St. Louis County Councilman Mark Harder said Wednesday that he believes the county’s youth sports rules are too strict, and the decisions should be left up to coaches, teams and schools.

“I just think they’ve taken this a little bit too far,” he said.

Page said the latest update to the restrictions came after consideration of the recent, steady increase of COVID-19 cases among residents between the age of 15 and 19.

Over the past two weeks, 90% of COVID-19 infections in county schools have been among middle school and high school students, Page said. In the county, the 15- to 19-year-old age group has a COVID-19 positivity rate of 20%, compared to an 8% positivity rate across all county residents, he said.

The county established a new category for moderate-frequency sports. Players younger than 14 years old will be able to participate in full team practices, and games with other teams from the region. The county, however, is still barring tournament-style competitions. Players age 14 and older will be allowed to practice these sports, but neither games nor tournaments will be allowed.

Practices for all high-frequency sports must be limited to 30 players or fewer. Under the previous guidelines, these sports were limited to 20 players.

Children of all ages can participate in practices and competitions in low-contact sports, like gymnastics, swimming and track.