SD Schools Will Vote On SDHSAA Recruitment, Game Ejection Issues

At its annual meeting last week Wednesday, the South Dakota High School Activities Association offered member schools two constitutional amendments that they must vote on by May 31.

The amendments deal with prohibitions on schools recruiting students and clearing up the standards for how long senior athletes must sit out after a game ejection.

The recruitment prohibition amendment seeks to add language in the constitution about “other inducements” and “other undue influence” as it defines what those terms mean. It also adds penalties for schools and coaches for violations of the policy.

“It seemed odd that the only specific reference to penalties was just students,” said SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos. “It takes two to tango on these types of things.”

Currently member schools may not offer scholarships, free tuition, free bus transportation or free school lunch to try to recruit a student. The amendment clarifies “other inducements” as prohibiting school personnel or non-school individuals from offering jobs or housing to parents, residential relocation offers, promotional efforts, promises of playing time, financial aid to parents or students or any other benefit not authorized by SDHSAA guidelines.

In the amendment, “other undue influence” is described as texts, emails, letters, cards or questionnaires sent to student athletes, their families or their guardians designed to persuade the student to change schools; invitations to summer camps or open gyms; or contact of any kind designed to persuade the athlete to switch schools.

Penalties for breaking the recruitment rules include suspension of a school or program from regular season or post-season play, suspension of a coach from all coaching activities or the banning of parents/alumni/supporters from attendance at sanctioned activities.

“We had an accusation of this (recruitment) in the last year,” Swartos said, noting that recruitment is difficult to prove since students are allowed one school transfer. “It’s really hard to prove any of this.”

The amendment on ejections seeks to clarify a senior athlete’s eligibility if an ejection occurs in the final contest of the season. Currently, the SDHSAA constitution calls for a student or coach ejected from a contest to be ineligible for participation in the next contest. A second ejection makes the athlete or coach ineligible for the next four contests and a third ejection means ineligibility for the remainder of the season.

In the case of a senior athlete ejected in the last contest of a season, the amendment allows that the athlete’s ineligibility would carry over to the next scheduled varsity contest in any sport where the student has previously established team membership.

Swartos said there was an incident this year in which a senior athlete who belonged to both the soccer team and the football team was ejected from his last soccer game. When the association sought to bar the student from his next football game, it was served with a temporary restraining order and the student played in that game.

In order for an amendment to pass, it must be endorsed by 60% of the SDHSAA member schools that cast ballots.