LIBERTY, Mo. — Parents and youth sport team leaders are seeking clear and concise guidelines as communities reopen.
Lisa Brock's daughter is a gymnast who is back at her practice facility in Liberty, but only after Brock and other parents launched a campaign of letters, emails and calls to Clay County officials.
"Adult gyms could open, so we didn't understand why our gym wasn't able to open,” Brock said. “We had to be shut down.”
Over the weekend, Clay County adjusted its rules, allowing gymnastics facilities to open under the same guidelines as other gyms.
"In regards to youth sports as a whole, Clay County Public Health Center continues to monitor and evaluate our local data on a daily basis,” Kelsey Neth, a spokesperson for the Clay County Public Health Center wrote in a statement to 41 Action News. “We will continue to implement the Clay County Recovery Plan and evaluation of resuming youth sports is a part of that plan, with a target implementation date of June 1."
Brock said they were thankful that the county changed its mind.
“But we didn't want them to forget that there's other youth sports out there that also want to be open and play," Brock said.
On Monday, parents and young athletes gathered outside the county’s health department to voice that message.
"Let's get our kids back out there playing safely," Brock said.
Meanwhile, Platte County also has revised its plans to allow some team sports to resume practice with specific modifications.
Kristen Davis, executive director of KC Premiere Basketball and vice chair of the Platte County Sports Commission said they need to “hone in” on how to make that happen.
"The wording is a little bit ambiguous in the clause and we need to get further guidance from the health department," Davis said.
To help public health and elected leaders, youth sports teams around the metro are drawing up their own guidelines consistent with local and federal recommendations.
In a draft that USA Softball of Kansas City provided 41 Action News, some new requirements include teams providing and displaying hand sanitizer in the dugout, closing the first two rows of bleachers and players would wave instead of shaking hands at the end of a game.
"We’re going to have to restrict direct participation because of all of the new precautions that we're going to have to put into place,” Davis said. “It's just going to take a number of months to build the programming back up and make sure everybody feels safe and comfortable returning to play.”
The Platte County Health Department Board of Trustees meeting, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday nightm has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday night. Youth sports and the Platte County Fair are on the agenda.
The public may join the meeting virtually or by calling 646-749-3112 and dialing access code 211-822-509 when prompted.
Platte and Clay counties hope to resume youth sports competitions by June 1.
