HS Player Collapses, Coach Faces Homicide Charges

Nope. My basketball coach made us run "suicide" drills through the summer practices and when anyone missed a layup in a game, we all had to run in practice. We got a break to hit the water fountain once in the middle of most practices. Looking back, I'm glad the coach worked us so hard, it taught us some valuable lessons.

If the kid had a medical condition, as sad as this story is, it's up to him and his parents to take that into consideration when allowing him to play. Don't parents have to sign waivers and the kid have to get a physical?

"...as was the lack of urgency and the delay in seeking medical treatment after Max collapsed and never regained consciousness.” is the only disturbing line I read, if it is true. My coach worked us hard, but he still cared about us, this could be the reason for some kind of punishment, but I still think homicide is too severe.

Also, they said the heat index was 94 degrees that day, which means the actual temperature could have been in the mid 80's depending on the humidity. Not exactly sweltering. Ask any of our boys from the "U" about what playing in real heat feels like.

Again, my heart goes out to this boys family, but anything beyond a civil suit in this case is too much.

Apparently the coach is also a minister and a very good man. I read that this whole ordeal is just tearing him up, and his friends and family are concerned for his well-being. He clearly meant no harm to this boy. One life has already been lost. Why ruin another one?

I have been coaching soccer for over six years and we have never denied players water. Even during cold weather we make sure players get breaks. Granted we do not wear the equipment that football players wear but after running anywhere from 5-8 miles a game you need water.
I do not think the coach committed murdered and should not be charged with it. The sticking point seems to be that the young man was down for twenty minutes before any action took place. I could see that biting him in the ass. He has got to live with the fact a young man died on his watch and that is punishment enough.

[QUOTE=Buster;523367]Nope. My basketball coach made us run "suicide" drills through the summer practices and when anyone missed a layup in a game, we all had to run in practice. We got a break to hit the water fountain once in the middle of most practices. Looking back, I'm glad the coach worked us so hard, it taught us some valuable lessons.
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As a coach there is such a thing as practicing smart. I make my players run a great deal often mixing in practices with sprints and long distance runs. My players work hard every practice. It does no good to deny a player water, infact all it does it hurt the player and his/her performance.
You can character build but do it in a manner where you are not harming the athlete.
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If the kid had a medical condition, as sad as this story is, it's up to him and his parents to take that into consideration when allowing him to play. Don't parents have to sign waivers and the kid have to get a physical?
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Yes they have to have physicals before they can play sports at least in the state of Virginia. I would imagine it is not that different in Kentucky.

Man, if it is your time, then it is your time. Everyone that has ever played football has been threatened with running until they drop and/or been denied water to some extent. As soon as a parent signs the waiver and the child passes a physical, then the coach is in the clear. Football is a grueling sport and the hardest practices take place in the hottest part of the year. You can either take it or you can't.

When they are saying lack of urgency what are they referring to? How long it took for someone to call 911. Well, how long did it take? In this case lack of urgency is perspective. To one person he may have acted in a calm and timely fashion. To another he may not have appeared to be panicky enough and screaming for medical attention. He could have gotten the medical attention there as quickly as he could and the kid could have still died on the way to the hospital. I am not going to pass judgment on this guy without knowing all of the facts.

I honestly believe that this is a case where the parents are pissed that they lost their child, and rightfully so. I would be pissed if I lost my son on the practice field as well. On the other hand that was a risk that you accepted when you signed the permission slip for your son to play. I feel that this is a case of angry parents who do not want to accept some responsibility for what happened.

In the end if we find out that the coach never called 911 or he took in excess of 5 minutes to do so then I might side with the parents.

The coaches I had in high school usually worked us pretty hard, but never were we denied water. In fact it was encouraged and nailed into our heads to stay hydrated to the point were there was rarely a trainer that was more then 10 feet away carrying water. On top of that they would weigh us before every meal at camp to make sure we hadn't dropped to much weight following a 90 minute practice out in the hot Georgia sun. Plus to reduce the risk of heat exhaustion we had our easiest practice (special teams walkthrough) in the middle of the day, with the toughest practices taking place at the sunrise (fundamentals and position drills) and sunset (offensive and defensive team). The funny thing though is by the end of camp my senior year I probably lost a good 5 pounds over the course of the week (you're not suppose to lose more then 2 a week, and in this case I'm not talking about water weight), and that was after training 5 days a week during the summer.

Anyway it's coaches like this that are so attached to some old school way of doing things that make me sick. It's more then alright to work players but to deny them water with the information that's available now is just plain stupid. How many more people have to die before the people behind the curve wise up?

Though it does kind of remind me of a skit our QB and a few other guys put together for the team talent show.

"Back in my day we didn't have tackling dummies we had cowsssss."
"And if you got thirsty you didn't get no water, NO! You had to drink the milk from the cowsssssss."

Still any coach that denies players water deserves what they get. Hopefully they can find a way to have fun for the next 5 years. I agree though that homicide might be a little to much but they still deserve to get sued and serve jail time.