CLAYTON, Mo. — When a group of high school football players hit the field in Ladue Thursday, they were practicing for an opponent they may never face. Games are paused and the season is uncertain. It's the same fate for nearly every student-athlete in St. Louis County, and now parents are pushing back.
"They would be playing games probably 2 to 3 days a week, and there would be tournaments on the weekend," Missy Brown said of her daughter Macy's typical fall sports schedule, adding "all of her players that were on her club team are in St. Charles County and they are playing and able to do that."
Brown said all three of her kids are active in sports, but Macy, a junior at Incarnate Word Academy, is hurting most by missing out on her softball season.
"It's been really tough," Brown said. "She has aspirations to go to college and play college softball. And she played club softball all summer."
Brown said she's attending an upcoming protest and has already signed a petition to Sam Page.
"I think our voices collectively have been heard and continue to be being heard," Tom Turner said.
Turner also signed a petition, fighting to return his daughter — a sophomore at Rockwood Summitt — to the volleyball court.
And the parents have a political ally. Councilmember Tim Fitch (R-Dist. 3) is drafting an ordinance for introduction Tuesday that seeks to limit the county executive's power.
"No individual should fear oversight," Fitch said. "They should have to come before a public body like the county council and explain why they're making the decisions they're making in this case."
It's unclear who will win this matchup, but Turner said Page can listen now, or he will make his opinion known at the ballot box.
"We are all in this together, and I think Nov. 3 is going to be absolutely huge," Turner said. "We see what our politicians are doing. They are saying certain things, doing another, and our children will never have an opportunity to get these days back."
Social media posts outline plans to protest at Page's home Saturday and Sunday, and Brown says she's attending a protest at the county administration offices in downtown Clayton Monday at noon.
Page is expected to give a regularly scheduled coronavirus update Friday at 8:30 a.m., though his office hasn't specified if he will address the protests and petitions.
