Ten Elected Officials in Six Big Ten States Ask Conference to Reinstate Fall Sports

Led by Michigan Speaker of the House of Representatives Lee Chatfield, legislators from several states across the Big Ten footprint are requesting that the league reverse it's postponement decision.

State legislators from six states in the Big Ten footprint are joining the fight to reinstate Big Ten fall sports.

According to Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press, ten elected officials from six different states have written a letter to Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren. The letter was initiated by Lee Chatfield, speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, and the letter's purpose is to ask the league to overturn its decision to postpone the fall sports season.

“The Big Ten’s current direction is the wrong choice for the conference, for our area universities, and — worst of all — for thousands of our local students,” Chatfield said in a statement. “As a former student athlete, a teacher, a coach, an athletic director, and now as a parent, I know how important sports can be to young people and their development. I also know how much support restarting football and other fall sports has among players, coaches, parents, and the many people who have reached out to our offices demanding a change. The Big Ten should reverse course as soon as possible and do everything possible to help their students restart extracurricular activities safely.”

Senate and House leaders in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin signed the letter.

“We would like to express our desire for the Big Ten Conference to reconsider the decision to cancel the football season,” the letter started. “After hearing from many concerned students, parents and coaches, we have been encouraged to convey our support for their wishes and our responsibility to defend the students’ long-term academic and career interests.

“Recent actions taken by other conferences across the country to start football and other fall sports have placed the Big Ten, its members and students at a disadvantage,” the letter continued. “These athletes are losing a vital part of student life and are becoming less marketable to future employees with each passing week. Additionally, our local universities stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars that support vital student scholarships.

“This is even more frustrating when we think of how our Big Ten athletic programs are leading the way by providing outstanding health and safety protocols,” the legislators wrote. “All of that unprecedented planning and teamwork was an unmitigated success, and yet somehow the conference has decided to cast it aside anyway.

“Just last month, under your leadership, the Big Ten released updated and enhanced testing, quarantine and other isolation policies. Our coaches and players should be given a chance to make them work. After all, this region is home to some of the world’s leading institutions of higher learning, scientific research and medicine, and we are confident that they can continue to safeguard the health and safety of our student athletes.”

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