Busy day caps crazy week

For an avid sports fan in Jamestown, this week has been a blast.

However, if you enjoy getting around to all sports the Buffalo City has to offer, you’ll find yourself at a crossroads today.

In the city, you’ll find seven basketball games, two hockey games, a gymnastics meet, a swimming meet and a wrestling meet. That’s quite the lineup for one day.

The Blue Jays alone make up most of it. They host Minot in a basketball doubleheader starting at 5:45. There’s also a hockey doubleheader starting with the girls playing Williston at 3:15 p.m. and the boys meeting Hazen-Beulah at 5:30 p.m. Jamestown High will also have a gymnastics meet and a swimming and diving meet.

It all adds up to one incredibly long day for Jamestown High athletic director Jim Roaldson, who will likely tough it from dawn till dusk and beyond.

I was curious as to why Roaldson would schedule all this for one day. So, I asked him and got a fair answer many people probably don’t realize.

It’s Class A, and when you’re in North Dakota’s upper class, dates can be hard to come by, especially for so-called “minor sports.” Many sports like swimming and gymnastics often have Saturdays that are spoken for by different schools. These meets are held on the same dates every single year, so there really isn’t much juggling that can be done, other than the occasional week night.

For bigger sports like basketball, week nights are more applicable … for typical West Region schools.

But Jamestown isn’t a typical West Region school, in that its location is three hours or more from Minot, Williston and Dickinson. So these doubleheaders are often done on Saturdays, when trips can be made without missing a lot of school.

The average fan who shows up to watch Jamestown’s varsity programs might say, “It’s two basketball games, you can’t fit that in on a week night?” But as parents know, there’s also junior varsity basketball and sophomore games as well. It’s a lot of basketball for one day and if you add that on top of a three-hour bus trip, that’s a significant chunk of school to miss.

Of course, I’ll never partially understand that. Track and field meets often happen on week days, and kids get on the bus at 8 a.m. to leave for a meet, even in Class B schools. It’s just a handful of times, though.

I don’t envy Roaldson, that’s for sure.

It’ll be a lot for us to fit into the sports section, and we’re planning on staffing as much as we can.

Because in addition to Jamestown’s events, there’s also a Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at the Civic Center that includes five games that start in the afternoon. It’s hosted by Barnes County North.

Also, Jamestown College has a wrestling meet in what is its last home action of the season. On Sunday, JC hosts Oglala Lakota College in a basketball doubleheader.

It’s already been a crazy week for us in the sports section with so many events in town.

On Tuesday, the boys hockey team lost to Fargo North and Linton-Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock hosted a basketball day featuring four games at the Civic Center. On Wednesday, JC wrestled Concordia in a dual. On Thursday, JC had a basketball doubleheader against Mayville State, the boys hockey team played West Fargo and the wrestling team dualed Mandan.

On Friday, the girls hockey team hosted Minot and the boys swimming and diving team competed against Williston at home.

From Tuesday to Sunday, that’s 26 games/events for spectators. If you’re a sports fan, it’s like Christmas.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local sports, sports, jays, jimmies