Activist group prepares lawsuit against Michigan to allow high school contact sports
LANSING, Mich. — Another group is threatening to file a lawsuit against Michigan over COVID-19 restrictions after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced certain winter high school must be non-contact for at least another month.
Gov. Whitmer announced Jan. 22, 2021, high school basketball, wrestling, hockey and competitive cheer must remain non-contact through Feb. 21. The high school season has been delayed several times by state mandates forbidding close contact for fear of COVID-19 spread.
- Winter sports: MHSAA announced the restart dates for non-contact winter sports
Portage Central High School Athletic Director Joe Wallace said it's good students can still practice, although that can be a challenge for some sports.
Wallace said the school's wrestling team is using sleds to practice without an opponent.
During a Portage Central High School girls basketball practice Jan. 26, players practiced by keeping socially distant in order to maintain the non-contact mandate of the current order.
"We've gone down this road before where a date has been published and we've had to adjust so we'll just keep adjusting," Wallace said.
About 60,000 athletes are involved in winter contact sports, according to the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lynn Suftin said sports requiring closeness between players makes it more difficult to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, even while wearing masks. The move to cancel contact sports for now caught many parents off-guard.
Group could file lawsuit challenging state's order
A growing number of parents and coaches around the state are pushing back against the state's rules. "The kids are at a breaking point," said Jayme McElvan, organizer of Let Them Play Michigan.
Let Them Play Michigan, a coalition of student-athletes, parents and coaches and school administrators, made the argument that data shows high school athletics are safe. The group's Facebook page has over 30,000 likes. Organizers said they planned to hold a rally outside the Michigan Capitol in Lansing Saturday, Jan. 30.
Lansing attorney Peter Ruddell, who represents the group, wrote a letter to the recently-appointed Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel urging her to issue an order letting contact sports begin no later than Feb. 1.
The letter said 99.8% of tests given to athletes, coaches and staff recently were negative:
If the agency doesn't act on the request, group organizer Jayme Mcelvan says they've been advised they can sue the state of Michigan.
"The mental health aspect of what these kids are going through, we can't ignore it," said McElvan.
The state of Michigan has claimed 42 outbreaks connected with K-12 athletics in August and September 2020 before restrictions were implemented three months ago.
"I absolutely understand where’s parents, families and communities are coming from when it comes to getting the opportunity to find kids normality," Wallace said.
There's been talk of high school players, even some teams heading across state lines to play. Michigan High School Athletic Association spokesperson Geoff Kimmerly said no MHSAA sanctioned or state-funded high school program was authorized to play outside Michigan until Feb. 21.
Normally, MHSAA teams could play anyone in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Ontario, or anyone within 300 miles from the school, Kimmerly said.
