The Hockessin woman who earlier started a Change.org petition to support fall scholastic sports in Delaware has started a pre-emptive one for winter sports.
“We want ALL winter sport student athletes to have a season and begin competition on January 11th,” Lisa Hughes writes.
The petition is addressed to Gov. John Carney; Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Delaware Division of Public Health; and the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association.
These two people and the organization are key players in how and when high school athletes play. The DIAA curtailed fall sports, with championships in the last few days. The association calls for “proactive measures to … protect the health and safety of interscholastic student athletes.”
Carney’s latest pandemic rules to combat the soaring rate of infection call for a stay-at-home advisory through Jan. 11.
“We want to be prepared, in case they take away the winter start date of January 11 for competitions,” Kelly Klerlein Boettcher wrote online.
The “Let Them Play This Winter” petition has acquired more than 400 signatures since being posted on Dec. 6. The “DIAA Let Them Play This Fall” petition, by contrast, acquired almost 6,000.
Both petitions cite guidelines from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics that support scholastic sports.
They also cite students’ mental health. “Sports and physical activity serve as natural ways to negate depression and anxiety that once again will increase due to virtual learning being forced upon them,” the petition reads.
The petition also says that without winter scholastic sports, Delaware will become “a pay to play state,” with athletes instead going for club teams and leagues.
“I believe these kids have paid more than they should have for things that had nothing to do with!” Melissa Trent of Townsend wrote on the petition. “They NEED their outlets, their sports! #LETTHEMPLAY!!!!!”
