On Wednesday, the South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors voted unanimously in favor of a proposal, allowing all sanctioned high school fall sports and activities to start on time next month.
South Dakota joins Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota, who have also decided to proceed forward with having a fall sports and activities season.
There are plenty of pieces to dissect with the proposal that the SDHSAA board passed, but some of the main ones are fan attendance, positive case policy, and forfeit vs no contest for games.
If a student-athlete does test positive for COVID-19, they’ll be required to ‘self-isolate for 10 days from the first onset of symptoms and must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications, or 20 days from the onset of symptoms, fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications, in those who were severely or critically ill.’
Additionally, a student-athlete who tested positive must be cleared by a certified physician before they can return to action.
If a student-athlete or coach comes in close contact with a confirmed case, the South Dakota Department of Health Guidelines require ‘a 14-day quarantine and daily screening of symptoms.’
This has led to questions surrounding games or contests in the event of positive cases in a school building. If there are multiple cases within a school, which forces a district to go to an online-learning format by the Department of Health, the SDHSAA will work with the teams of that specific school to reschedule a game or contest. If a game can’t be made up, it will go down as a ‘no contest.’ If a school decides to not play a game or contest on their own, without being directed to do so by the Department of Health, the game will go in the books as a ‘forfeit.’
Bus trips could also require all of its passengers to wear masks, and a seating chart. This would allow for better data as to who may have come in close contact with a potential positive case, while at the same time, reducing the chance of virus transmission.
As far as fan attendance goes, each school will adopt their own policy on who to allow. While some may go with open attendance for all, others may choose no fans – and everything in between.
The first teams will begin practice on Monday August 3rd with other teams starting Thursday August 6th. There is a conference call scheduled for Thursday between the SDHSAA and its member schools to go over questions and concerns with the passage of the recent proposal. Just because the High School Activities Association has given the green light for fall sports and activities to start on schedule, each member school can still on its own to not participate.
