How they pick the all-district teams

By Jamie Baker
Ever wonder about how all-district and all-Ohio selections are made by the Associated Press?
The AP all-district football meeting for Northwest Ohio was right here at The Courier Monday.
Now is as good a time as any to lift the veil of secrecy and report how they pick who gets all-district honors and who doesn’t.
For high school boys and girls basketball and football, the Associated Press members in each district of the state selects an all-district team which is forwarded on to the state’s AP sports editor in Columbus -- Rusty Miller. Miller then selects the all-Ohio teams based on recommendations from the sports writers and broadcasters which meet to select the teams for their district.
The districts selecting AP all-district teams include the Northwest, Northeast, Northeast Inland, Southeast, Central, Southwest and East.
For more than a decade, Courier sportswriter extraordinaire Dave Hanneman has been in charge of the process of picking the Northwest District teams.
In addition to Hanneman, Dave Feltner (Tiffin Advertiser Tribune), Curt Conrad (Mansfield News Journal), Steve Junga (Toledo Blade), Tom Usher (Lima News), Dave Kleck (Napoleon WDNH radio), Gary Raspberry (Celina Daily Standard), Mark Hazelwood (Sandusky Register) and Jeff Arenz (Fremont News Messenger) are also on the board which makes the AP all-district picks for northwestern Ohio.

They start picking the teams in order of division bright and early in the morning. Division I first, all the way down to Division VI. Division I is relatively easy, there are just 9 Division I schools in the Northwest District while in Division VI they are picking an all-district team from a pool of 46 schools. The numbers for the other Divisions in northwestern Ohio include 20 schools in Division II, 16 in Division III, 21 in Division IV and 29 in Division V.
Things can get quite contentious, especially in the small-school divisions, as media members argue for players from their areas.
I’ve been told if the pool of teams in Division I shrinks much smaller they may only pick half teams in that division in the future. The kids in the small school division are the ones that get squeezed because there are so many Division VI schools in NW Ohio.
Players are voted onto the first team, second team and honorable mention AP all-district lists. It’s based on stats, contribution to their teams and how successful their teams were during the season. All factors enter into the equation.
Once the white smoke billows from The Courier chimney, usually around the time I report to work around 4 p.m., we’ll usually have a Northwest Ohio AP all-district team selected. Or as Dave Hanneman told me this week, when the steam starts to come out of my ears we’re just about through.
Once all of the all-district teams are selected, Rusty Miller hosts a conference call for all of the chairpersons of the various district boards. Each can nominate someone for the Ohio AP Mr. Football Award. Discussions take place and some player is selected as Mr. Football.
The All-Ohio teams are announced the week of the state football finals.

Comments

[Limo]

I am in the Northeast inland district and was wondering if you have a contact for those media that cast votes for that district. I believe that a young lady was wrongfully overlooked for her superior play this year and want to bring it to someone's attention. I know that this will not change the outcome, but want the media to do a better job of researching before selections are made.

[Jamie_B]

For release Thursday at 6:30 p.m. We'll have it on the web then at www.thecourier.com

[Dave]

When willthis be released on alldistrict team

So when will the Northwest Ohio football teams be announced???

[CBritton]

Tyler Brown Offense Player of the Year D. 6. Craft Offense Player of the Year D. 5. Michah Hyde Offensive Player of the Year D.4. Those are pretty obvious.