Families flee COVID-19 rules so their kids can play
Tough restrictions on youth activities lead to some families leaving California
Paul Kim reached his limit with Santa Clara County’s strict COVID-19 policies for youth contact sports months ago. In early September, he packed up his two soccer-loving daughters and relocated from San Jose to Phoenix.
“There is a development window,” Kim said of youth soccer. “Once it is gone, it is gone. It doesn’t come back.”
Will and Katherine Lowry took similar action. The Palo Alto couple moved their soccer-loving kids Liam, 15, and Kaitlin, 13, to Utah so they could keep playing.
These are the lengths to which some Bay Area families are going so their children can continue playing at a time when Santa Clara County and the state have enacted some of the country’s strictest COVID-19 measures. Parents from the Golden State have been taking their kids across state lines since government officials began prohibiting youth sports in the spring.
“I can finally do what I love to do,” said Nicole Kim, 13. “With no games allowed in California, I felt so confined and restricted, but out here I feel happy because I’m able to play freely and continue to improve and develop as a player.”
Currently, Santa Clara County’s prohibition extends to professional, college and high school sports as well, leading the 49ers to relocate to Arizona, Stanford’s football team to the Pacific Northwest and San Jose State’s team to Las Vegas. State public health officials have not approved of prep competition since the school year began in late summer.
Kim said he rented a one-bedroom apartment in Scottsdale, Arizona, for himself, Nicole and Taylor, 8, who had been playing for the prestigious Mountain View-los Altos Soccer Club. Kim’s wife, Hanna, and middle daughter, Chelsea, 11, stayed in San Jose.
Will Lowry and his two kids moved into a condominium in a Salt Lake City suburb. Katherine Lowry, a nurse anesthetist at Stanford Hospital, stayed behind in Palo Alto.
Competitive youth soccer games in California have been banned since March when the pandemic began. Since then, Illinois, New Mexico and Washington state leaders also have not permitted competition although the rest of the country is playing, much to the chagrin of Bay Area coaches.
The Kims and Lowrys relocated to states that had much higher per-capita infection rates than California until this week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“California as a state is doing really well,” Will Lowry said. “We’re in the top 10, yet we’re one of the most restrictive states.”
Government officials have acted recently because California daily case rates have skyrocketed. The state this week recorded the country’s most overall infections with more than 1.4 million cases, surpassing Texas by almost 76,000 cases, according to the New York Times.
Public health officials have said that strict measures have helped California keep the per-capita rates relatively low.
The fathers said they feel safe in states with higher per-capita rates because statistical models show low rates of infections and morbidity for people under the age of 17.
“There is no reason I should put my kids in a bottle for six or 12 months,” said Will Lowry, who builds data platforms in Silicon Valley. “Let’s understand the risk.”
Kim said it came down to obeying “harsh rules or doing what is right for our kids.”
Losing the year is the main reason the Kims, Lowrys and hundreds of other families, especially in Southern California, have temporarily relocated.
The Bay Area parents said their kids understand that not every family can afford to relocate, and it has put a financial strain on their households. Will Lowry said he has been proud of how Liam and Kaitlin have shown appreciation for the opportunity.
“They understand a whole lot of people are really struggling,” he said. “Not everybody gets to do this. They know this is not a holiday.”
The fathers have created schedules for their kids so they could attend to their schoolwork while having time to practice and play as if it were 2019.
The Kims plan to return to their Silver Creek home in the coming weeks when the season ends in Arizona. They would have to undergo a quarantine while traveling to the county from beyond 150 miles away.
Kim expects to return to Arizona when the season resumes early next year because Santa Clara and California officials probably will not permit youth sports to begin yet.
The Lowrys are returning to Palo Alto this weekend. Will Lowry said he hopes his kids can attend school on their respective campuses after the holiday break.
The Lowrys hope that’s not the case. If it is, a return to Utah is a real possibility.
“My kids have played as long as they can remember,” Will Lowry said. “You don’t just walk away from it. You either quit or find a way to stay competitive.”
Contact Elliott Almond at 408-920-5865.