CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — Protests against St. Louis County restrictions on high school sports continued Monday, when hundreds gathered outside the St. Louis County government center to demand that limits be lifted.
Protesters urged County Executive Sam Page to rethink his policy prohibiting some high school sports such as football and hockey to be played due to the coronavirus. Among them was Elizabeth Schweppe, 47, of Town and Country, whose 14-year-old son is a freshman at a private school sidelined from his favorite sport – hockey.
“There is zero proof that kids are transmitting this at school,” Schweppe said. “If kids can go to Six Flags and ride a roller coaster, why can’t they be on the ice playing hockey?”
Page last week lifted some restrictions on youth sports. The county now allows sports with little or no direct contact to be played, including cross-country, tennis, golf and swimming.
But there’s still a ban on high-contact sports such as football, basketball and hockey. Groups of 30 or fewer can practice such sports.
Doug Stockenberg, 48, of Des Peres, has two daughters, an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old high school freshman. He said his older daughter plays volleyball, but his concern is broader. To Stockenberg, the government simply shouldn’t be dictating what schools can and cannot do.
“This comes down to parents should have the opportunity to make the decisions for their families,” Stockenberg said. “And government needs to stay out of it.”
More than 200 people also protested outside Page’s home Sunday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.