OHSAA Announces 2024-25 Division Breakdowns For New Non-Football Fall Sports Format

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(Columbus) – The Ohio High School Athletic Association has announced the preliminary divisional breakdowns and regional tournament representation for the upcoming fall sports. The OHSAA Board of Directors approved the new divisions and tournament representation last week during its April board meeting, which included the previously announced football divisions and regions.  

The divisional assignments and regional tournament representation should be considered preliminary, as OHSAA member schools may opt to move up to Division I if Referendum Issue 1B passes this spring. Results of the referendum voting will be announced May 16. Any changes to divisional assignments or tournament representation as a result of schools opting up to Division I will be announced by the OHSAA at a later date.

As announced last February, girls and boys soccer will expand to five divisions this fall and girls volleyball will expand to seven divisions. In both sports, the largest 64 schools are placed in Division I, the next 64 largest schools are placed in Division II, and the remaining schools are divided as equally as possible into the other divisions.

Earlier this spring, the OHSAA received base enrollment data, comprised of students in grades 9, 10 and 11 as of October 2023, from the Ohio Department of Education to use for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years. In addition to football, the fall sports of soccer and girls volleyball utilize competitive balance data from the previous season to create a new adjusted enrollment count. Details of the competitive balance process are available at: https://www.ohsaa.org/School-Resources/Competitive-Balance-Resource-Center.

Proposals for running the tournaments in these expanded divisions would do away with the Sectional Tournament level, with divisions starting as a District Semifinal. This would be made possible by many fewer teams than before.

At the State Semifinal level, some sports like volleyball, baseball, and softball might have to conduct the semifinals at various nearby facilities with the State Championship games for each division at the one larger location during that same week. Basketball is looking at having semifinal games on one weekend, with state championships the following weekend at UD Arena. These proposals would have to be approved by the OHSAA Board of Control, which has not yet been voted upon.

Head OHSAA Commissioner Doug Ute explains in our interview seen below:

2024 Girls Soccer
Five divisions, with 16 regional qualifiers in each division.
Division I – 64 Schools, 576 and higher adjusted enrollment count – Division I School List
Division I Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 6, Northeast 4, Northwest 1, Southwest 5

Division II – 64 Schools, 404 to 575 adjusted enrollment count – Division II School List
Division II Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 3, Northeast 7, Northwest 2, Southwest 4

Division III – 126 Schools, 239 to 403 adjusted enrollment count – Division III School List
Division III Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 1, East 1, Northeast 6, Northwest 3, Southeast 1, Southwest 4

Division IV – 127 Schools, 168 to 238 adjusted enrollment count – Division IV School List
Division IV Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 1, East 2, Northeast 5, Northwest 3, Southeast 1, Southwest 4

Division V – 130 Schools, 167 and less adjusted enrollment count – Division V School List
Division V Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 1, East 1, Northeast 5, Northwest 4, Southeast 2, Southwest 3

2024 Boys Soccer
Five divisions, with 16 regional qualifiers in each division.
Division I – 64 Schools, 626 and higher adjusted enrollment count – Division I School List
Division I Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 6, Northeast 3, Northwest 1, Southwest 6

Division II – 64 Schools, 448 to 625 adjusted enrollment count – Division II School List
Division II Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 5, Northeast 7, Northwest 1, Southwest 3

Division III – 146 Schools, 251 to 447 adjusted enrollment count – Division III School List
Division III Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 2, East 1, Northeast 6, Northwest 3, Southeast 1, Southwest 3

Division IV – 145 Schools, 168 to 250 adjusted enrollment count – Division IV School List
Division IV Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 2, East 2, Northeast 4, Northwest 3, Southeast 2, Southwest 3

Division V – 146 Schools, 167 and less adjusted enrollment count – Division V School List
Division V Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 1, East 1, Northeast 5, Northwest 3, Southeast 2, Southwest 4

2024 Girls Volleyball
Seven divisions, with 16 regional qualifiers in each division.
Division I – 64 Schools, 575 and higher adjusted enrollment count – Division I School List
Division I Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 6, Northeast 4, Northwest 1, Southwest 5

Division II – 64 Schools, 412 to 574 adjusted enrollment count – Division II School List
Division II Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 3, Northeast 8, Northwest 2, Southwest 3

Division III – 131 Schools, 265 to 411 adjusted enrollment count – Division III School List
Division III Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 2, Northeast 6, Northwest 3, Southeast 1, Southwest 4

Division IV – 130 Schools, 190 to 264 adjusted enrollment count – Division IV School List
Division IV Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 2, East 2, Northeast 5, Northwest 2, Southeast 1, Southwest 4

Division V – 132 Schools, 134 to 189 adjusted enrollment count – Division V School List
Division V Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 2, East 1, Northeast 4, Northwest 3, Southeast 3, Southwest 3

Division VI – 131 Schools, 91 to 133 adjusted enrollment count – Division VI School List
Division V Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 2, East 1, Northeast 4, Northwest 5, Southeast 2, Southwest 2

Division VII – 130 Schools, 90 and fewer adjusted enrollment count – Division VII School List
Division VII Regional Qualifiers by District: Central 1, East 2, Northeast 3, Northwest 5, Southeast 2, Southwest 3

2024 Cross Country
Three divisions for girls and boys. No competitive balance.
Girls Division I – 160 schools, base enrollment 307 and more girls
Girls Division II – 160 schools, base enrollment 163 to 306 girls
Girls Division III – 159 schools, base enrollment 162 and fewer girls

Boys Division I – 189 schools, base enrollment 310 and more boys
Boys Division II – 190 schools, base enrollment 156 to 309 boys
Boys Division III – 189 schools, base enrollment 155 and fewer boys

2024 Girls Golf
Two divisions. No competitive balance.
Girls Division I – 200 schools, base enrollment 217 and more girls
Girls Division II – 199 schools, base enrollment 216 and fewer girls

2024 Boys Golf
Three divisions. No competitive balance.
Boys Division I – 208 schools, base enrollment 263 and more boys
Boys Division II – 207 schools, base enrollment 142 to 262 boys
Boys Division III – 212 schools, base enrollment 141 and fewer boys

2024 Girls Tennis
Two divisions. No competitive balance.
Girls Division I – 186 schools, base enrollment 191 and more girls
Girls Division II – 187 schools, base enrollment 190 and fewer girls

2024 Field Hockey
One division. No competitive balance.