On June 26th, the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, suddenly and without justification decided to prohibit high school football  from beginning until further notice.  The teams were to  begin on campus activities with the commencement of New York’s Phase 4 reopening plan.  Governor Cuomo has unilaterally revoked his initial resolution which safely allowed players to return to the field as a team.  After several months of quarantine and drastic measures taken to reduce the New York State COVID infection rate to 1.2%, we feel it is safe to resume normal football activities.  We strongly feel returning to physical activity is beneficial to the overall well being of these student athletes as this will strengthen their overall physical and mental health. Organized sports including football are essential to keeping our youth responsible, focused and provide much needed structure.  Many of our student athletes also rely on football as a means to attain college scholarships. Without proper preparation for the season, our football players are at a higher risk for injury. In the event a season is cancelled, these players are left vulnerable and have their chances of  obtaining a much needed scholarship jeopardized.  At a time where we are testing with a 98.8% negativity rate for the COVID virus, we must ask ourselves why Governor Cuomo would enforce these detrimental restrictions on our youth. Please join us in our fight to stop Governor Cuomo from causing any further damage to our student athletes by signing this petition to LET THE KIDS PLAY. Thank you from the many dedicated players and their families.