A national story that has picked up a lot of coverage in the past week was the high school football coach (David Jason Stinson) in Kentucky getting charged with reckless homicide in the death of a 15-year old player (Max Gilpin).
My view is simple, if the coaching staff went gung-ho Bear Bryant in the 1950s and didnt allow any of the kids to have water for much of practice, he is totally to blame. It was 94 degrees outside plus humidity.
However, if breaks were schedule every 15 or 20 minutes, and the player either chose not to drink or not to drink a lot - that is not the coaches fault.
As a former player, I remember those early August days with the gauges hitting triple digits - plus humidity. That didnt stop the Cheesemakers fro 15 straight minutes of up-downs or sideline sprints. We got our waterbreaks and rarely did a kid get overheated, let alone need a break.
I dont know the physical condition of the player in question. He was an offensive lineman, but at 15 size is not always a factor. I do not know if he was large, small, in shape or filled with twinkies. What I do know is that a player should know his/her limits - even if that means disallowing yourself to suck it up. Being as little as I was (and somewhat disadvantaged in the talent department), I never tried to show injury. In order to snag some playing time, I had to play through pain - which typically meant multiple broken fingers, hands, rolled ankles, bad knees, etc. I never tried to play through a concussion (except one time in baseball when I went 3-for-4 against Mount Horeb). I always thought concussions were enough of an injury to stop playing for a few moments.
The point still remains: athletes need to know when to stop playing through pain. If your body is in danger, tell someone. Tell your coach. A good coach will let you sit. A bad coach wont.
Was this coach a good coach or a bad coach? Im not sure. The one thing I am sure of, he is an unfortunate coach.
My view is simple, if the coaching staff went gung-ho Bear Bryant in the 1950s and didnt allow any of the kids to have water for much of practice, he is totally to blame. It was 94 degrees outside plus humidity.
However, if breaks were schedule every 15 or 20 minutes, and the player either chose not to drink or not to drink a lot - that is not the coaches fault.
As a former player, I remember those early August days with the gauges hitting triple digits - plus humidity. That didnt stop the Cheesemakers fro 15 straight minutes of up-downs or sideline sprints. We got our waterbreaks and rarely did a kid get overheated, let alone need a break.
I dont know the physical condition of the player in question. He was an offensive lineman, but at 15 size is not always a factor. I do not know if he was large, small, in shape or filled with twinkies. What I do know is that a player should know his/her limits - even if that means disallowing yourself to suck it up. Being as little as I was (and somewhat disadvantaged in the talent department), I never tried to show injury. In order to snag some playing time, I had to play through pain - which typically meant multiple broken fingers, hands, rolled ankles, bad knees, etc. I never tried to play through a concussion (except one time in baseball when I went 3-for-4 against Mount Horeb). I always thought concussions were enough of an injury to stop playing for a few moments.
The point still remains: athletes need to know when to stop playing through pain. If your body is in danger, tell someone. Tell your coach. A good coach will let you sit. A bad coach wont.
Was this coach a good coach or a bad coach? Im not sure. The one thing I am sure of, he is an unfortunate coach.
