Action was taken by the South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors on Wednesday that moves forward with South Dakota keeping seven classes of high school football.
The past six to eight months have held multiple discussions about potentially decreasing the number of classes down to five, and then just last week a sub-committee of the Football Advisory committee passed a proposal for a six-class football system. The six-class proposal would have left all three classes of 9-man football the same, but revamp 11-man to move from four classes to three. On Wednesday, that all changed.
“Essential our board reviewed the proposal that came from the Football Advisory committee and ultimately Tom Culver (Avon Activities Director), who was on that (sub) committee, made a motion to set that information aside and pursue a ranking primarily on the ADM’s for classifications.”
The sub-committee’s proposal that the board initially examined didn’t just look at Average Daily Membership but included the competitiveness factor as well for aligning teams. Nonetheless, the board moved ahead with discussions and a proposal at Wednesday’s meeting to keep a seven-class format, but with some tweaks.
Class 11AAA would move from ten teams to nine – Watertown and Aberdeen Central would move down a class and then Sioux Falls Jefferson will have their inaugural season in the fall of 2021. Changes would also be seen in Class 11AA and 11A, although the teams listed in those classes should be viewed as ‘projected teams’ rather than a change that’s set in stone.
11AAA: Sioux Falls Lincoln, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Sioux Falls Washington, Sioux Falls Jefferson, O’Gorman, Rapid City Central, Rapid City Stevens, Brandon Valley, and Harrisburg
11AA: Aberdeen Central, Watertown, Brookings, Yankton, Sturgis, Douglas, Mitchell, Huron, Pierre, Spearfish, and Tea Area
11A: Belle Fourche, West Central, Sioux Falls Christian, Dakota Valley, Vermillion, Lennox, Madison, Sisseton, Milbank, Canton, Chamberlain, Custer, Dell Rapids, and Tri-Valley
11B: Everyone Else
9-Man Football: Unchanged
So what exactly happened? How did South Dakota go from having serious conversations about a five-class football system to basically staying the same? It comes down to an agreement of the big picture, but an inability to finalize the details.
“In the different committee meetings, whether that has been the football advisory or the special committee, we asked the question, ‘how many of you would support seven classes of football in South Dakota?’ There’s literally no support,” explained SDHSAA assistant Executive Director Dr. John Krogstrand. “Nobody is actually coming out and advocating for it until you get down to trying to draw the line and make the separations.”
The SDHSAA board approved this new seven-class format with a 7-1 vote. Because it was the first reading vote, it’ll have to pass a second vote at the next board meeting as well, which is January 13, 2021.
If the seven-class proposal passes a second vote, the changes will go into effect for the 2021 fall season.