BOILING POINT
Group preparing for legal action to get winter sports back
The ongoing struggle for winter contact sports to begin seems to be reaching a breaking point.
Last week’ Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced a continued ban on indoor contact sports that would run through Feb. 21.
The ban prevents boys and girls basketball, ice hockey, wrestling and competitive cheer from beginning their 2021 seasons.
On Monday, Whitmer held another press conference related to COVID-19 and was asked about the current ban on indoor contact sports. Whitmer cited the new B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant as part of the decision.
“It’s important that we keep watching the numbers,” Whitmer said. “I understand the concerns that parents and athletes have and their desire to re-engage. But I also point to some of the events that happened in the last couple of days. We are seeing this variant growing around Washtenaw County and around the University of Michigan campus. I want to commend the University of Michigan for taking the actions that they did. We think those are the right steps to keep people safe and our job is to curtail the spread of this new variant in Michigan. We’ve got to not let our guard down. We’ve re-engaged restaurants to a certain extent. That will increase the amount of people who are out and about. And I think it’s important that we stay very focused on where the numbers are before we take additional steps.”
Shortly after Friday’s press conference the director of the MDHHS, Robert Gordon, stepped down from his position abruptly. Elizabeth Hertel has since taken over the position.
Frustrated parents, athletes, coaches and administrators have come together to form “Let Them Play Michigan, Inc.” Their Facebook group currently has over 27,500 members and is promoting a rally at the capitol in Lansing on Saturday at noon.
The group has hired lawyer Peter B. Ruddell out of Lansing and he has sent a letter to Hertel urging her to revisit the decision of the MDHHS to extend the ban past Feb. 1.
“What we hope would happen is the new director will again revisit the data and science and see that it is crystal clear that organized athletics is not only not a risk factor for the spread of COVID, but is actually healthy for the student for their physical health as well as their mental health,” Ruddell said. “We hope she will revisit her predecessor’s decision as quickly as possible.”
The letter cites the pilot testing program used by the MHSAA to finish football, volleyball and girls swimming & diving that provided 99.8 percent negative test results through over 30,000 tests.
It also cites an in-depth study of high school sports in Wisconsin by the University of Wisconsin. That study states that student-athletes had a lower case and incidence rate than 14-17 year olds in Wisconsin, and of the 209 positive COVID-19 cases among players, just one was attributed to
participation in sports.
“The thing that is so troublesome for the parents and the student-athletes here is that the data and science is pretty clear. Engaging in physical activity is actually healthy, regarding the spread of COVID,” Ruddell said. “You build up your immune system, the science is fairly clear there. The science is clear that there is low risk of transmission through organized sports and there is low risk of community spread as a result of organized sports.”
The letter also noted the growing racial and economic inequities that are beginning to occur due to the extended ban. Ruddell notes that more athletes with the financial capabilities are beginning to travel out of Michigan in order to compete and be seen for recruiting purposes.
“A number of parents have reached out to either me or my client in the past 48 hours about how they are going to Indiana or Ohio, and they are now doubling down on the AAU team that they are participating with in other states,” he said. “The thing that is the most disheartening is the economic-disadvantages students are not receiving the same opportunities as those that are able to travel to Indiana or Ohio to play their sport.”
Ruddell has not received a response from Hertel as of this writing. A next step for the group could be litigation, suing either the state or Hertel.
The growing outcry for change has picked up across the state as well, with organizations like the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan, as well as Detroit Superintendent of Schools Nikola Vitti writing letters to Gov. Whitmer urging change.
Fundraisers have also been started in hopes to supply athletic teams with the same testing possibilities that fall sports teams received from the MDHHS to complete their seasons.
As all of this is taking place, MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl released a statement on Monday stating the MHSAA is not
going to announce any new winter plans for the time being with so much uncertainty in the air.
“We are unable to provide specific plans yet as we are still evaluating the best options for delivering a memorable experience for 60,000 athletes involved in winter contact sports,” Uyl said in a press release. “We will continue asking questions and advocating for all of our schools and athletes as we work toward building our next
plans for seasons in basketball, competitive cheer, ice hockey and wrestling. We will be ready with specific timelines as soon as MDHHS clears contact sports to begin full activity. We have said from the start of the 2020-21 school year that we would do everything possible to have three seasons, and play all three to completion. Our strong advocacy for all sports and seasons — and especially winter sports — continues every day.”