Parents and student-athletes are preparing to march Friday on the Michigan state capitol in Lansing to protest the state’s coronavirus ban on school athletics programs.

Michigan’s Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on Monday that school sports will remain shuttered at least until Dec. 20 as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. Though, thousands of parents and students oppose the shutdowns.

Organizers of the rally say the march is “being held to encourage Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the MDHHS to get kids back to school and back in sports/activities because their mental health matters!” WXYZ Detroit reported.

The event is set to be held today from 3-5 p.m. on the front lawn of the capitol.

“The #LetThemPlay organization started as a Facebook group called ‘Let Michigan High School Football Play.’ They rallied back in August – bringing out a crowd of nearly 800 supporters – after high school sports were put on pause. The group has 19,000 members statewide,” the station reported.

The Facebook page for the group boasts just over 19,000 members.

The description of the group insists that the members “don’t trust a word” the government says about the virus.

Michigan High School Football has been postponed till Spring. In my opinion, if we don’t fight this now there is no telling what they will continue to do to us in the spring. I don’t trust a word being said about being able to play in the spring. Covid deaths in people under 18 are basically non-existent. So why will this change in the spring? We have to have our voices heard NOW! This group will allow us to gather our thoughts as a state, rather than just individual schools. Invite EVERYONE! My ultimate goal is to organize as many people as possible to go have our voices heard at the MHSAA headquarters. It might not work…but we HAVE to try. If we won’t stand up for our kids, then who will.

“We know that they have no concern for the mental health of these kids and that’s what this rally is more focused on,” said Jayme McElvaney, fonder of the group. “Their mental health is at a breaking point. We need to get kids back in school and living again.”

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.