The state of Iowa just released a summary of Enhanced Public Health Measures effective Tuesday, November 17th at 12:01am until December 10th at 11:59pm.

The new guidelines speak directly to youth sports in that it states "Youth and adult sporting and recreational gatherings are prohibited except for high school, college and professional sports." Why target young athletes and allow high school, college and professional adults to continue as usual?

Here are other areas addressed in the new guidelines provided yesterday:

1. You can conduct business in a restaurant or bar until 10pm. (The number of people in and out of some of these restaurants far exceed the number of athletes we have in our gym per day). KEEP US BOTH OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

2. Groups up to 8 people are allowed to sit together in a restaurant, unmasked while they eat and communicate with one another. Groups can be larger than 8 if they are from the same household. (Groups of 8 or larger family groups sitting, eating and talking in a 50 foot square radius is safer than 15 athletes and a coach on a volleyball court in a 3,000 square foot facility?)  

3. Casinos and gaming facilities are allowed to remain open as long as masks are worn, but your mask may be removed if you are seated to eat or drink. (Touching buttons, cards, and pulling levers in a casino that re-circulates the air over the course of the day is ok, so maybe we'll move practices to our nearest casinos)

4. Bowling alleys, pool halls, bingo halls, arcades, indoor playgrounds and children's play centers are allowed to remain open until 10pm daily. Masks must be worn when not seated and social distancing must be maintained. (Not much needs to be said about this. Our children were young once and we visited arcades, indoor playground and children's play areas. Our gyms are 100 percent cleaner than these establishments.)

5. High school sports and extracurricular activities are allowed to continue but spectators will be limited to 2 people per athlete, must be masked and maintain 6 ft. of social distancing. However, students can be closer than 6 ft. and aren't required to wear mask... despite the fact that they are yelling out cheers for their team and surely aren't talking to the other students around them. (State football is going on right now so you have teams from all areas of the state congregating in one indoor arena where one game finishes and the next one begins).

6. Gathering restrictions have been put into place again and it states that groups should be limited to 15 people indoors or 30 people outdoors. These restrictions apply to wedding receptions, family gatherings, conventions and other "non-essential" gatherings. These restrictions don't apply to gatherings that occur during the ordinary course of business and government. (How convenient, don't worry folks, you can still go to that crowded Walmart and purchase all the toilet paper you think you need for the next couple weeks).

These guidelines/restrictions don't seem to make a lot of sense and are inconsistent at best! We need to stand up and be heard, so we are asking for you to sign this petition to keep youth club sports going! 

We feel that we can put limitations in place like they are doing with high school, college and professional sports. WE CAN LIMIT THE NUMBER OF ATHLETES IN THE GYM!  WE CAN PLACE RESTRICTIONS ON PARENTS ENTERING OUR FACILITIES TO LIMIT OUR EXPOSURE TO ONE ANOTHER (which we've already done). We constantly clean high touch areas throughout the day and disinfect the volleyballs at the end of each day.

Our kids need an outlet! They need physical activity and need motor skill development.  It is also important that they work on their social skills through communicating with teammates and coaches in person and not on a computer screen.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AND SHARE OR PASS ALONG TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE THAT YOU THINK CAN HELP US SHARE A MESSAGE WITH OUR GOVERNOR. YOUTH SPORT CLUBS SHOULD REMAIN OPEN.

Thank you for your support!

Kalani and Chris Mahi