Placer County student-athletes rally in Rocklin

Student-athletes, parents and coaches rallied in nearly 140 locations across California on Friday afternoon in a push to bring back high school sports in the Golden State. At least a dozen rallies were held in the greater Sacramento region with yet another unified message to state and public health officials: "Let them play." In Rocklin, hundreds of attendees representing at least eight Placer County high schools gathered in the parking lot of the Destiny Community Center to make their voices heard as a plea for Gov. Gavin Newsom to loosen the restraints on youth sports, which has not seen competition since the COVID-19 pandemic became prevalent last March. "It's not the governor's job to take you out of the game," State Assemblymember Kevin Kiley said, speaking to the enthusiastic crowd. "Your coach has the right to bench you. The governor doesn't have the right to bench every single student-athlete in the state of California or to expel California kids from the classroom for the entire year. These are irreplaceable memories that you are being robbed of." With stay-at-home orders for the Greater Sacramento region lifted Jan. 12, there has been renewed hope for a chance to start youth sports in California, one of seven states in the country that has not played any fall sports. "Seeing all the other states doing it, they just went through the whole process and they played championship games," said Tim Peters, a Woodcreek High School parent. "The virus is very real, and it's definitely here to stay for a while. I think we have to learn to work with it. There's gotta be ways to get them back on the field. If it's letting only a few fans in with spacing. Obviously, they've done it with college and professionals. They've had the spacing, so it should be able to work here." Peters is one of several parents who have noticed differences in their children without sports. Besides the challenges of dealing with COVID-era schoolwork, depression, laziness, a lack of motivation and suicide were mentioned as byproducts of a world without sports as an outlet. "The kids need this," said Dennette Kreisel, a Del Oro High School parent who attended the rally with her freshman daughter, Sidney Somer. "Sports is something that's voluntary. If people want to play and parents want to send you out to play your sport, and we make that decision as parents to send them out, that should be our rightful choice." Somer has played for years with the Junior Eagles program, waiting for a chance to become part of the basketball and water polo teams at Del Oro. Halfway through her freshman year, she's been denied that opportunity. "I've been working hard all summer to be able to play high school sports, and having COVID (existing) now, it's just held back everything," Somer said. A private Facebook page called "Let Them Play CA," created Dec. 31, has since gained more than 34,000 members. It displayed video and posts from all corners of California on Friday echoing the same message heard in Rocklin. "(Sports is) not everything, but it can be anything," said Rocklin High School parent Rich Watts, who emceed Friday's event. "For some kids, it's a refuge from a home life that's maybe not so good. For some kids, it's an opportunity to create friendships where maybe they're not socially adept and they create these amazing bonds. For some kids, it's the only place they get true mentorship in their lives." Per the California Department of Public Health's Dec. 14 update for youth sports guidelines, a small group of sports can be played under the most restrictive "purple" tier of California's roadmap to reopening. Cross country, golf, tennis, swimming and diving and track and field are among CIF-sanctioned sports able to compete under the purple tier. While baseball, softball, cheerleading and girls lacrosse are among sports able to return under the red tier, the more revenue-driving sports such as football and basketball can't resume until counties return to the orange tier. For now, California student-athletes await the Jan. 25 update from the CDPH on what comes next. "I really just urge California to come up with a plan," said Whitney High School senior Nick Tawney. "Give us the dates and give us the chance to play."