• Support
  • Advertise
  • Locations
  • Contact
Friday, February 3, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTERS
Dana Point Times
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
No Result
View All Result
Dana Point Times
No Result
View All Result

Statewide #LetThemPlayCA Rallies Call for Return of High School Sports

by Dana Point Times
January 15, 2021 9:13PM
in SPORTS & OUTDOORS, Sports Headlines
Statewide #LetThemPlayCA Rallies Call for Return of High School Sports

More than a dozen San Clemente High School parents and students gathered outside of the school on Friday afternoon, Jan. 15, to participate in a coordinated rally across California meant to encourage state officials to let high schools sports officially kick off for the remainder of the 2021 school year. Photo: Shawn Raymundo

0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Zach Cavanagh

This week marked 10 months since high school sports were shut down in California.

After being off the field since March due to coronavirus concerns, high school programs began limited and restricted workouts in August. Sports continue to be kept out of competitions with stay-at-home orders and sports being assigned to various tiers of the state’s coronavirus monitoring system.

Student-athletes, parents and coaches let their frustrations and their desire to return to sports be known with #LetThemPlayCA rallies at high schools up and down California on Friday, Jan. 15.

San Clemente parents and students getting their share of honks and waves for #LetThemPlayCA in support of the return of high school sports. @SCHSTritons @Tritonfootball @SCTimesNews pic.twitter.com/vPYBzNI5y4

— South OC Sports (@SouthOCsports) January 16, 2021

“This is definitely something we had to do,” San Clemente senior football and basketball player Cole Batson said. “It’s good positive vibes that need to be put out, and people need to join us and open their eyes. These seniors have been waiting their entire high school careers, and now that they’re big people on campus, they don’t get that senior experience.

“I feel like a lot of people take that for granted, and I wish they could feel our pain and see what we’re going through.”

Roughly a dozen parents called for a return to school sports during a Let Them Play rally in front of Sendero Marketplace on Friday, Jan. 15. Photo: Collin Breaux

Spurred on by a Facebook group with over 34,000 members, the #LetThemPlayCA movement hosted rallies at nearly 140 high schools in California, with all the rallies kicking off at 4 p.m. In the group’s description on Facebook, it says it a community for those “who have lost out on their sport seasons due to arbitrary shutdowns.”

“There’s no rhyme or reason why they can’t play football. They can social distance when they go out for practice, all that stuff,” said John Rosmalen, whose son, a junior, plays football at San Clemente High. “The NFL can do it, college can do it. Why can’t we do it?”

South Orange County saw rallies at JSerra, San Juan Hills and San Clemente, as well as Capistrano Valley, Tesoro and Santa Margarita. Nearly every participant wore masks and tried to socially distance, as the group’s instructions called for.

JSerra students and coaches gather for a #LetThemPlayCA photo op in support of the return of high school sports. Rallies are taking place at over 130 schools around California, including San Juan Hills and San Clemente. @JSerraAthletics @JSerra_Football @JSCHS_Lions pic.twitter.com/eTk6NdH5Vp

— South OC Sports (@SouthOCsports) January 16, 2021

San Clemente drew a crowd of two dozen parents and athletes and plenty of honks and waves from passing cars at the intersection of Pico and Presidio. JSerra had roughly 60 athletes, coaches and administrators gather for a photo on the football field. San Juan Hills also earned its honks and waves from passing traffic with a group of 10 parents and athletes at the corner of La Pata and Ortega Highway.

The group is calling upon state officials to make changes to the guidelines in place and let high school sports resume – as they have in over 40 other states so far – for the mental and social well-being of these student-athletes.

Roughly a dozen parents called for a return to school sports during a Let Them Play rally in front of Sendero Marketplace on Friday, Jan. 15. Photo: Collin Breaux

“Somebody needs to stand up for our kids, and right now they’re pawns for the political game, for the teachers union, and all the b.s. going on right now,” Steph O’Reilly, a San Juan Hills volleyball parent, said. “They need to open up sports, let the kids have their lives back, and do it safely.”

Supporters of the movement say that the risk of COVID-19 to high school-aged students is minimal, with either little risk of transmission and smaller risk of serious illness.

“I think we’ve learned that COVID transmission in high school athletics is something that’s exceedingly rare,” JSerra principal Eric Stroupe said. “More to the point, this community, in terms of the age of the students, is such that even if they were to get COVID, the vast majority of kids are not going to get terribly sick. When you balance the emotion, social, mental health of our kids against the COVID risks, to me, the former are much more important.”

Ahead of Friday’s rallies, the Golden State High School Football Coaches Community published estimated statistics from 251 schools gathered between May 1-Dec. 31, 2020 that the community believes showed that “coaches and athletes have successfully worked out and are safe on campus.”

According to the Golden State Coaches, there were 522 reports of positive COVID-19 cases reported among the 19,630 athletes over 933,895 workouts at these schools, with only nine total positive cases attributed to on-campus workouts. Among the 2,897 coaches involved, there were 187 reports of positive COVID-19 cases over the course of 129,244 workouts, with only two total positive cases attributed to on-campus workouts.

That works out to an estimated 3% of athletes and 6.5% of coaches of those schools that reported coming back with positive COVID-19 results linked to on-campus workouts with 98.5% of cases traced elsewhere.

With her mother, Jenny Brown, 44, standing by her side, Abigail Brown, a varsity volleyball player for San Clemente High, participates in a rally outside of the high school on Friday, Jan. 15, encouraging the resumption of high school sports in California. Photo: Shawn Raymundo

“We think we can do it safely,” JSerra football coach Pat Harlow, who had a bout with coronavirus in June, said. “We’ve been doing practices, obviously with restrictions and conditions. We’ve been doing it since August, and we’ve been good. I think the data throughout the state proves that. We’d just like to have the opportunity to go out and compete.”

As of Friday in Orange County, 9.6% of coronavirus cases over the course of the pandemic are age 17 and younger with only one death, which was accompanied by underlying health conditions. The death rate has risen sharply in Orange County in recent weeks, but the large majority are in the oldest age brackets.

The #LetThemPlayCA movement has also focused on the fact that California is one of only six states that doesn’t have a proposed start date in place for high school sports. Other states have completed full and regular high school seasons, and many California club teams have gone to other states to participate in competitions.

“Some of (the neighboring states) have done it without any of the fans in the stands or limiting the fans by just having parents of players allowed to attend,” Erica Brunson, a San Clemente football and baseball parent, said. “They followed the social distancing rules. you can add masks. A lot of what’s already happening in the workouts can just continue to happen.”

John Mix, 61, and Erica Brunson, 49, parents to student athletes at San Clemente High, wave signs as part of a rally on Friday, Jan. 15, encouraging the state to bring back high school sports for the remainder of the 2021 school year. Photo: Shawn Raymundo

While there have been criticisms of those wishing to push through and play amid the growing coronavirus numbers and in the face of the state’s guidelines, the parents at Friday’s rallies focused on the well-being of their children beyond just competition.

“The last eight, nine, months have been horrible for them,” Michael O’Reilly, a San Juan Hills volleyball parent, said. “A lot of (the effects) are attached to them directly being able to be social and being able to exercise their opportunities to play sports.”

The next step for this group and the parents, athletes and coaches involved is to ride the momentum from these statewide rallies and grab the ear of state officials to find a way to play.

“I think that we as adults, parents, coaches, administrators,” San Clemente football coach and parent Brian Batson said, “we owe it to (the kids) to figure out a way, and there is a way. And the fact that we haven’t found that way is frankly a tragedy, and as adults, we’ve failed.”

Shawn Raymundo and Collin Breaux contributed to this story.

 

Zach Cavanagh
Zach Cavanagh is the sports editor for Picket Fence Media. Zach is a multiple California Journalism Award winner and has covered sports in Orange County since 2013. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @ZachCav and follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SouthOCSports. Email at zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com.

Share this:

  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
Tags: #LetThemPlayCACIFcoronavirusDana PointFeaturedhigh school sportsJSerraReturn to PlaySan ClementeSan Juan CapistranoSan Juan Hillssports
ShareTweetPin

Dana Point Times

Related Posts

Animal Shelter

Pet Project Foundation Provides $350K for Renovation to Local Animal Shelter

February 3, 2023
Saying Goodbye to Pat Curren

Saying Goodbye to Pat Curren

February 3, 2023
Grom of the Week: Marlo Leigh Harris

Grom of the Week: Marlo Leigh Harris

February 3, 2023
Dana Hills Girls Basketball Swings Back, Can’t Land Final Blow Against El Toro in League Title Fight

Dolphin Report: Girls Basketball, Girls Water Polo Wrap Up Regular Seasons, CIF-SS Playoff Positioning

February 3, 2023
Next Post
The Shape of Things to Come

Public Invited to Vote for Festival of Whales Logo Design

Discussion about this post

No Result
View All Result

DP Times Daily
Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

Subscriptions
Don’t get the DP Times delivered to your home? Subscribe today.

Advertising
Get new customers and drive traffic to your business. Advertise with us.

Support Local Journalism
For less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee a month, become an “Insider” member and continue to get “Local News You Can Use” from the only independently owned, dedicated local news organization in South Orange County.

Contribute today.

Picket Fence Media is a proud member of the SoCal Media Network.

  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Dana Point Times
  • San Clemente Times
  • The Capistrano Dispatch
  • DP Chamber Directory

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.