B Historian wrote:Word on the street is that the NDHSAA is looking at the feasibility of holding the tournament in June in Bismarck. They will meet again in mid-April to decide if this is a possibility.
I've been hearing the same. Now, its time for the unpopular post of the day.
In my opinion, this ongoing effort to salvage the State B is a blatant money grab by NDHSAA. Hear me out.
First, I am a class B guy, born and raised. I had my hotel rooms and my tickets ordered. I understand the importance of the B in the state of North Dakota, and it is a terrible situation for the communities, schools, and mostly the students who qualified for the tournament and may not get a chance to play.
The state of ND has 244 school districts. Currently, none of those districts are holding traditional classes. Lets leave academics out of this discussion, that is a topic onto itself. Of the 244 districts state wide, all of them offer some sort of spring sport, or co-op to offer spring sports. So you have track, baseball, softball, and golf which remain suspended. It is more likely than not, that all of those seasons will be cancelled, shortened for certain. Lets assume they all end up being cancelled. How many students participate state-wide in the array of spring sports? Several hundreds . . . .maybe thousands? Yet it appears NDHSAA's focus is on find a way to salvage the State B . . . . . . . 8 teams, 15 man roster (if full) is a possible total of 120 students who may get their state tournament while many more students may not get a spring sports season at all.
Now, lets discuss high school seniors. If a current senior participates in track, baseball, softball, or golf and their season is cancelled, some of these students will never see competitive sports in that fashion again. A sad but true reality for so many high school athletes that do not get the opportunity to compete in college. I do not have the figures, but I can imagine there are more senior athletes who compete in spring sports than 120.
It is my wish that all high school sports would have completed the 2019-2020 season. However, that is not our reality. The ND American Legion baseball season has already been cancelled for the summer. NCAA and NAIA collegiate spring sports seasons have been cancelled. What does it say about NDHSAA when they are not only holding on to the hope that spring sports can have some sort of a season, (which I can understand, these sorts are technically "in-season" right now), worse, they seem singularly focused on hold the State B tournament, a tournament that was scheduled to have been completed 2 weeks ago. There is lots of speculation and interpretation that the State B is priority 1 to NDHSAA. I am not hearing the same efforts about finding a way to finish the Class A tournament. Lots of talk and potential plans for 8 schools and 120 students, while 236 other school districts and many, many more students may not get the same attention to finding options. Doesn't it make sense that IF seasons are cancelled, they would be cancelled in season order? Meaning, wouldn't ANY basketball event be cancelled before a spring event?
I am ready for my bashing, as I dared take on the sacred cow that is the ND State Class B tournament. NDHSAA is in unchartered waters, decisions I assume they never imagined having to consider. I believe they need to focus on the bigger picture and ALL of the schools and students they serve. There is a case to be made that they are focusing on the single event that garners the most attention and drives revenue.