"Let the kids play.” That's the new message parents, coaches, and young athletes are sending to City Hall. 

Last week, the Parks Department told youth sports organizations that no permits would be issued or renewed for the fall due to "health and safety concerns."

What You Need To Know

  • Governor Cuomo is lifting more coronavirus restrictions, saying high school teams in low-risk sports can resume competition on Sept 21

  • The start of the season for high school contact sports, however, like football and wrestling, will be delayed

  • Meanwhile, youth sports leagues in the city are having difficulty finding places to play, because the Parks Department is refusing to issue permits

It means they cannot reserve the fields in city parks they have been using for years.

"It just brings everything good out of us all, so it was really sad to hear we might not be able to play this year," said youth soccer player Sydeney King.

Governor Cuomo announced that organized competition in sports like soccer, flag football and baseball could resume under Phase Three of any region's reopening.

The city reached phase three last month and many youth sports programs moved to hold practices again, but without the city's permit process, they have to compete with other park users to play on the fields.
 


"With teams fighting over space, they attract more people than should actually be there because if you don't have an allocated time, everyone is going to show up to try and squat the space," said Monica Figueiredo, a parent of two kids in Youth Sports.

Officials with organizations like Brooklyn City FC, a soccer league, say coaches and players will arrive at a field not knowing if it is available.

"The clubs, we know how to work together, so I think we can find ways to share the space, but there is just a whole another world of sports beyond that network that we can’t control. We don't know who is going to be there, if they are going to be cooperative," said League President Jesse Delorenzo.

Elected officials representing Southern Brooklyn are requesting the Parks Department instead issue “conditional permits” that could be revoked if a team's or a league's infection numbers spike, or a league violates safety protocols.

"Rather than letting people play on a whim on their own without any oversight, any accountability and zero public health guidance," added Brooklyn State Senator Andrew Gounardes.

But the Parks Department said it would not change its policy. Fields will continue to be open on a first come, first serve basis and leagues are welcome to use them if they are available.

The department did say it would reassess the situation later this year, raising the possibility that it would resume issuing permits in the fall.