PIERRE – New awards and a study were approved at Wednesday’s meeting of the SDHSAA Board of Directors.
The board approved the Larry Luitjens Coach of Influence Award, to be presented this coming season to a girls basketball coach and a boys basketball coach.
These awards are named after Luitjens, South Dakota high school basketball’s all-time winningest coach, who passed away in June. Luitjens won 748 games in 45 seasons and won multiple state championships at De Smet and Custer.
Lance Luitjens, Larry’s son, explained that the award will be based on positive influence on players and on the school, along with preparation, motivation, communication, and positive impact on the community.
Also, the SDHSAA board voted to conduct a study on how state championship events positively impact communities.
After state events, the SDHSAA will send a link to a survey to participating schools. Those schools will then pass the link on to families to ask if they attended the event and how much money they spent.
SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos said that the aim of the study is to show local chambers of commerce the advantage of their communities hosting state events. Swartos said that in some cases, chambers have asked the SDHSAA to move a state event because of some other event scheduled for the same time.
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