The most stunning thing to Patrick Walsh is how quickly everything changed.
The long process began Dec. 20, 2020, when Walsh officially formed the Golden State HS Football Coaches Community, alongside De La Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh and Torrey Pines-San Diego’s Rod Gladnick. They quickly joined forces with Let Them Play CA, a parents’ advocacy group led by Brad Hensley of Carlsbad.“The data was coming out that these were safe activities, and the mental health and the emotional health of our kids was suffering,” Alumbaugh said.
Walsh’s coaches community group quickly swelled to more than 1,200, and they followed the lead of other states by collecting workout data from 275 schools in California. As cases began to drop in February, it became clear that the coaches’ game plan was working. A meeting with officials from the governor’s office on Feb. 2, 2021 and Newsom’s appointment of Doug Hendrickson to the State Athletic Commission on Feb. 4, 2021 were both identified as key turning points.
“And then it was like, ‘Alright you guys, start playing right now,'” Reynaud said. “It usually takes us a month to get these kids [ready] — we haven’t handed out gear, we’ve haven’t done any of these kinds of things. and you’re going like, ‘Alright, you can start playing games next week.’”