For most native schools in South Dakota, students haven’t been in the actual school building since March. Native student athletes also haven’t been afforded the opportunity to participate in sanctioned sports to this point either.
During Tuesday’s South Dakota High School Activities Association board meeting, a motion was passed to allow alternate options for native kids who are wanting to participate in sports and activities this school year.
One option allows athletes to transfer to a district where sports are allowed to be played. Another allows some of the reservation schools to form their own temporary leagues, once clearance is given for sports and activities to resume. Finally Dan Swartos explains, a student could also submit a waiver form to potentially get a fifth year of high school eligibility, but the SDHSAA executive director says the waiver process is complicated as it pertains with the pandemic.
Swartos: So right now it’s essentially illness, injury, or some other circumstance of a serious nature. And right now we’ve been determining that to mean, your school not allowing sports does not fall within that, but if there are circumstances – they live with someone who has cancer, so they weren’t able to participate in whatever sport offerings were available. I think we need to look through that and define what we’re going to allow and what we’re not going to allow for that, and then allow kids to individually apply for that. (:36)
Because of shelter in place rules by tribal governments, reservation schools need permission to participate in activities.
"The alternate leagues would really be dependent on when that 'shelter in place' gets lifted," explained Swartos. "It really depends how they would structure it, but it would appear that if they would do it, it would be after a time where a vaccine is widely available."
The All Nations Football Conference, a native high school football league that is separate from high school football under the SDHSAA umbrella, plans to start their second season this spring, after delaying it from the fall initially. Officials plan to run this season from April to May as long as they have clearance from tribal leaders.
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