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 Coach at De La Salle High School. 

What is the mission or objective of LTPCA? 

Our mission is simple - bring youth sports back to California safely and immediately, through a positive environment. Our members agree to guidelines that all posts and comments adhere to these objectives. To achieve our goal, we are growing our FB membership and social media presence so that our voice can be heard, and our elected officials will meet with us to bring youth sports back. 

Does LTPCA support just football or is it for all youth sports? 

LTPCA is for ALL youth sports. We represent all kids in youth sports and ardently advocate for youth rights. 

Some argue that it’s too risky to play sports during the current pandemic. How does your organization respond to that? 

Safety is everyone’s number one concern. Parents, in general, are passionately focused on their child’s safety. In terms of youth sports, the data and science show that youth sports can be played safely with minimal risk of spread. Over 40 states across the country have safely and successfully completed youth sports seasons with zero reported serious COVID hospitalizations related to youth sports, and zero reported deaths. We plan to adhere to all CDC, state and local guidelines in terms of COVID safety measures. We also have protocols from several states that safely and successfully completed sports seasons, and we plan to incorporate their best practices. 

In addition, we have over a million data points collected by California coaches from practices dating back to the start of COVID that show little to no spread of COVID. 

One other particularly important point about safety. Since COVID, safety for our kids has been solely defined as not spreading COVID. That is way too narrow of a definition. The reality is that not playing sports is severely damaging our kids’ mental health, to the point of being a crisis. Depression has skyrocketed, obesity and eating disorders are way up, cyber-crimes and cyber-solicitation against kids are alarmingly high, and worst of all, suicides have increased dramatically. Finally, the socio-economic impact of not playing sports is bad and worsening for low income, disadvantaged families. These kids whose families without the means to pay for club sports or private clubs are further left behind. Without sports as an alternative, these kids are turning to negative outlets. 

The data and science show that kids are safer playing sports. We have the data to prove it. See our Media Packet for details. 

Are you a political organization and/or do you push a political agenda? 

No. We are not a political organization. We want to work with our elected officials to find a solution to help our kids get back to sports safely and immediately. Political discussions are discouraged on our site. We have a team of 8 monitors who are constantly looking to keep the group focused on our goals in a positive manner. We also have filters in place to flag key words that are political or inflammatory and remove these posts if they do not meet our guidelines. We encourage members to voice their opinions on other sites and pages, but not ours. 

While not political, we are constantly reaching out to our elected officials to work with us on a solution to help our kids. Our communications include members of the California State Assembly and Governor Newsom. 

Have you contacted Governor Newsom? If so, how has he responded? 

Yes, we have reached out to Governor Newsom. Please see the attached “Letter to Governor Newsom from LTPCA and GSHSCC” and related Press Release. We have not had an official response from his office yet. 

Are you considering legal action as part of your strategy? 

Yes, legal counsel has been engaged. Given our mission of advocating for youths’ rights, this action is consistent with our cause. We claim that there has been a violation of the California Constitution’s equal protection clause. This claim arises out of the decision by select California counties to allow professional and college sports to play with COVID protocols while at the same time denying high school sports with the same COVID protocols. This is consistent with several other Let Them Play parent -led groups across the country that have filed lawsuits against their respective states, including IL, MN, NY and WV. 

 Are you an official organization? 

We have filed as a nonprofit 501c3 and expect that process to be completed shortly. 

Because we are a new organization, we have not done group fundraising though will once we are officially filed as a nonprofit 501c3. We expect to have an update on that shortly. Until that time, we have a private investment group that has committed to funding the initial phases of our strategy.

Do you group fund raise? If not, what are your sources of funding? 

Because we are a new organization, we have not done group fundraising though will once we are officially filed as a nonprofit 501c3. We expect to have an update on that shortly. Until that time, we have a private investment group that has committed to funding the initial phases of our strategy. 

What organizations and individuals of note support LTPCA? 

We are proud that the following athletes have supported us through videos or other media outlets: 

Tom Brady –Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Lou Holtz – Legendary Coach and TV Commentator 

Hunter Bishop – San Francisco Giants 

James Lofton – Former NFL player for the Green Bay Packers 

David Bakhtiari – Green Bay Packers 

Collin Jackson – Jacksonville Jaguars 

David Wells – Former MLB player 

Jeremy Roenick – Former NHL player 

Josiah Deguara – Green Bay Packers 

Joey Beltran – MMA Fighter 

It’s important to stress that we are not a political organization. We stand for kids and their rights. There should be no risk of an athlete or an individual of note to advocate for our cause. We welcome all. 

What will happen to LTPCA once youth sports return to California? 

While originally started as a FB page, we are excited about the future of our movement and new organization. We have learned that there is a real void in representing kids and their rights, in relation to youth sports. As a nonprofit, our plans are to be an ongoing advocate for youth rights.