The fall sports/activities task force put the finishing touches on their proposed plan for the fall sports season Friday afternoon. The proposal will be presented to the South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors for a vote on either Wednesday or Thursday, according to SDHSAA executive director Dan Swartos.

The 20-person panel, which was assembled by the SDHSAA, has met several times over the last few weeks as they attempt to map out a path forward for the resumption of state-sanctioned high school sports and activities next month. Swartos declined to say if the proposal will allow all fall sports/activities to begin on time, but he has expressed “cautious optimism” throughout the process that the SDHSAA will be able to operate with all of its sports this fall.

During Friday’s meeting, the committee worked to firm up protocols for screening, positive tests, and confirmed close contacts, and added in recommendations for bussing to games/practice and fan capacity. 

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Here are some notes from Swartos on the proposal.

• Limits on fan capacity and plans for bus rides will be largely determined locally. However, Swartos said, the task force will recommend that schools keep a seating chart to help with contact tracing. They will also recommend passengers wear masks while on the bus. 

• The task force will have rule modifications for fall sports, fine arts and activities and will do the same for winter sports and activities later this year. “I think this committee will be getting together quite often,” Swartos said. 

• Swartos will work with the Department of Health and Department of Education as part of a “school response team” throughout the year. In the event a school has confirmed cases, the group will help them “work through things,” offering assistance on how to address their situation. If necessary, this would include guidance on how to proceed with their sports/activities programs.

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• If a rash of positive cases were to prevent a school from participating in an event, the SDHSAA would work to reschedule that contest. If that’s not possible, it will be labeled “no contest” and will not impact a team’s postseason standing (they will have played one fewer game).

However, if a team were to not play a game by choice (i.e. there is no reason not to play), then it would “probably” forfeit. 

• Decisions on whether or not an athlete can voluntarily take classes online and still participate in sports will be up to the respective school. 

• The task force initially wanted to establish benchmarks to determine when they need to re-evaluate the situation and potentially dial things back. But that threshold proved to be a “moving target,” Swartos said, so instead they will continue to work closely with the Department of Health and make evaluations based on the situation. 

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• A few schools had to “pull back a little bit” due to an uptick in cases following Fourth of July weekend, but in general, Swartos said, schools have handled everything “really well.”

“This summer has been a good experience for the schools to understand what they have in place and make sure it’s working correctly,” Swartos said.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.