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February 2010, Featured Articles, Sports Law
High School Football Coach Acquitted
Heat-related death prompts reforms
Athletic administrators watched closely as a Kentucky jury determined the fate of a high school football coach who was charged criminally in the heat related death of one of his players. David Jason Stinson, a high school football coach from Louisville, Kentucky was charged with wanton endangerment and reckless homicide in the death of one of his players.
Recently the trial ended and Coach Stinson was found not guilty in the death of a player who collapsed at practice when the team was put through a series of sprints on a hot summer day. He died three days later at a Louisville hospital of heat stroke, sepsis and multiple organ failure. His temperature reached at least 107 degrees.
The jury reached a verdict after deliberating less than two hours. Although it was a rare criminal prosecution of a coach, it will probably not be the last one. Since 1995, there have been 39 football deaths from heat-related injuries, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina. While lawsuits have resulted, no coach before Stinson is believed to have faced criminal charges.
The tragedy and the indictment have already prompted reforms. Jefferson County Public Schools now requires all athletes and at least one parent to watch a 40-minute video that touches on everything from dietary supplements to bacterial infections. Local high school coaches must attend a seminar on using positive reinforcement when dealing with students. The National Athletic Trainers' Association issued a report recommending more stringent heat-related guidelines. Among the recommendations were eliminating two-a-day practices at the high school level during the first week of August and giving players more time to recuperate.