Parents, athletes and coaches say they’ll take to the State Capitol next week to rally in support of keeping school and youth sports this fall and to call on Gov. Tom Wolf to rescind the recent recommendation to push back all sports to January 2021.

The rally is scheduled for 11 a.m. Aug. 20 on the Capitol steps. The event’s Facebook page shows more than 1,000 people had expressed interest in the event as of Monday afternoon.

Julie Wagner Burkart, a parent of two student-athletes in Easton, said that Wolf’s announcement last week felt like “another hurdle” for parents navigating back-to-school concerns.

“Sports, they matter in the lives of these children,” she said. “When it comes down to it, they miss their sports. They miss their friends, they miss their teammates, they miss the experience that it brings them, it’s not just about getting out and performing a physical activity, it’s also about comradery and leadership and socializing.”

Burkart said she organized the event with the help of another mom, Rachelle Ratajczak Gibbs, and other groups such as Let Them Play PA and Reopen PA have shown their support.

“We decided that action needed to be taken, as parents we wanted to be a part of the conversation, we want to advocate for PIAA to continue doing its good work for the benefit of these kids and be able to get sports underway,” she said.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association pushed back the fall sports start date to Aug. 24 at its latest meeting in response to the state’s recommendation.

Wolf said the guidance on school sports, issued jointly by the state departments of Health and Education, was a “strong recommendation” but not an order or mandate, which left many school district leaders confused about what the recommendation actually means.

“As with deciding whether students should return to in-person classes, remote learning or a blend of the two this fall, school administrators and locally elected school boards should make decisions on sports,” said a news release issued by the administration.

A petition to keep the spring sports season circulated through the athletic community in Pennsylvania last April. It has since gained traction again to “save fall sports” and as of Aug. 10 more than 100,000 people have signed it.

“I know that it was written from the spring season viewpoint, but the sentiments outlined still apply to the fall activities,” organizer Emi Curcio said. “Having an altered season/game environment is still preferred by those affected over canceling the season in its entirety. Abruptly ending the season will be devastating to student-athletes looking for a last chance to play in front of college coaches, to students who want to perform one more halftime show, or just to put on their uniform one last time.”

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