Jamestown Civic Center working to continue success with Class B hoops tourneys
Apr. 29—JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown Civic Center hosted the 2024 North Dakota Division B Girls Basketball State Tournament and the floor will be well used over the next seven years.
The North Dakota High School Activities Association met on April 9 and formally approved the tournament locations through the 2030-31 season. That includes announcing that the North Dakota Division B Girls' Basketball State Tournament will be at the Jamestown Civic Center for the 2024-25, 2027-28 and 2028-29 seasons. During the years that the girls basketball tournament will be in Minot, the North Dakota Division A Girls' Basketball Tournament will be at the Civic Center, starting in the 2025-26 season.
"The work went into this year's girls' Division B tournament and the selection for Jamestown I think came off the heels of that presentation," Jamestown Civic Center Director Pam Fosse said. "The Civic Center on behalf of the Civic Center and the city did send a letter to the high school activities association outlining the improvements and equipment that was being evaluated and considered for replacement due to the hosting of the tournament."
Fosse said the NDHSAA met on April 9, voted the next day and she was informed shortly after the vote took place.
In a letter sent to the NDHSAA, Fosse wrote that the Civic Center staff and Jamestown City Council will consider replacing the "arena sound system, wall mounted east end bleachers, locker installation in the south locker rooms, player courtside seating, basketball floor transition mats, hand railing extensions, lobby window tinting and scoretable replacement."
Fosse said the coaches received surveys after the tournament asking what they want to be fixed in the building. She said many of the responses brought up the sound system in the arena. Tournament manager Jim Roaldson said some of the things they want to work on before next year's tournament are moving the floor, hiring more tournament workers and adding more railings in the stands.
The Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg Patriots captured the title at the 2023-24 Division B Girls' Basketball Tournament in Jamestown.
"I think the games went well," Roaldson said. "They were overall very competitive, good crowds make for good tournament environments. So that was I think a big part of the success that we had to, by luck of the draw, the teams that qualified, we were very fortunate to have a lot of our area teams represented there and fans that didn't have to go too far away to make the tournament. So that definitely helps the environment."
According to a document provided by Fosse, 4,700 people attended the tournament. Fosse said the responses by the fans and players were positive.
"For the most part, it was all very positive," she said. "The community really stepped up and welcomed the fans and the teams and players. I think they were impressed with Jamestown as a community and as a continued site for their tournaments."
Before this year's tournament, the last time the Jamestown Civic Center hosted the Division B Girls' Basketball State Tournament for the 2004-05 season.
This year, Roaldson said the tournament was a learning experience for everybody who worked on it.
"We kind of went into this with an unknown," Fosse said. "It'd been many years since we held a state tournament of this level so I think the coming years will be, I don't want to say necessarily much easier, but we'll know what to expect. So therefore it's a little bit easier to improve on situations and improve on amenities. Just continue to grow on the tournament and make the experience the best that we can for those attending."
