Took a call from an out-of-state high school athletic director. He wanted to know about the Competitive Balance Proposal.

This is the landmark initiative by the Ohio High School Athletic Association to reclassify teams according to combined student population, socioeconomic and tradition factors. If you follow high school sports in Ohio, you likely know much more about this than you did at this time last year.

It should pass; was narrowly defeated last year. The private schools — mostly Catholic — have talked about walking away from the OHSAA should it pass.

If that happens, good luck filling out football and basketball schedules. Especially if the OHSAA refuses to allow members not to play nonmember Ohio teams. That’s a trump card that ultimately could lure private schools back into the OHSAA fold, should they bolt.

Other states are watching. The caller was from a couple time zones away. He said his state is hopelessly clueless about how to address private schools hoarding the bulk of state titles. He said his state’s answer was to bump up all private schools one division.

He said that was causing turmoil throughout the state. This was experience talking. He’s been an AD at public, Catholic and powerful charter schools that excel in athletics. He hopes his state can follow Ohio’s lead.

That perceived imbalanced playing field isn’t limited to Ohio. It’s everywhere. And there is no blueprint — except possibly for Ohio — to track counter efforts.

We’ll know more about that this afternoon when the OHSAA releases the results of two weeks of voting by member principals. Be assured that we Buckeyes aren’t the only ones awaiting this outcome.

Contact this writer at (937) 225-2381 or mpendleton@DaytonDailyNews.com.