It is about time that South Dakota schools are finally giving soccer it’s due. South Dakota high schools received the go-ahead Wednesday to add soccer as a sanctioned sport for boys and girls starting in fall 2012. The High School Activities Association board voted 8-0 to accept a report on how to implement the sport, and 5-3 on adding it beginning in the 2012-13 school year.
South Dakota is the very last state to add soccer to the schools! While I understand the cost factor of adding another sport will impact the schools, it is the most popular sport in the world. Look at the city of Sioux Falls and how much money it makes from the sport of soccer. While I don’t (unfortunately) have any numbers to validate my point, I would wager that the amount of money this city makes off soccer tournaments is significant. Soccer fields are filling up the city and I am delighted for soccer to gets in rightful place in the South Dakota school systems.
