SDHSAA Board of Directors to Hold Special Meeting on Athletic Cooperatives and Football Realignment

Northeast Radio SD News – South Dakota - The South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) Board of Directors will convene for a special meeting on Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 1:00 PM Central Time. In a shift from standard procedure, board members will attend the Session exclusively via Zoom.

The meeting, organized by SDHSAA Executive Director Daniel Swartos, aims to address several time-sensitive athletic requests, including classification petitions and the restructuring of football conferences.

Tennis and Wrestling Realignment

A primary item on the agenda is a request from O’Gorman High School to petition for up to the Class AA level for both boys’ and girls’ tennis. This item was originally scheduled for the January board meeting but was inadvertently missed.

Significant changes to wrestling cooperatives are also on the docket for the 2026-27 school year:

·        Viborg-Hurley/Irene-Wakonda: A request has been made to dissolve their existing wrestling cooperative.

·        New Wrestling Cooperative: A new partnership is proposed between Parker, Marion, and Viborg-Hurley for both boys’ and girls’ wrestling.

·        Three-Way Cooperative: Burke, Gregory, and Colome have requested to form a joint wrestling program.

·        Independent Growth: Elkton/Lake Benton is seeking approval to add its own boys and girls wrestling programs.

Football and Conference Shifts

The board will consider two significant requests from schools wishing to join the All-Nations Football Conference: Dupree and Lakota Tech. SDHSAA staff have recommended approval for both programs.

Notably, Lakota Tech and Sisseton have chosen to remove themselves from SDHSAA playoff consideration for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. As a result, staff recommendations include setting the 11A classification at 12 teams for the next two years while the association monitors the long-term plans of those schools.

Additionally, Faith High School has requested to move to a junior varsity-only football schedule for the next two school years.

General Cooperative Changes

The board will also vote on a massive restructuring involving Winner, Colome, and Gregory:

·        Dissolution: The Winner/Colome cooperative is slated to dissolve in cross country, competitive cheer and dance, wrestling, golf, and softball.

·        New Partnership: Gregory and Colome are seeking to form a new cooperative across nearly all major sports, including football, volleyball, basketball, and the newly added sport of softball.

Meeting Access

While board members will be remote, the meeting is open to the public via a digital forum. Members of the media and the public can join the proceedings via the following Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84085050948?pwd=O4QyoGqbZgNHLNi3EOxnaRRHPhKJdr.1.