The RHODE ISLAND Baseball Coalition is a group of baseball programs, organizations and industry leaders formed to support youth athletes, coaches, umpires and baseball businesses.

We recognize the importance of baseball to our communities and how it can be a key building block not only to our physical health, but to our mental health as well. Being part of a team helps build character, leadership and community. This is something we need now more than ever.

Our goal is to provide a safe way to reopen baseball. We want a dialogue with governing officials as to how to reopen baseball activities. We have safe solutions to propose. LET THEM PLAY "PLAY BALL!  PLAY SAFE!

Reopening golf was a good step for communities, but mostly affluent people play golf with a significant portion of them being retirees who are considered “most at-risk” for serious Covid-related complications. According to the National Golf Foundation, golfers 65+ played 3x as many rounds annually as those aged 18-34.

It is time to consider merits of opening up baseball!

The baseball ecosystem supports people of all ages and socioeconomic classes, but mostly younger people. Younger people are considerably less at-risk than retiree-aged people with respect to Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths. People under 20 years old have ONLY accounted for approximately 1% of all Covid-related hospitalizations in RI In contrast, over 86% of all Covid-related deaths in RI are people over 60 years old.

Baseball is a low risk outdoor sport with limited contact and the sport should get the same opportunity as hunting, golf, and tennis to open up safely.

We ask the Governor and Community Leaders  to allow us back out on the baseball field safely. We ask for an opportunity to present various safety measures, such as, limiting the number of players/spectators, wearing masks, sanitizing hands/equipment, temperature checks, no concessions, no handshakes or high fives and more. The signers of this petition believe that NOT allowing baseball to be played in RHODE ISLAND this spring/summer will have a profoundly negative impact on the community's health, both physically and mentally. It's time to

LET THEM PLAY!

PLAY BALL! PLAY SAFE! 

Thank you. ⚾️