High School Coach Charged in Player's death (heat stroke)

cougarfreak · 01-25-2009, 06:47 AM

hxxp://www.cbssports.com/general/story/11289527

A coach in the same state I teach and coach in was indicted by a grand jury on reckless homicide charges for a players heat related death this past summer. Now this is some scary shit, our state puts out heat guidelines, a chart that has a sliding scale for water breaks, and other guidelines for heat situations during summer practice. From what I understand, he followed those guidelines, but unfortunately the young man fell ill and died a few days later.

AgustusM · 01-25-2009, 06:29 PM

sad story and a tough situation.

I coach out here in California and we will have 10-20 practices a year in 100+ weather. For myself (I am assistant head coach) and the head coach we defer all of these type of decisions to our strength and conditioning coach since he has all the education and expertise in physiology. I do know I have worried from time to time that we are doing too much in extreme heat and if anything like this ever happened to one of my players, I don't believe I would ever be able to coach again.

Now our players are free to get water whenever they like, unlike when I played and you had maybe 1-2 water breaks a practice and those were withheld as punishment when the coaches were unhappy with the play. Seems foolhardy now.

JonInMiddleGA · 01-25-2009, 06:31 PM

Sad as it is, this could be pretty interesting and have a serious impact on sports teams all over the place.

So far I can't say that I've seen anything mentioned that the coach actually did wrong, other than be an unfortunate participant in tragic circumstances.

AgustusM · 01-25-2009, 06:35 PM

I will be surprised if it has much impact. People barely remember Kory Stringer and that was a lot higher profile. I know that when that first happened, I was very concerned at practice but now years later I tend not to think about it when I am on the field.

I guess the lawsuit could motivate some coaches to change, but most people live under the "that will never happen to me/us" credo.

JonInMiddleGA · 01-25-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgustusM

I guess the lawsuit could motivate some coaches to change, but most people live under the "that will never happen to me/us" credo.

But this isn't a lawsuit, it's a felony homicide charge. Pretty significant difference there if you lose.

cougarfreak · 01-25-2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgustusM

I will be surprised if it has much impact. People barely remember Kory Stringer and that was a lot higher profile. I know that when that first happened, I was very concerned at practice but now years later I tend not to think about it when I am on the field.

I guess the lawsuit could motivate some coaches to change, but most people live under the "that will never happen to me/us" credo.

Yeah, but if you are a high school coach, you have to begin to seriously question if it's worth it. I know I don't get paid squat for the time I put in, and now I'm risking a reckless homicide charge if I follow guidelines set by my governing body (the Kentucky High School Athletic Association)? All of a sudden, you have to seriously question if you want to put yourself, and your family's well being at stake. I know I am.

AgustusM · 01-25-2009, 09:19 PM

For me as an assistant coach and a non school employee unless I am the one specifically forcing an activity that leads to a problem than I probably have pretty low exposure. That is not true of the strength and conditioning guy and the head coach who are both colleagues and not surprisingly close friends of mine. I will discuss with both, but my guess is neither one will be that receptive, both are kind of old school that way.

no doubt if I was the one who would be held liable I would have to think long and hard if I was willing to risk it. None of us do it for the money, most make little to nothing. I know I actually donate all of my stipend back to the program so I actually make 0.

I am the head coach for both youth basketball and youth baseball but those sports are far less risky and I am very conservative in what I ask of the players.

I will say this, if anything like this happened with one of our football players, I would imagine I wouldn't be able to do it anymore on an emotional level.

I am going to a coaching clinic this week, will be interested to see how much this is discussed.

01-25-2009, 06:31 PM	#3
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	Sad as it is, this could be pretty interesting and have a serious impact on sports teams all over the place. So far I can't say that I've seen anything mentioned that the coach actually did wrong, other than be an unfortunate participant in tragic circumstances. __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis

01-25-2009, 06:35 PM	#4
AgustusM College Prospect Join Date: Dec 2003	I will be surprised if it has much impact. People barely remember Kory Stringer and that was a lot higher profile. I know that when that first happened, I was very concerned at practice but now years later I tend not to think about it when I am on the field. I guess the lawsuit could motivate some coaches to change, but most people live under the "that will never happen to me/us" credo. Last edited by AgustusM : 01-25-2009 at 06:36 PM.

01-25-2009, 06:29 PM	#2
AgustusM College Prospect Join Date: Dec 2003	sad story and a tough situation. I coach out here in California and we will have 10-20 practices a year in 100+ weather. For myself (I am assistant head coach) and the head coach we defer all of these type of decisions to our strength and conditioning coach since he has all the education and expertise in physiology. I do know I have worried from time to time that we are doing too much in extreme heat and if anything like this ever happened to one of my players, I don't believe I would ever be able to coach again. Now our players are free to get water whenever they like, unlike when I played and you had maybe 1-2 water breaks a practice and those were withheld as punishment when the coaches were unhappy with the play. Seems foolhardy now.

01-25-2009, 09:19 PM	#7
AgustusM College Prospect Join Date: Dec 2003	For me as an assistant coach and a non school employee unless I am the one specifically forcing an activity that leads to a problem than I probably have pretty low exposure. That is not true of the strength and conditioning guy and the head coach who are both colleagues and not surprisingly close friends of mine. I will discuss with both, but my guess is neither one will be that receptive, both are kind of old school that way. no doubt if I was the one who would be held liable I would have to think long and hard if I was willing to risk it. None of us do it for the money, most make little to nothing. I know I actually donate all of my stipend back to the program so I actually make 0. I am the head coach for both youth basketball and youth baseball but those sports are far less risky and I am very conservative in what I ask of the players. I will say this, if anything like this happened with one of our football players, I would imagine I wouldn't be able to do it anymore on an emotional level. I am going to a coaching clinic this week, will be interested to see how much this is discussed.

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