(WWJ) Students, coaches and their families gathered outside the State Capitol in Lansing Saturday for the “Let us play!” rally.
They fought to return to their courts and rinks, challenging Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director (MDHHS) Elizebeth Hertel to allow the youth winter sports seasons to start on time.
Youth contact winter sports--hockey, wrestling, basketball and competitive cheer-- are currently on hold until at least February 21st. Players had originally believed they were returning on February 1st.
The Let Them Play Michigan Facebook group has nearly 37,000 members. Its About Section discusses the group's efforts since youth sports were stymied statewide in late August: "This group fought to get football back with a rally at the Capitol, then we fought to let fall sports finish their season with a rally at the Capitol, and now with the recent executive orders delaying winter sports once again...with no start date given… we must fight again."
High school sports have been on hiatus since Governor Whitmer announced an MDHHS Executive Order in mid-November, a three-week pause aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19--which also shuttered indoor dining, high school and college in-person classes and entertainment venues. Restaurants and concession stands were the last to get the green light to reopen at 25% capacity as of February 1st. The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) was certain youth contact sports would follow....but the permission to begin again has yet to come.
Video may contain explicit language
Ryan, a senior at Montrose Hill McCloy High School, in the thumb area, said time away from his favorite pastime has been painful for him.
“They won’t listen to us,” he said. “We the students. They don’t listen to us. But we are going. to change this. So, Governor Whitmer and MDHHS director, Elizabeth Hertel, hear me when I say this. I speak for the 200,000 plus athletes in the state of Michigan, let us play!”
The crowd erupted in applause.
Another student athlete agreed the state’s efforts to protect them from the virus has taken a toll on their mental health.
“We understood back in March, but we don’t understand now,” she said. “We know how to protect ourselves. We know how COVID works and who it targets. In the age of information, ignorance is a choice. We are asking you to trust us.”
According to WXYZ; Mark Uyl, Executive Director of the MHSAA, said testing of student athletes and coaches increased to 30,000 with a %0.2 positivity rate as of November.
University of Michigan has put a two week pause on basketball and all other sports, after multiple cases of the new more contagious variant of COVID-19, B.1.1.7. (most prevalent in the UK) were identified in Washtenaw County. Several of those cases were linked to U of M athletes, according to MDHHS.
Hundreds of people attended the rally Saturday.
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