About 150 protesters gathered outside the Anne Arundel County Health Department headquarters Monday to call for a reversal of the decision to cancel the fall youth tackle football season. A group of about 100 then moved to the Government House to request Gov. Larry Hogan to do the same.

Annapolis High graduate and former professional wide receiver Larry Beavers, 34, stepped to the center of the crowd and led an impassioned plea to County Executive Steuart Pittman, who addressed the crowd holding a megaphone. Beavers said he returned to his neighborhood to help guide kids like he once was in a positive direction through football.

“The neighborhoods I grew up in, they went down the wrong path. I stayed in sports that took me away from that path…,” Beavers said. “I never missed a year of football. If this had happened to me back then, Lord knows what would have happened to me. I don’t know. We all don’t know.”

The Health Department on Wednesday shut down the Anne Arundel Youth Football Association season, which enrolled about 2,000 players and was set to begin Sept. 26, though the league began practices in late July.

Officials from Anne Arundel Recreation and Parks and the health department met Wednesday to discuss and make the decision, citing that the Maryland Sports Commission Return to Play Report that deems football a “high risk” sport. High-risk sports are not permitted to play during Phase 2 of Maryland’s Roadmap to Recovery.

Many parents expressed confusion about why their children were permitted to practice if the season was going to meet its demise anyway. Players had been training in full pads for about a month and practicing and scrimmaging for six weeks.

Shaun and Jen Lewy of Glen Burnie had hoped to see their son, 13-year-old two-way lineman Bill, go out his last season of youth eligibility on top.

The cancellation blindsided them.

“As much as we were told we were going to have a season, we were surprised,” Shaun Lewy said. “We were told every week we were having a season and Rec and Parks was fighting for us.”

Pittman arrived at the department offices around 8 a.m. to address the angry crowd of parents, youth coaches and young players.

“I got a lot of emails. I understand you love your sport and your parents that love your kids,” Pittman said. “I wasn’t invited to this. I wanted to come. I wanted to see what your signs said and wanted to look at your faces. I can’t tell you that there’s anything about this thing that’s fair.”

He continued, “We’ve got no good rules. In this pandemic thing, nothing is fair yet.”

Pittman said there are inequities in restrictions during the pandemic.

“Every time a level of government puts a restriction on makes people mad. I’m mad. I could well be on your side,” Pittman said.

Protesters shouted over Pittman as the county executive continued to speak.

“Over 200 people have died in the county. Almost 1,000 people a day dying in the country, so you’re not going to convince me that we shouldn’t try to save lives,” Pittman told the crowd.

Maryland surpassed 108,000 positive coronavirus tests on Monday, and Anne Arundel County has totaled 8,351 positive tests. The statewide positivity rate is 3.26%. It’s 3.41% in Anne Arundel County.

Neither County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman nor any other health department representatives “were invited to speak or participate in the protest against the health department,” Health Department spokesperson Elin Jones said.

Mike Ricci, a spokesperson for Gov. Hogan’s administration, said though counties may implement “more restrictive rules, there is no statewide order in place that prevents youth sports from resuming.”

“Back on June 12, the Maryland Department of Health issued an order that expressly states: ’All youth sports gatherings and events may resume sporting and other customary operations as of 5:00 P.M. on June 12, 2020 for outdoor activities and 5:00 P.M. on June 19, 2020 for indoor activities,’” Ricci wrote in the email.

Dozens of youth and school-age players joined the protest, carrying signs and bullhorns and wearing their jerseys. Gavin Ray, a 9-year-old fourth grader at Point Pleasant Elementary School said he was “just devastated” when he heard football was canceled.

“I think that we should have football,” he said. “School’s canceled. I think they’re taking too much away from us.”

Much of what concerned many parents present was that their kids who played football had no other option for the fall. Many did not play other sports, such as lacrosse and baseball.

Other than the cancellation six weeks into practicing and scrimmaging, a feeling of sports inequity angered protesters Monday. Though Maryland Sports Commission deems football and competitive cheerleading a “high risk” sport, lacrosse, soccer and baseball are “medium risk.”

Peninsula Athletic League coach Derek Edwards, better known as “coach Doe” to his community, wouldn’t have been there Monday had other sports been shut down as well.

“If there were no other sports playing, I wouldn’t be out here. Fair is fair,” Edwards said. “Everybody can play soccer, lacrosse. Telling these kids where football is all they know — they’re going to be in the streets — they need to be on a football field going the right direction. Without their sport, they have nothing to do.”

Organizations will have to refund parents, who paid $200 to register their child.

Mike Mulhern, a coach and commissioner for the Southern Bulldogs youth football organization, said his organization sunk $15,000 into the season — $7,000 for uniforms, $4,000 for equipment and $2,000 for insurance. It’s a financial impact similar to the other organizations affected.

“We’ll have to refund the registration money, so it’s going to hurt. A lot of organizations are going to drop out because of this,” Mulhern said. “They won’t be able to afford it [which means] less teams, less kids.”

Lilly set up a petition to resume youth football on Friday night. As of 7 a.m. Monday, it had garnered more than 1,600 signatures.

“I understand about the safety. But all the other counties canceled months ago,” Lilly said. “Why would they do this? To take it out from under them like it’s nothing? It’s not right.”