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Welcome to Let Them Play CA

What is Let Them Play CA?  Let Them Play CA (#LetThemPlayCA) is a grass roots organization started on Jan 1, 2021 by co-founders Brad Hensley, Kristin Hensley and Ken Elliott. Our group is made up of parents, coaches, teachers and youth sport advocates focused on bringing youth sports back to CA safely and immediately. As of February14, 2021, our membership is at 59k members. All our growth to this point has been organic and grass roots based.  Who is the Golden State High School Coaches Community and are they a part of your organization?  The Golden State High School Coaches Community (GSHSCC) is a separate organization started at a similar date to LTPCA. It is made up of over 1,000 high school coaches in California. While separate organizations, we work collaboratively towards our goals and objectives. Their organization is led by Patrick Walsh, Head Football Coach at Serra High School, Ron Gladnick, Head Football Coach at Torrey Pines High School and Justin Alumbaugh, Head Football
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Donate to Let Them Play CA

Help us offset expenses incurred by the organization including though not limited to legal fees, media coverage (TV, radio, billboards), consulting fees, materials and public relations support. --  Click Here to Donate   -- You will be directed to our fundraising page at ETeams here:  https://app.eteamsponsor.com/ETS/supportUs/303911517?fbclid=IwAR15BrA9VjtizSQFsAm-QM8u9SfjVzaUI2bacH_sGwqA5XrwTlzzF3f64ls
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Get Covid-19 Testing for your School District, School, Club/ Team or Business

Meet State of California high school sports testing requirements with no contracts, or out-of-pocket costs. Start the testing process at http://TestTodayCA.com
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How to Help Spread the LTPCA Message

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When Let Them Play CA was first started, we created a private Facebook Group where parents, athletes and coaches could share information pertaining to the goal of getting our student athletes back on the field / court / pool / course / etc.  As word began to spread, that group grew quickly.   We had some growing pains, that we're trying to correct, so that we stay on point with our mission.  Which is to LET THEM PLAY! We've made some changes in order to improve the way we spread our message.  We created this blog, which serves as a landing spot for our web URL  www.playca.org .  The idea here is to bring our mission statement to the forefront, so new people can immediately understand what we're trying to accomplish.  This blog has more of that crucial information up front for people to see. We've added a link on this blog to our Public Facebook Page which is located at  www.facebook.com/LetThemPlayCA   The purpose of this page is to present relevant information that wil
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Taking the Fight Local

How can you help promote the goals of Let Them Play CA in your community: 1) Contact your County Board of Supervisors  2) Contact your School District Superintendent  3) Contact your school’s Athletic Director  4) Be ready to discuss why youth sports are safe, why they need to be played, and our protocols for safely doing this (use the supporting content linked below):       a. Media Kit       b. CA US Data        c. Mental Health and Lockdown Impact Stats        d. CIF All Sports Guidelines
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LTPCA Partnering with E Teams

Hey LTPCA! Great showing this weekend...with the press conference, the rallies, and the lawsuit...BIG TIME MOMENTUM!!! We are partnering with an organization called E Teams for our crowd funding. More details to come, though happening very soon! From a strategy standpoint, we are having significant discussions with Newsom’s team. We have a lot of work in front of us, though we are hopeful. It’s time for action! Please keep doing what you’re doing...calling elected officials, sending them emails, finding athletes to endorse our cause, reach out to local and national media. This group is incredibly creative. We’re inspired every day by your actions and messages. We’re not stopping until they’re playing!!!
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Athletes, coaches rally at State Capitol in support of restarting youth sports

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Story:  https://www.radio.com/kcbsradio/news/state/rally-at-state-capitol-in-support-of-restarting-youth-sports Video:  https://www.radio.com/kcbsradio/news/state/rally-at-state-capitol-in-support-of-restarting-youth-sports?fbclid=IwAR0Ep7iUW2xe5BbFgGGk32cG6cqabF1oG1Naw9kj2DP7AvEoIc0n-Ga0sfo Youth athletes, coaches and parents rallied at the California State Capitol early Thursday calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to allow them back on the field. The coalition gathered on the Capitol steps for a "Let Them Play" rally, delivering letters from upwards of 10,000 California parents and athletes asking the governor to let them get back on the field. The   COVID-19   crisis has kept them from playing since last March. "These kids aren’t Democrat or Republican," said Brad Henley, co-founder of  the "Let Them Play CA" movement . "All they want to do is play. We have bipartisan support, almost a majority of the Assembly, in terms of bringing back youth sports.” Ze
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Video: Let Them Play - High School Sports in 2021

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California student-athletes file lawsuits to get back on the sports field

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Lawmakers Introduce Resolution to ‘Let Them Play’

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  SACRAMENTO – Today, Assemblymember’s James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) and Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) announced authoring a new Assembly Concurrent Resolution aimed at resuming youth sporting activities and competition. The lawmakers are asking every member of the California State Assembly to co-author the Resolution. Despite this week’s announcement ending the statewide stay at home order, youth sports largely remain shut down according to the state’s Blueprint system. “California is the only large state in the nation that is keeping youth sports locked down. It’s wrong, and the decision is having a devastating impact on our youth,” said Gallagher. “The Legislature needs to weigh in immediately.” Some coaches are reporting that the ban on youth sports has resulted in a sharp rise in gang membership, drug and alcohol use, school dropouts, and incarceration. They have also reported an alarming social equity disparity, as private schools and exclusive club teams continue to participate in spo
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Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz urges politicians to Let Them Play

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Letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom

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A group of more than 50,000 student athletes and parents and 700 high school sports coaches have requested California Governor Gavin Newsom permit youth sports to resume immediately.
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A University of Wisconsin study suggests high school athletes are not at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:  https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/high-schools/2020/10/22/uw-study-suggests-prep-athletes-arent-higher-risk-covid-19/3735506001/ When sports resumed at high schools around the state in August and September, there was concern that the participating students would be at a higher risk for contracting COVID-19. A University of Wisconsin study released Thursday suggests participation in high school sports does not increase the risk of acquiring the disease. Additionally the study found in a statewide sample of approximately 30,000 student-athletes a lower rate of COVID-19 contraction than what has been reported by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for 14- to 17-year-olds overall. “Nonetheless, we acknowledge that COVID-19 is a dangerous disease that continues to spread throughout the country,” the study’s authors wrote. “It remains unclear, however, whether sport participation with risk mitigation procedures in place increases the risk of
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Using this site on a Mobile Device

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 For those of you access this blog www.playca.org on a mobile device, the tool we use to produce this appear a little differently between a regular desktop browser and a mobile device like your phone or tablet. The regular desktop view shows everything on the page, including key links on the left side of the page: On a mobile device, there is less screen real estate, so these links are hidden .  This may also be the case if your desktop browser is not wide enough to show this information. To access this info on a mobile device, you have to click on the three horizontal lines icon in the upper left corner of the main page (see the red arrow in the image below): Once you click on that image, you'll see that content render on your screen from the left like this:
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