PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota High School Activities Association held an urgent board of directors meeting on Friday to discuss a plan of action for high school sports and activities for both winter and spring.
For starters, a lot of information was discussed and quite a few potential dates were thrown around for fitting all of these events in. But at the end of the day, no rulings were made. This means the status quo will continue. The State High School Basketball Tournaments, All-State Band competition and Visual Arts competition remain postponed, while all spring sports and activities are canceled through May 3rd.
Here’s what was discussed at the meeting through the avenue of the various sports and activities. One key component to consider is the date of May 4th – that’s the day that schools are hoping to resume throughout South Dakota. This comes as a result of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s recommendation that all school buildings remain closed through Friday May 1st. If that date is extended in any way, it’ll drastically change any plan that the South Dakota High School Activities Association is making as it pertains to its Spring and Winter sports and activities.
All of the information listed below was purely discussed. None of it is set in stone or was ruled in favor or against on Friday.
State Basketball Tournaments
The date of June 15-20 was revealed with a wide range of options from there. It’s possible that a plan could include all six classes in one city, or multiple cities hosting games. There was also discussion about whether or not to play out consolation games, which would also likely depend on how many venues and if any of the tournaments are combined to one location.
One potential hiccup with the senior class – a graduating senior is allowed to compete, just as long as they haven’t already started participating in any sort of basketball program through their future college.
All-State Band
Move the event to June 11-13 (Mitchell).
State Visual Arts Competition
Traditionally, the state visual arts competition has revolved around the location and time of the joint ‘AA’ basketball tournaments. This will remain true with visual arts for this year. If the state basketball tournaments happen, so will the state visual arts competition.
All-State Jazz Band
It would change from a three-day event to a two-day event and move to May 15-16.
Boys Tennis
There were a few proposals with the best way to handle the boys’ tennis championships. If the May 4th deadline for resumption holds true, they’re likely looking at a one week regular season and then a state tournament that only consists of championship round play.
They could do AA and A in Rapid City on Saturday May 23rd or could do AA on May 22nd and A on May 23rd, again from Rapid City. If rain is forecasted, resulting in the competition to move indoors, the event would then be either canceled or potentially moved to the later date of June 5-7.
Track and Field
Basically, there won’t be much time to have any sort of a regular season in track and field this spring. There was discussion of having the regional meet, which would act as a state qualifier, and then the state meet. If they stick with that format, then the state track and field championships could stay on the calendar for May 29-30.
Girls and B Boys Golf
The goal would also be to keep all three state girls golf tournaments and the ‘B’ boys golf tournament on schedule as far as when their state tournaments are, which right now is scheduled for June 1-2. It could work similar to track and field where the regional golf tournaments act as a state qualifier.
Again, this is just a brief rundown about what was all discussed with these sports and activities moving forward. If kids are not able to return to school on May 4th, due to CDC Guidance or recommendations from the Department of Health of Governor Noem’s office, then that will drastically change the SDHSAA’s plan moving forward.
