Hatches Named DakotaDome’s First Couple

Note: As The University of South Dakota Athletic Department celebrates the 30th anniversary of the DakotaDome, Sports Information Graduate Assistant Emilie Kluth will be writing several feature stories throughout the 2009-10 season. She will chronicle everything from the storied history of the Dome to some of the greatest athletes and coaches to call the building home. Fans are encouraged to submit their favorite Dome memories or stories to Sports Information Coordinator Amil Anderson at amil.anderson@usd.edu. Your moments could be published at the bottom of this article or be used for future stories.

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Article 1: DakotaDome Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Vermillion, S.D. - While the DakotaDome is home to a strong base of dedicated Coyote fans, few fans have been around longer than Ardell and Rula Hatch. Ardell grew up in Wakonda, S.D., and remembers going to his first Coyote basketball and football games when he was in high school in 1936. After high school, Ardell became an Army medic and was stationed in Idaho, where he met his wife, Rula. When Ardell was discharged from the service in 1945, the couple relocated back to his home in Wakonda. It was then that the couple began their tenure as lifelong Coyote fans. The Hatches have had season tickets to the basketball and football games every year since they returned to South Dakota. Even when the couple would spend winters in Florida, Rula said “he wouldn’t go down there until his ball games were over.”

Two of the Hatches children attended USD and one of their granddaughters, Lindsey Sturm, played soccer for the U from 1999-2003. Sturm finished her career with 14 goals, 13 assists, and was ranked 2nd on the 2003 squad in shot percentage and 3rd in assists. With their longtime support of the Coyotes and in the spirit of the 30th anniversary of the DakotaDome, the South Dakota Athletic Department has named Ardell and Rula Hatch as the DakotaDome’s First Couple.

In all your years of cheering for the Coyotes, how many games have you missed?
“Not very many. We’ve been to darn near every game that’s been played at home. We watched the games out in Inman field in the stadium there. We had reserve seats there. As a matter of fact, when they tore down Inman field, they came to people like us and gave us the wooden seats that were in there with our numbers on them, because we’d owned those numbers for years. I’ve still got that big, old blue seat. I don’t know that I can remember missing hardly any games.”

What about away games?
“For football, I would instigate a trip. I’d get a chartered bus and we’d go have a tailgate. We went to a lot of away games. If we went out of town, we always stayed in the same motel (as the team). It was fun. Most of the players knew us. That was a lot of fun.”

How did you feel about the rivalry with South Dakota State?
“I remember one game against SDSU, it’s been a long time, but we beat State up (in Brookings). That was quite a doing. We never missed the games with State or with anybody. Oh there were intense rivalries.”

USD plays SDSU in women’s basketball this spring in Brookings. Do you think you’ll make it to that game?
“We just might make it up there. I hope the rivalry between the Coyotes and Jackrabbits gets going again. It’s great for both schools.”

Do you have any special memories of Coyote games?
“One time when we went to Brookings for a game, our daughter and her best friend ran around the parking lot putting USD Coyotes stickers on all the State fans’ vehicles. I don’t know when they discovered they had a USD sticker on their back bumper, but I’m sure they weren’t happy! The girls just thought it was so much fun! They were in eighth grade. Our daughter always came to the games with us.”

Any other special memories?
“I can remember when the USD basketball team went to Nationals (in 1958). I was involved in a big party we had here. I didn’t go out there to Muncie, Ind., but when they came home, we had a big party for them at the Armory and we had a banquet that honored the players and their families. It was neat to have been a part of that.”

What was it like to move into the DakotaDome after attending games at the New Armory and Inman Field for so long?
“It was super! Before the Dome opened, we sold seating contracts. I helped Carl Miller. I sold seating contracts all over. I went to Elk Point and different places selling seating contracts. We had a big outing in the Dome when they raised the roof. One afternoon, we all got inside and watched it raise. It was a lot of fun. The place was almost plum full when we raised the roof. Everyone wanted to be in there when it went up. Before they put the reinforcement up (in 2001), the wind blew one of the sections off. So of course everyone was in there after that to watch it go up again. So I’ve been inside the Dome twice for its inflation. I don’t think there are very many people who can say that!”

How else have you participated in USD Athletics?
Rula: “I was part of a group with some other ladies called the ‘Coyote-ettes.’ We would sell merchandise at the games. It really made us feel like a part of the games. There was one gentleman from Yankton who we always knew would give us a lot of business. We always wondered what he did with all the things he bought!”

What is your favorite part of attending games and being a Coyote fan?
“Enjoying it! I love sports and my wife does too. I’m involved in almost any sporting event. As a matter of fact, I was involved in the starting of the high school football playoffs in the Dome. I just love to watch sports. In Vermillion, the University is a big part of the town. It wouldn’t be much without it. In the school year, the community is busy with all the students and activities, and in the summer, it’s a quiet little town. We like both sides.”

As USD moves forward to its new Division I status, the Hatches are optimistic about the Coyotes’ opportunity for growth in DI. “Whenever you make a change like that it takes a while to build,” Rula said. But in the years to come, the Hatches will continue to give the Coyotes the same loyal support they have for over 70 years. And although Ardell no longer wears his red suit and matching shoes he once sported at games, he still dresses like the Coyotes’ number one fan, right down to his red walker.