RAPID CITY - Two staples of a South Dakota summer - the Sturgis motorcycle rally and the American Legion state baseball tournament - have come and gone. But the end of those two events signals the start of many sports fans' favorite time of the year - the fall sports season.

High school athletes began practice on Monday for girls' tennis, boys' golf and boys and girls' soccer and next Monday two-a-days for football and practice for volleyball and cross country are set to begin.

"We haven't had summer yet have we?" said Stevens cross country coach Forest Flaagan. "But you know it's not like we didn't know since last spring when the season starts. Quite honestly, I think most coaches are eagerly anticipating the start of the fall season."

When football and volleyball start their first practices, the boys' Class AA golf season actually gets underway that day at the Sturgis Invitational in Boulder Canyon at 9 a.m. The invitational is the opening athletic event for the fall sports season, giving teams only a week of practice time.

"For us as soon as the rally is over, it means the season is here," Sturgis head golf coach Joe Shetler said. "In boys golf, most the players have been playing all summer, so you're just fine tuning them at the start of the season. But the Sturgis Invitational brings in a lot of teams and you get a good gauge on who's who right away."

The first West River girls' tennis match of the fall is on Aug. 25 when St. Thomas More battles Spearfish at 4 p.m. at Sioux Park and the rest of area tennis teams get underway shortly after.

"The beginning of the season is just so exciting because anything is possible," St. Thomas More head tennis coach Mary Helen Flannery said. "All the girls are ready to get back together as a team. I think they miss the camaraderie during the summer."

Volleyball teams from Rapid City Stevens, Spearfish and Sturgis will play see their first action on Aug. 28, along with football teams across the state.

The opening cross country meet of the season is also on Aug. 28 with the Douglas Invitational at 10 a.m.