High school athletes petition Gov. Inslee for return of football, fall sports
A petition to allow high school student-athletes to play fall sports in Washington has gathered over 9,000 signatures as of Monday evening.
The petition, addressed to Gov. Jay Inslee, is authored by Mount Si High School senior football player Cole Norah, in collaboration with Ford Sports Performance, a training center headed by Tracy Ford.
“We feel that our voice is not one that is being considered or heard, as it feels that those in positions to make decisions on our behalf are not looking at things from our collective point of view,” the petition states.
Norah told The News Tribune on Monday that for himself and many high school athletes, scholarships are on the line. If there’s no fall season and other states are playing and players are putting out film, players in Washington could be passed over.
“Personally, I don’t have any scholarship offers at this point,” Norah said. “I was hoping and planning on having a strong senior season. It’s important for guys like me who need to play and want to play. And for all sports — girls soccer, tennis, cross country — we want to be doing what we love to do in the fall. 36 other states are doing it safely and to our knowledge, haven’t really had any spikes in cases.”
Several high-profile high school football players in the state have voiced their support of the petition, including Kennedy Catholic quarterback and UW commit Sam Huard, Union receiver Tobias Merriweather, Kennedy Catholic receiver and Arizona State commit Junior Alexander and numerous others.
Norah said that the group, which has dubbed themselves “SAW” — Student Athletes of Washington — isn’t saying the government is in the wrong.
“Obviously, COVID is real,” Norah said. “We need people to know that we’re trying to do this the safest way possible. Families are worried and scared. We want to reassure people that states are doing this and are doing it safely and doing it the right way. We’re doing all the research it takes and hopefully we can get the government and state to listen.”
The WIAA pushed back many traditional fall sports, including football, to the spring, as part of a modified calendar for the 2020-21 school year.
The petition cites concerns for the development of student-athletes with continued isolation and distance learning, including anxiety and a higher likelihood of teenagers engaging in criminal activity if they’re unable to participate in sports and extracurricular activities.
The group plans to march at the state capitol in Olympia on Thursday for their cause around 4 p.m.
“We want as many fall high school athletes as we can get,” Norah said. “We will be social distancing and everything. We want to speak about the facts of other states opening up, how they’re doing, what benefits it would have and what it would take away from us not having high school sports. It’s kids’ futures we’re really dealing with.”
The petition and cause face many obstacles, the most prominent of which is: kids still aren’t in classrooms. With many school districts around the state opting to begin the 2020-21 year with full-time remote learning in the fall, it seems difficult to justify having sports. It’s hard to imagine administrators allowing athletics to return until there is, at the very least, part-time in-person learning.
There are also logistical issues to consider, such as bussing students to and from practices and activities after school while still complying with social distance guidelines.
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 4:51 PM.
