South Dakota AD’s Oppose New Football Class Structure

Nick Sabato –

South Dakota athletic directors did not vote in favor of moving from a seven-class high school football team to five classes. The state’s ADs voted 77-58 against the proposal during their annual conference in March. The proposal brought forward by the football advisory committee reduced 11-man divisions to three and nine-man divisions to two.

Class 11AA would feature the nine largest schools for the next two-year cycle beginning in 2021 and would likely feature Sioux Falls Jefferson and Sioux Falls O’Gorman. Class 11A would take the next 16 schools per male average daily membership and Class 11B would take the remaining schools. The nine-man teams would then be divided into two classes.

A majority of the dissent came from nine-man schools, which voted 18-36, while 11-man schools voted 28-24 in favor of the new proposal. Current Class 11AAA schools voted 7-3 in favor, while 11AA schools were 6-2 in favor and Class 11A was a 7-7 split. Meanwhile, Class 11B schools were opposed 8-12.

ive vote count, the South Dakota High School Activities Association is still prepared to recommend the proposal be passed during its first reading by the board of directors on April 21.