By Tom Williams

When Dr. Dan Ross visited Youngstown earlier this week, the OHSAA commissioner chuckled after he was asked if he had to tiptoe around Stark County on his journey from Columbus.

“I stopped in Stark County today and I was in Canton for an hour or two,” said Ross who has been the OHSAA’s top official for seven years. “We have a great relationship with [Stark County].”

During the summer, the OHSAA awarded its next four contracts for high school football tournament state championship sites. For the first time in 20 years, Canton and Massillon weren’t the only cities to be given the tournament.

After receiving seven proposals from around the state, the OHSAA narrowed the field to four then awarded the 2012 and 2013 state games to Canton and Massillon, and the 2014 and 2015 state games to Columbus (Ohio State University’s massive Ohio Stadium).

“They had a great proposal, they’ve done a great job,” said Ross of the organizers of the state contests at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and Canton’s Fawcett Stadium.

“I believe it’s been received very, very well,” Ross said of the OHSAA decision to accept multiple proposals. “I think there’s [a feeling of disappointment in Stark County] that it didn’t end up there all the time, but there’s a feeling that they are real pleased that they didn’t lose it altogether.

“And from the people in Columbus and Central Ohio and Southwest Ohio, there’s been a joy that at least on some years they are not going to have to make the four-hour trip,” Ross said. “Spending a couple of years in Columbus is not a negative for Stark County. It’s just another opportunity for our coaches and our kids.

“We’ve been so blessed with Paul Brown Stadium and Fawcett stadiums, two of the better ones in the country,” Ross said. “And when you add Ohio Stadium to that piece, you have three of the best places in the country that you could play football.

“And we have all three right here in Ohio.”

Ross said that having two solid proposals helped the OHSAA make the split decision.

“I think the determination to rotate the state playoffs came down to that, since they were so close and so even,” Ross said.

With the sites for the next six football tournaments set (Canton and Massillon also have the state tournaments this fall and in 2011), the OHSAA won’t make a decision about 2016 until Columbus has had at least one chance to be tournament host.

Reaching out to Ohio’s fans is an important goal for the OHSAA. Ross told the Youngstown District Football Officials Association that the lifeblood of the organization comes from ticket sales to its biggest state events — football and basketball.

Sponsors are becoming a growing contributor as a revenue source.

OHSAA member schools participate voluntarily and are not charged membership or tournament fees.

One of the OHSAA’s biggest expense is for catastrophic insurance for every athlete. Ross said that expense was $700,000 in 2009.

As for concussions, Ross said football, not surprisingly, has the most but that girls soccer and lacrosse are second and third. He identified lacrosse, boys volleyball and cheerleading as emerging sports seeking OHSAA sanctioning.

Asked about the use of instant replay in tournament basketball games, Ross said it’s unlikely to be expanded beyond the state semifinals and finals at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center. Although several regional sites at college facilities are equipped with instant replay systems, expense prohibits their use.

A resident of Gahanna outside of Columbus, Ross is a road warrior.

“Every day, I’m [visiting] somewhere in Ohio,” Ross said. “I spend a lot of time in the car. I believe that’s a good thing. It gives me an opportunity to see a lot of people in Ohio.

“I enjoy the travel. It gives me an opportunity to think most of that time.”