Five youth football players suffered concussions in one Pop Warner football game last month, a 52-0 blowout that resulted in the suspensions of coaches and youth football association presidents, reports the Boston Globe.
From Bob Hohler and Boston.com:
The injured children, all 10 to 12 years old, played for the Tantasqua Pee Wees Sept. 15 when they were overrun, 52-0, by a Southbridge team whose website’s banner states, “Are You Tough Enough.’’
The five children missed various numbers of school days because of their injuries, and one has not returned to the field.
The coaches, Southbridge’s Scott Lazo and Tantasqua’s Erik Iller, were suspended for the remainder of the season and placed on probation through the 2013 season after a lengthy hearing Thursday conducted by Central Mass. Pop Warner.
The association presidents, Lazo’s brother, Doug Lazo of Southbridge, and Iller’s wife, Jen Iller of Tantasqua, also were placed on probation through the 2013 season because they attended the game and failed to take action, according to the hearing committee.
In addition, the three officials who worked the game have been permanently banned by Central Mass. Pop Warner.
And this from Deadspin:
One wonders how much character was built among the Tantasqua Pee Wees, as they were run over by the bigger, faster Southbridge team on Sept. 15. En route to a 52-0 blowout, five Tantasqua players—all between 10 and 12 years old—suffered concussions, were checked out on the sidelines, then sent right back in the game to get hit again.
Perhaps the worst thing about this is that there are rules in place to stop massacres like this from happening. A mercy rule that should have been invoked at 28-0 was ignored. Referees were supposed to stop the game if it became unsafe. Players were supposed to weigh-in before the game, to make sure they were below a certain size—a procedure Tantasqua coaches claim Southbridge skipped.
Comments