In a continued effort to reverse the decision made by the Big Ten to postpone the fall football season for the remainder of 2020, the Football Parents At Ohio State (FPAOS) released an open letter Wednesday saying that they have been in contact with 11 of the 14 teams within the conference, and that they are all aligned in wanting their kids to play this year.
We have been in contact with 11 of the 14 parent groups representing BIG 10 football teams. WE ARE UNITED, & our message has been fully aligned. This letter to the @bigten, Presidents/Chancellors& @KevinFWarren represents the simple requests from #B1GparentsUNITED #LetThemPlay pic.twitter.com/GRrYBGgTrF
— FPAOS Family Unit (@fpaos_board) August 26, 2020
The letter, which is specifically for Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, has three requests from the conference: transparency of what the process is, the creation of a parent organization forum and a better understanding of what the return to competition task force has done to get to the decision they ultimately made.
“We are extremely disappointed in your August 19, 2020 correspondence in response to widespread requests for an explanation,” the letter reads. “Candidly, at this point, the parent organizations have a total lack of confidence in your ability to lead and communicate effectively with all key stakeholders.”
Within the request for more transparency, the group is demanding “all documents, video recordings, communications, minutes of meetings related to the decision to cancel the fall sports season.”
The letter closes out by emphasizing the amount of distrust that the parents of the Big Ten have in conference leadership after how the entire situation of postponing the season was dealt with.
“This correspondence is intended to convey the total lack of confidence in the Big Ten Conference’s leadership, specifically the lack of planning, collaboration and/or communication,” the letter reads. “Again, we completely understand that this pandemic is unprecedented and requires careful consideration. That said, it is extremely frustrating that the Big Ten has failed to properly communicate in a transparent manner.
“Our intention, at this point, is to provide a pathway forward to a successful 2020 Big Ten football season.”
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