Brookings will host state hockey tourney

BROOKINGS — After a two-year hiatus, the varsity state hockey tournament is coming back to Brookings in 2027.

The bid was announced by the South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association last week, and Brookings, which hosted in 2023 and 2024, won the right to host the state’s top eight teams during the second weekend in March this spring.

Brookings Ice Skating Association Hockey Director Justin Kirchhevel said the entire organization was elated to get the chance to once again step up and show off Brookings — both the rink and BISA, but also the city.

“It’s such a big deal for the town. We hope it will bring in a ton of people and money for Brookings, and it also really showcases Brookings. We always get such a great response, from the local businesses and from the visitors. We’ve had some new restaurants start up recently, the whole town is growing and we want to make sure that we’re bringing people and supporting that growth, and this is part of our way of doing that, along with the 10 other tournaments,” he said.

The SDAHA varsity tournament is awarded via a bid process yearly, while the rest of the state hockey tournaments are awarded on a rotational basis among the 12 hockey associations. Brookings will also host a pee wee state tournament this year, along with home tournament for each age group in the association.

Sioux Falls played host to the varsity tournament last season, and in 2024 it was in Watertown to christen the new arena there that the Lakers now share with the junior Shamrocks.

The state tournament will be March 11-13 this spring, with games scheduled at Larson Ice Center. The area around the ice arena — opened in 2000 — has experienced rapid growth since Brookings last hosted the state tournament.

The new Aldi and Target will both be up and running and ground will likely have broken on the new police station in the neighborhood just across the interstate.

“It’s kind of our opportunity to show off the new part of town,” Kirchhevel said. “And a big part of this for us is recruiting, too. It’s great to show all the younger kids, you know, come and see where you can be playing in the future. Every kid has those dreams and you want them to be able to picture that in our rink.”

Brookings has been a frequent host since shortly after the arena opened because it features a relatively central location, adequate hotels and restaurants and permanent seating for more than 2,000 in the competition red rink and approximately 1,000 in the blue rink, as well.

“Like we said in our bid, we truly think this is the best venue for the Varsity State Tournament,” Kirchhevel said. “As far as seating, camera angles, the views for the spectators, just naturally all over the place. And with Brookings being Brookings, we have the ability to host and make it a great experience for everybody. When it’s here, it’s not like it can be in some of the larger areas, it’s the premier event going on in town.”

Last year, the top eight teams of 12 advanced to state tournament play in Sioux Falls. The Rangers gave eventual champions Rapid City a scare in the semifinals. Brookings would go on to lose the third-place game to Aberdeen while Rapid City won its second straight state title by defeating Yankton.

The Rangers will also host invitational tournaments over the winter for pee wees, bantams, girls 15U, squirts, junior gold, girls 19U and mites and termites at the end of January.

The gate for the SDAHA varsity state tournament is split among all the organizations in the state in an effort to defray costs statewide.

Linehan is the Beacon’s managing editor and welcomes comments at BrookingsBeacon@@gmail.com