Watertown is scheduled to host the state high school gymnastics competition on February 12-13. With it now being less than a month away, this is still the plan, but the format for the event has been modified in a few different ways.
For starters, instead of one day being for individuals and the next day being for team, this year the days are separated by Class AA and Class A. The idea is to cut down on the number of schools who are in the building at one time.
“We will do Class A on Friday (Feb. 12) and Class AA on Saturday (Feb. 13),” said Jo Auch, assistant executive director for the South Dakota High School Activities Association. “So now we don’t’ have 28 schools in a facility at one time, we’ve got 14.”
Along with separating the classes into days, the teams will also be divided into pods. The pods layout was also used in October at the state high school cheer and dance competition.
“We’ll divide it up into the pods where there would only be four teams involved in each pod,” Auch explained. “The goal is that when your teams are competing, you’ll be allowed in the facility. We’re thinking probably about two hours to two-and-a-half hours per pods.”
For example, if you’re in the building on Friday to watch Deuel perform, as soon as the pod that Deuel is competing in is done, fans will have to exit the building. Teams, however, who want to stay and watch, will have a blocked off area of seating in the venue to sit and watch the remainder of that day’s competition. There also won't be a formal awards ceremony.
Another significant change is there won’t be two separate routines for both the individual and team competition.
“You’re still going to have your team competition and you’re still going to have your individual [competition], but it’s all going to be in the same routine,” Auch said. “And this is what they did way back in the 90’s. You came and did one event, and you were judged individually, and you were judged with the score towards team as well.”
All of these changes are purely efforts to keep kids and spectators safe with the current pandemic. The SDHSAA, including Jo Auch, are assuring everyone that these changes are for this year only. They plan to return to the normal Capital Cup format in gymnastics for 2022.
