SDHSAA collects data on economic impact of state events
PIERRE — The South Dakota High School Activities Association tries to ensure that the rules of sporting events are interpreted with consistency across the state. That is sometimes easier said than done.
At its meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 6, the SDHSAA board of directors got a firsthand look at how basketball rules lend themselves to interpretation during a presentation by Sioux Falls Christian eighth grade basketball coach Dylan Kvaale.
Kvaale said too often officials at South Dakota basketball games rule that a player's standard spin move is a travel. He told the board that basketball games he has seen at other levels and in other states allow the player with the ball to use the spin move without it being called a travel.
"Why would we take this beautiful move out of the game?" Kvaale asked. "Every good player uses this move."
According to Kvaale, South Dakota's interpretation of the rule makes the job of officials harder.
"You have refs say to other refs, 'We're not calling it tonight,'" Kvaale said.
SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos admitted that his sports background was in wrestling, but he asserted that South Dakota is not doing anything different than other states when it comes to basketball officiating. The rule concerns the use of the player's pivot foot during the spin move, said Swartos, who added that the rule is a judgment call. "It lends itself to a lot of inconsistency."
Kvaale was unconvinced. "You don't see that interpreted as a travel anywhere else," he said.
SDHSAA Board Chairman Marty Weismantel of Groton has worked for years as a basketball official. "That exact move you just showed us is a travel," Weismantel said. "It's a tough call to catch."
Weismantel said the association is always striving for consistency in officiating.
Swartos said the association would be in contact with basketball officials prior to the start of the season to offer some reminders about the rules governing spin moves and traveling.
Association collects data on economic impact
The association has begun to collect data from state tournaments to gauge the economic impact of those events.
According to Swartos, the study will help the association engage with local chambers of commerce in an effort show the economic worth of the state events and perhaps find a way get local businesses to lower costs for hotel rooms and food.
The association often finds itself competing with other events for the use of venues. The study may help the association prove, Swartos said, "that we might not be as flashy, but we have value, too."
According to data collected from 20 state events, those events generated $14.3 million in direct spending from families in attendance. As the money flows through the community, Swartos said, its second- and third-hand effects result in an output of just more than $26 million.
The direct spending by families attending state events led to $2.9 million in tax revenue for the host communities. The events in the data collected so far took place in Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Harrisburg, Brandon, Pierre, Watertown, Brookings and Aberdeen.
The data collected on the economic impact of state events does not include the spending by the teams themselves or the association. That spending includes hotel rooms and food for players, coaches, staff and officials as well as facility rent.
In November of 2023 SDHSAA entered a contract with IMPLAN of Huntersville, North Carolina, to help with the economic impact study. To save on costs, much of the data collection was done by SDHSAA staff.
Swartos said the association sent emails to schools that participated in the tournaments. The schools then forwarded those emails to parents who responded to a survey about how much they spent on hotels, food and shopping during the event. Swartos noted that the data was reliant on how well parents responded to the survey with the number of responses varying by event.
