PIERRE – Sanctioned high school softball will be part of South Dakota’s springtime, starting next year.
On Tuesday, the South Dakota High School Activities Association Board of Directors unanimously approved a motion to have softball in the spring, beginning in the 2022-23 school year.
Some AA schools, who have fall club programs, had wanted the sanctioned season to be held in the fall, but based on a 14-5 vote among AA programs to have softball in the spring, that recommendation was made by SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Jo Auch. Pierre Athletic Director Brian Moser confirmed to DRG Media Group Sports that Sioux Falls schools, who had been lobbying to have a fall season, decided eventually to have softball in the spring.
Auch said that her guess is that 35 to 40 teams will participate in the first season. The tentative start date for practice is March 20, 2023. The state champion will be determined in June 2023, just before state golf tournaments.
According to Auch, schools have the choice of being responsible for costs right away or of participating in a five-year transitional period, including sharing equipment, among other needs.
In November, softball was officially sanctioned as a varsity sport, making South Dakota the last state in the nation to do so.
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