSAA said that its Competitive Balance Committee wanted to do something about the disproportionate number of state championships that are won by private high schools. Presumably, the new divisional alignments are meant to make the paths to championships harder for schools like Lakewood's St. Edward High School or Cleveland's St. Ignatius.

“The committee studied the competitive balance factors and we listened to the feedback from our member schools,” Ross said, noting that the first three Competitive Balance Proposals were voted down by the membership in 2011, 2012 and 2013. “As we’ve said all along, our goal is to keep public and non-public schools together in the same postseason divisions, but Competitive Balance will help place those schools in the correct division based on the makeup of their roster. We are very pleased that this is now off the ground and we can see the results. We’ll continue to gather feedback and see what changes, if any, the committee wants to propose to the membership to vote on in the future.”

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