When it comes to high school sports in the Bay Area, the divide between public and private schools is usually a stark one. On Friday, though, the two typically separate entities came together as one at the San Mateo edition of the “Let Them Play” rally, part of a statewide series of events held with the hopes of convincing state officials to ease restrictions on high school sports.
The scene outside San Mateo City Hall was a lively one on Friday afternoon as approximately 40 students representing nine different schools tried to drum up support from passing cars while others, mainly coming from Serra’s campus two blocks away, formed a caravan that drove around town to raise awareness for the cause.
“Between travel teams and pickup games, the kids are playing anyway,” said Craig Carson, a Menlo-Atherton assistant boys basketball coach and Hillsdale parent. “It would be a lot safer to have them with a team, something that’s organized. A lot of these kids are really struggling. They need to be out. They need something to look forward to.”
While more than two-thirds of states have been able to go forward with high school football seasons, including Texas, where state championships are being held this weekend, no high school sports of any kind have been played in California since March. Even neighboring Washington, one of the first states to unveil strict COVID restrictions, is making plans for an abbreviated high school football season that could begin in February.
“We’ve learned in school that it’s important to have a lot of outlets to be mentally healthy, and to see all these unscientific restrictions ruin us mentally, it’s sad,” said Clay Kellejian, a Hillsdale senior who plays both water polo and lacrosse. “For our governor and other officials to forget about us, it really hurts.”
The rallies were held on Friday afternoon with the intent of sending out a positive message amidst an urgent timeline. At this point, hopes for any sort of championships in fall sports are highly unlikely, if any competitions are to be held at all.
“Kids need to see some light at the end of the tunnel,” Carson said. “They need something to look forward to. A lot of these kids are borderline students that are just gonna give up without sports.”
Even with the grim backdrop of surging COVID cases around the nation and the fact that the school year is more than halfway done, Friday’s rallies sent out a message of positivity and unity that had seldom been seen in recent months. Over the course of an hour, students from public and private schools that would normally only cross paths if there were allegations of a transfer being illegally recruited came together with the common goal of wanting to play. There were no concerns about winners or losers, no demands for packed stadiums or televised championships. It was just kids who wanted to play and parents who supported them.
“Play six games in football. Play 12 games in basketball. Play 15 games in baseball. Just give them something,” Carson said.
The rallies, which used the hashtag #LetThemPlayCA across social media platforms, were backed up by data collected by organizers to display that transmission rates at workouts, practices and games have remained incredibly low among high school athletes, in addition to the obvious mental health benefits of playing sports.
“Part of why we’re out here is that with the survival rate this high for teens, the mental health benefits are worth way more than the possible contraction of COVID-19,” Kellejian said. “There’s been so many more suicides (among teens). How many more does it take?”
Also central to the organizers’ arguments was the fact that games have been going on even with restrictions, including an unsanctioned and unregulated basketball tournament in the fall in Rocklin that led to at least 77 cases and constant travel team tournaments across multiple sports being held in Phoenix, which has some of the highest rates in the entire country. Shifting from those unregulated events to structured team sports would provide an opportunity for athletes to play with the added incentive to be responsible to keep teammates safe.
“They’re going out of state to play and going back and forth,” Carson noted. “That’s far worse than organized sports. If you practice with the same group every day and come home, numbers are very low.”
As positive as the atmosphere was outside San Mateo City Hall on Friday, the reality remains that there is little time for a decision to be made that would allow kids to play. There is reason for optimism as Torrey Pines football coach Ron Gladnick, one of the coaches at the helm of the movement, has scheduled a meeting with San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, but the onus will remain on state officials, no matter how loud the chants get and no matter how many cars honk to show their support for high school sports.
