SDHSAA Basketball Committee Discusses National Women’s Basketball Tournament Venue & More – Mitchell Republic

PIERRE, SD — At the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s basketball advisory committee meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 9, the proposal to move the three women’s basketball tournaments to one location caught the most Warning. But the committee voted to table the idea for another year.

Jamie Parish, the Sioux Falls Washington girls’ basketball coach and Class AA representative, came up with the idea of ​​moving all of the girls’ tournaments to one location during the same weekend.

Each proposal must be adopted by a majority vote among the seven-member committee. If a motion passes, it will go to the meeting of the South Dakota Association of Interscholastic Athletic Administrators, which will have its own vote. If this proposal is adopted again, it will be presented to the board of directors of the SDHSAA.

Parish’s proposal offered the opportunity that he said would help participation in women’s athletics which is currently on the decline. Back when he coached Class A women’s basketball, he said he never got to see players like Jill Young or Alex Kneeland because all the top teams were in separate gyms in different cities in the state.

“Having all the top teams playing in the same city on the same weekend would provide an opportunity to showcase female athletes and find new ways to grow our game and hopefully increase participation over time. time,” Parish said.

SDHSAA deputy executive director Jo Auch said she understands both sides, but admits it can be difficult.

“What I don’t want to happen is for this to become a YMCA tournament,” Auch said. “For us to find three locations, for us to have all three classes in the same city, we are limiting our potential groups that can potentially accommodate.”

Auch added, “I’m not saying I’m opposed to looking at this, but we have a lot of cities that have done a fantastic job and created an environment for our B girls and our A girls and our AA girls. We kind of found homes for these places that work really well. I would hate to take that atmosphere and environment away from those who have done such a fantastic job for them for so many years.

Class A rep Larry Aaker coached Winner to the 2019 Women’s Basketball Championship in Sioux Falls. He said he was told his team had some time to cut the nets so they could get the men’s team onto the pitch. He felt that his players had not been able to take advantage of the moment.

“We were rushed to (the Sioux Falls arena) and I just didn’t think the kids could enjoy it like it was at one site,” Aaker said. “That’s what really worries me is that these first two league games allow these children to enjoy this moment. I don’t want that taken away from them and I know other states are doing it and I also want to see the best players in the state play.

Aaker added: “When it comes to Class A, Watertown does a great job of hosting. It’s a great atmosphere, same with Spearfish. I have not participated in a State Class A tournament where the atmosphere was not at the top.

Parish said his idea was not meant to put other communities down and it was something South Dakota intended to move towards.

“One of the things that also convinced me that this might be something to at least have a discussion about is how our volleyball tournaments are looking right now,” Parish said. “The number of volleyball is growing and because all of these kids were in the same city, they were allowed to do a lot of unique things. … They generated a lot of energy for volleyball in the state of South Dakota bringing everyone together in the same city and promoting their product.

Auch followed suit and said volleyball was run the way it was because they could have all three classes in one facility at the same time. Right now South Dakota doesn’t have facilities where all three classes can play basketball in one place where people can sit in a gymnasium and watch three classes play on three separate courts.

Sporting Director’s representative Steph Ornelas of Spearfish agreed to expand the tournaments to other communities, agreed it would be difficult to organize, but was fine with having the tournament in one location.

“I think providing that environment for league games, if they were all in one venue, would be pretty cool,” Ornelas said. “The fact that we could have it on both sides of the state with the Monument and Sioux Falls accommodating. I get both ways with it. I just want to make sure that we provide the best atmosphere for our athletes.

This proposal will be discussed further at the South Dakota Athletic Directors Conference.

The committee also discussed the restricted block-charge arc added to high school basketball, which would help officials determine whether to call an offensive player for a charge or a defensive player for a block on a play. to the basket.

Stewart Bohle, who is Warner’s girls’ basketball coach as well as Class B’s representative, thought it was a good idea but wasn’t completely sold on the idea due to what the officials already have to worry about during a match.

“Officials already have a lot to do and adding another thing to worry about is a lot to expect from them,” Bohle said. “It’s a 50-50 chance on a bundle charge call, but now we’d have a 50-50 chance on a bundle charge and a 50-50 chance on if they noticed if they were inside or outside. outside the circle.”

Official Jeremy Mikkelsen said he was unsure if he had enough officials able to make the right call on a game like this consistently.

“Some gyms are also smaller and have so many lines in that area that it can be difficult to see them,” Mikkelsen said. “I am not in favor of it. … There’s a small percentage of state officials who can call him and call him consistently, but I don’t think there’s a large enough percentage who can.

That discussion was eventually tabled, and Auch said the committee will wait for the National Federation of State High School Associations to further define it in the bylaws.

A proposal to expand the SoDak 16 postseason format to essentially a round of 32 was tabled by the committee.

The proposition, put forward by Canistota boys basketball coach Pat Jolley, was that good teams are still being left out in the current format and with a round of 32 it will certainly reinforce that the eight top teams would go to the state tournament. .

“We’ve only been there for a few years and we’re already trying to change it,” Auch said. “I don’t think anyone disputes that the SoDak works pretty well. It’s just a question of whether something else might work better?

Travel issues were the biggest issue in the proposal for a 32 round. Ornelas said she had been contacted by other Class B athletic directors who were not in favor of a SoDak 32.

“They are not in favor of it, for the simple fact of the trip,” Orenelas said. “When you get to the round of 16, you’ve already established that you’re a national team. … We kind of keep watering it down and sometimes we just have to cut ties and go ahead and start the playoffs.

Bohle added: “There’s always this team complaining because they’re not in it. … I think we’re doing a pretty good job of getting eight really good teams to the state tournament with our system. I’m not sure we want to try and fix something that maybe isn’t broken at this point.