Frustrated parents organizing ‘Let Them Play’ rallies across state

Coaches, parents and student-athletes are itching to get back into competition and start the high school sports season in California.

The latest initiative is a grassroots movement started on Facebook called “Let Them Play CA,” which is organizing rallies across the state to advocate health officials to let kids play organized sports.

The “Let Them Play CA,” Facebook group has over 27,000 parents of athletes organizing a long list of schools to hold simultaneous rallies Friday at 4 p.m.

The list is rife with Bay Area schools, including Amador Valley and Foothill in Pleasanton, Branham in San Jose, Monte Vista in Danville and California in San Ramon.

Masks and appropriate social distancing are required at the rallies.

While coaches in the Bay Area feel the urgency to get kids back playing, some are wary of this method.

Even after stay-at-home orders expire, popular sports such as football will only be allowed once counties enter the orange reopening tier, two steps from the most restrictive purple tier, where all the Bay Area counties currently sit as ICU capacity has dipped below 1 percent region-wide.

“I have mixed feelings about these,” James Logan football coach Ricky Rodriguez said Thursday in a text about the rallies. “From a coaches’ perspective, I would probably not endorse any mass gatherings during this time. I know how much work and effort it takes to conduct a socially-distanced football workout, and I’m not sure that a rally can follow those same protocols.”

But parents are desperate.

The Facebook group administrators are keeping a long list of schools throughout the state participating in the rally.