COLUMBUS – A little over a week after he assumed interim executive director duties of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, Bob Goldring reiterated the OHSAA’s goal is to have fall sports practices officially begin Aug. 1.

However, he described everything as a “fluid situation” and mentioned numerous options would be discussed when the OHSAA board of directors meets again Thursday, July 16.

Under previous executive director Jerry Snodgrass, the OHSAA halted high school sports winter postseason and spring sports via orders from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.

More: Here are the newest OHSAA guidelines on restarting high school sports in Ohio

Here are some highlights from Goldring’s first press conference at the helm:

Ball’s in schools’ court

He passed the proverbial ball back to the local schools on whether sports would take place.

“We really feel it’s the school’s decision on whether or not they have sports or not, just like every other extracurricular activity. We don’t think it’s the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s place to say ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ to sports. Our main focus, as you all know, is on our tournaments and we control those. We really have to seek directions from the governor’s office and his team and his medical staff if there’s going to be delays in the season, postponements in the season or items put in place where only non-contact sports are permitted during the fall. Then, we have to pivot and look at our different options for moving forward.”

Contingency plans for delays

“We have looked at models where we could start later in the fall and still get our seasons in. Weather is an issue in Ohio. In the sport of football, we do not have a domed stadium that we could utilize for a state tournament. We have to be cognizant of ‘how far off do we go?’ Football, we’re already one week into December, we could maybe go one more week.”

Goldring mentioned soccer could be extended also, along with girls volleyball, which is indoors. Golf, tennis and cross country typically end in October and inclement weather could be an issue there. Shorter seasons and tournaments could be discussed.

Difficult financial decisions are ahead

With postseason tournament ticket sales equating to 80% of OHSAA revenue, the organization lost an estimated $2 million in 2020 with the cancelations. Snodgrass had taken a pay cut and there were some staff layoffs. A fall sports stoppage could be disastrous.

“Football is an income generator for us,” Goldring said. “Do we have to take measures to cut our playoffs down a few rounds? The fiscal part of things is very much on my radar right now.”

Capacity limits would affect postseason football games, which then would become deficits. That said, based on conversations with other Midwest associations, Goldring said everyone is forging ahead with Aug. 1 for fall sports.

“That seems to be the directive from the governor’s office and the directive from our board,” Goldring said. “As a human being and a husband and a father and reading the news about what’s going on with spiked cases, being open and honest, I’m nervous about what’s going on. But, our medical experts seem to be saying the risk is not as high for our younger population, so we have to trust that.”

Competition guidelines expire July 15

Scrimmage/competition guidelines from the Ohio Department of Health expire Wednesday, July 15.

That ruling allowed camps and scrimmages between teams in contact sports for basically a week, with the Ohio Department of Health then reviewing. A step back would limit things such as football 7-on-7 scrimmages. 

“In my conversation with the lieutenant governor’s office last week, indications seemed to be that the requirements could be lessened,” Goldring said. “Again, it’s a fluid situation and with cases beginning to rise, I’m really not sure if they can say that’s actually going to happen. We have to be prepared to pivot from that.”

Mask mandates also to stay local

“We’re not the experts in what should and shouldn’t be done in terms of implementing things that keep the virus from spreading,” Goldring said of the OHSAA. “If masks are going to be a requirement in Ohio, we would certainly adhere to that. It’s going to be left up to the local level. I think it would be a nightmare for us to try to police that (social distancing, masks). I’m hoping people are smart enough to realize that if we want games to be played, they have to take the steps to ensure that they’re played by following all of the protocols.”

Goldring said attendance mandates should be between local county health departments and schools.

Flipping fall sports to spring and vice versa

There have been rumors between coaches and on social media have possibly switching seasons, with football, soccer, etc. moving to spring and baseball and softball considered for fall. Some have discounted the notion, but Goldring left an opening. He did say it has not yet been considered.

“I hate to sound like a broken record, but our main objective sitting here July 14 is to move forward with our regular 10 sports for the fall,” Goldring said, “but not be naive if there are other options out there if our plans are derailed.”

He didn’t consider it headline-worthy but mentioned some movement could be considered if the governor’s office delayed fall sports, mandated only non-contact sports or stopped all fall sports.

Using the words “hypothetical” and “potential” to describe such a scenario, Goldring did mention it would be seamless to current summer sports (baseball, softball) to shift into the fall.

Postseason ramifications

Currently, football teams need eight games to qualify for the OHSAA playoffs. However, if there are COVID-19 related stoppages, forfeitures, etc. Goldring could see that requirement relaxed.

“We would need to review that,” he said. “A pure guess would be we would make accommodations.”

Goldring has been with the OHSAA for 25 years and was most recently senior director of operations. In 2016, he was also the interim executive director when then-head Dan Ross took ill.