How the OHSAA and high schools come together when playoff football game sites are selected

Hosting neutral-site high school football playoff games in Ohio can be compared to putting a puzzle together, with many different pieces that have to fit just right.

Ohio High School Athletic Association member schools who put in to host a game have to meet specific criteria, and even then, the process remains a fluid one.

“In all of our sports, the process of evaluating and confirming availability for neutral sites takes months,” explained Tim Stried, Director of Media Relations for the OHSAA. “I describe it like putting together a huge puzzle on your kitchen table. There are dozens, sometimes literally a hundred, moving parts, and the OHSAA has to do the best it can to make them fit together.”

Stried provided a recent example from this year’s regional semifinal playoff round.

“When you look at the regional semifinals, for example, and needing 56 sites, you hope that certain sites are available for certain match-ups, but there is no guarantee that they will be, so you work with who is available and willing to host,” stated Stried. “Many times, a good site isn’t available because the school’s own team is still alive in the playoffs. Sometimes a site isn’t available because of a school function, etc. Sometimes there just isn’t a suitable site in a specific area that you need one, and then sometimes the perfect site for a game just isn’t available to host on a certain night when you need them.”

How it works for Salem High School

In the greater Mahoning Valley area, Salem High School has been an annual participant in hosting neutral-site football playoff games at Sebo Stadium. Salem annually earns high marks from the OHSAA as a host site.

“All schools receive an email from the OHSAA during the fall sports season with a survey to be a neutral site host,” explained Salem High School athletic director Matt Freeman of the state’s initial process in finding potential schools willing to host. “Interested schools fill out the survey if they would like to be considered to host a playoff game.”

The OHSAA form that schools such as Salem receive is extensive.

“During the initial host survey process, questions about press box size, locker rooms, stadium seating, Wi-Fi access, parking, etc., are asked to potential host sites,” the Salem athletic director disclosed. ‘I’m unsure if there is a specific criterion to be a neutral site host. I believe it’s about who is willing to host for the OHSAA. Not all schools have the workers and facilities to host a playoff game or even want to host a game. At Salem Athletics, we feel Sebo Stadium is a great site to host OHSAA events due to the work and dedication of many people at Salem City Schools and the Salem community.”

OHSAA has similar challenges with other sports, too

Stried said those same site challenges exist for many sports tournaments.

“Those details aren’t specific to football,” he disclosed. “We go through this same scenario with the regional tournaments in soccer, volleyball, field hockey, basketball, boys volleyball, lacrosse, baseball and softball.”

Of course, teams that finish in the top four in each of Ohio’s 28 different football playoff regions get to host playoff games in the first two rounds of the postseason as long as their team continues to win. It’s in the third round — the regional semifinals — where neutral sites come into play.

“In all those cases, there have to be people at a site that want to host — they want to put in the extra hours and nights to host,” said Stried of the challenges they face in the reduced number of schools state-wide that want to take on that challenge. “There are fewer people who want to do that compared to 10 years ago. Certainly a lot less than 20 years ago. We have raised the rental fee that we give sites, but sometimes that isn’t the issue. Sites also keep revenue from concessions, parking, 50-50 raffles and program sales,” he added.

When does the selection process start?

Stried said the groundwork for finding possible schools interested in hosting playoff games/matches for all sports begins in the summer.

“The actual process starts back in August when we do our annual site survey,” he noted. “Schools that want to be considered to host a playoff game send us a batch of required information and we put together a master spreadsheet. One of the most important columns is the nights that they are available to host. Then mid-week during the playoffs, we look at the potential match-ups and see which sites are available to host the game. It’s a similar process for all our sports.”

It takes a lot of coordination and dedicated people to make hosting a playoff game successful. Salem has it down to a science, and it’s one of the reasons the school is selected nearly every year by the OHSAA to host neutral site games.”

“To host a game, it takes many people to make it a successful event for the OHSAA,” remarked Freeman. “At the November 10 playoff game at Salem between Mineral Ridge and Mogadore, we had approximately 25 athletic department workers, 6 security/EMS workers and approximately 20 concession stand workers. Most are paid workers but some volunteer because they enjoy being involved in hosting a neutral site game.”

Freeman is ever so grateful for the paid and volunteer workers who step up each season so places like Salem can successfully host a playoff contest.

“The biggest challenge to hosting a playoff game is having enough workers to staff the game,” he said. “Once teams reach the third round of the playoffs, interest increases in local games. This brings bigger crowds for both teams as well as casual fans from the surrounding area. Having enough workers to efficiently operate the game is crucial. As a host, one of the main objectives is to make this a great experience for both teams, coaches, bands, cheerleaders, administrators and spectators — and to do that, good workers are key! That’s what we have at Salem, great athletic workers who enjoy supporting interscholastic athletics.”

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This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 11:13 AM.