Last week in Louisville, Ky., high school football coach David Jason Stinson pled not guilty to reckless homicide in the death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin, a Pleasure Ridge Park High School student. Gilpin collapsed at a football practice in late August after running sprints in what felt like 94 degree temperature. According to reports, his death certificate states that he died of complications from heat stroke, septic shock and multiple organ failure three days later. There are reports that claim the boy was taking Creatine, an over-the-counter supplement which can have many side effects including heat intolerance. There was no autopsy performed and at this point it is not clear whether these two things are connected.
There are obviously many layers to this case and for the most part I’ll reserve judgment until there are more details released. However, if it is determined that this boy died due to Stinson’s negligence, then he should be prosecuted even if it was an accident. Six people in high school and college athletics died in 2008 from heat-related incidents. Until this case, no one has really been held accountable for the deaths of these young people. I know Stinson would probably rather not be associated with a precedent-setting case, but some good may come from this. Something has to be done to make sure coaches don’t run these young athletes to death – literally.
When you are a high school athletics coach, your responsibilities extend further than just the X’s and O’s in preparation for game day. You are also very much responsible for the well being of the children that are under your watch. Parents cannot always trust their teenagers to know when enough is enough. That’s why the adult in charge has to be reasonable enough to rein them in. The outcome of this case will not bring any of these people back, but hopefully it will send a message to all of the people who take high school athletics way too seriously that it’s just a game and it isn’t worth dying over.
Read more from C.C. at http://coco-vents.blogspot.com. C.C. can be reached at cfelicec@yahoo.com.
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