A group of Palmerton Area School District parents are hoping to make their voices heard Saturday morning regarding the future of sports and club activities this year.

The peaceful demonstration is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in the Palmerton Borough Park.

“This event has been brought to fruition due to the recent delay of our fall sports program, most notably our football season,” organizer Stacey Connell, parent of a senior football and basketball player, said in an email Thursday night. “In planning, parents from many clubs and even winter sports have joined our fight. It isn’t just sports. It is cheerleading, band, everything. We want the children to have an opportunity to live out their youth.”

Earlier this week, the Colonial League set start dates of Aug. 27 for golf, Aug. 31 for tennis, Sept. 11 for cross-country, Sept. 18 for field hockey, volleyball and soccer, and Sept. 25 for football.

Notre Dame, Northwestern, Palisades, Pen Argyl, and Wilson voted to start football on Sept. 11 and can find independent games or schedule games among themselves.

Connell, for one, is tired of the delays.

“We want to bring this to the attention of the Palmerton Area School Board and superintendent,” she said of Saturday’s planned demonstration. “We as parents want for the season to begin at the scheduled date without any further delay and also to protect our winter sports programs as well.”

Palmerton Board President Kathy Fallow said the district’s governing body has been working hard reviewing guidance from several sources in preparation for its discussion during Tuesday’s workshop.

“If a group of parents wishes to organize a protest, they are certainly welcome to do so, although to date, we have responded to all email inquiries and have even collected and posted a frequently asked questions document on our website along with our health and safety plan and an update of all of the specific orders and guidance that are surrounding our decisions regarding return to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fallow said.

Voluntary summer workouts in Palmerton have gone off without a hiccup, and county COVID-19 cases have remained low, Ryan Connell said, further leading to his stance that sports and other activities should proceed this year.

“I’m an advocate for the athletes, band, cheerleaders, etc. and I just feel like they’re being used as a yo-yo,” he said. “They deserve a chance.”

Stacey said parents asked for a special, in-person board meeting on the topic before Tuesday’s workshop, but the efforts were unsuccessful.

Fallow said the board has “tried to be as transparent as possible when it comes to planning for the district.”

“We announce each of our meetings (1st and 3rd Tuesdays) on our website and encourage community members to join us via Zoom,” Fallow said. “Parents and community members always are given an opportunity at each meeting to ask questions and/or to voice concerns.”

Palmerton Athletic Director Kyle Porembo recently posted a survey on the district’s website to collect comments from all parents regarding fall sports.

Fallow asked any parents with questions to send an email to pasd@palmerton.org or join the board meetings to speak to the board or administrators in person.