By Dana Hess
For the S.D. NewsMedia Association
PIERRE — The South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors worked through 43 proposed changes to the organization’s Athletics Handbook at its April meeting on Wednesday, April 23. The changes were originally proposed by a meeting of the state’s high school athletics directors.
Wednesday’s meeting served as a first reading for the changes that were approved. The changes are due for a second reading at the SDHSAA June meeting. A sampling of those changes includes:
Football
Two proposals approved by the board deal with pay for officials. The board approved the first reading of an increase in football officials’ pay from $125 per game, per official to $150 per game, per official. Officials have been paid $125 per game for the past six years.
They also approved making it mandatory for school districts to pay football officials for the time it takes for them to ride to a game. According to SDHSAA, many schools already include riding time in officials’ compensation. This change would ensure that all schools pay for riding time.
A proposal to move football playoff games to Friday nights died for a lack of a motion. Class A and AAA schools were in favor of the change, but other classes were not. SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos said the proposal may be revived if only the larger schools wanted to move their playoff games to Friday night.
Swartos noted that moving the games to Friday nights would create some conflicts for students who are also in chorus and orchestra and football cheerleaders who also compete in cheer and dance.
Golf
A proposal to require host courses to provide pin sheets at SDHSAA state events was the topic of a lengthy discussion. The pin sheet shows golfers where each hole will be placed during a tournament.
SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Randy Soma said the rationale was to provide an equal footing for all teams, even though one of the teams may be playing the tournament on their home course.
Some board members were skeptical about requiring host courses to provide the pin sheets.
“We’re having a hard enough time finding courses to play on,” said board member Adam Shaw of Madison. SDHSAA has found that some golf course officials don’t want to give up their regular revenue to host state events.
The board passed a first reading of the proposal. Soma said he would call course officials that host state tournaments before the second reading of the proposal and report what they said about providing pin sheets.
Softball
The board approved the first reading of a five-run per inning rule in junior varsity games. The rule would not be mandatory. Teams would agree on its implementation prior to the start of the game.
SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Kristina Sage said teams don’t currently have that option because it’s not in the handbook.
“We want the JV games to have a positive atmosphere,” Sage said.
The proposal was approved on a 7-2 vote with board members Ryan Rollinger of Harrisburg and Jeff Danielsen of Watertown casting the dissenting votes.
Wrestling
Though questions remain about who would host it and when it would be held, the board approved a first reading of a proposal to have a girls’ wrestling dual team tournament.
Swartos proposed a committee that would consider the feasibility of implementing the girls’ dual team tournament. Danielsen said it was a given that coaches and athletic directors would be for it because they want to “just keep adding stuff.”
The board also approved a proposal to eliminate female wrestlers from male dual events.
With the advent of girls’ wrestling, females aren’t competing in boys’ wrestling tournaments, Swartos said. He explained that the proposal was needed because during duals, some coaches will sub in a female wrestler if they see that the opposing team does not have a wrestler in that weight class. In that way, the inclusion of the girl earns the team a forfeit at that weight.
Medical advisory committee
The board approved a proposal from the medical advisory committee requiring school districts to gave an emergency action plan in place to care for athletes who overheat during outdoor practices.
Swartos explained that the best way to treat an athlete suffering from heat stroke is to quickly bring down the body temperature through immersion. This could be done in a tub or tarp Swartos said.
“It’s more of a logistics thing than a cost thing,” Swartos said as schools may already have the required equipment. The plan would list where the equipment is and how it will be used. He said it was no different than a school’s plan for a tornado drill or an active shooter drill.
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