IMPROPER COERCION OF FOOTBALL PLAYER BY COACH LEADS TO PLAYER'S DEATH

On August 15, 1995 plaintiff's descedent was an 18 year-old senior at Moorcroft High School, in Moorcroft, Wyoming. He played varsity football during his junior year and was looking forward to his senior year, as he was anticipating becoming a starting player. On this day the plaintiff told his mother that he needed to stop at football practice to tell the coach that he would be going for his physical the next morning and that he would start practice the next afternoon. When the decedent told the coach this, the coach replied that half the kids on the field did't have their physicals and that he expected the decedent to practice that afternoon without the certificate of physical fitness mandated by Rule 6.6.3 of the Wyoming High School Activities Association Handbook, which states: ANo pupil shall be eligible to compete in any interscholastic sport unless, within the current school year and preceding any practice he/she shall have filed a certificate of physical fitness with his/her high school principal. The medical examination form is also a parental permission form and must be signed by the parent/legal guardian. In addition, Rule 6.6.4 states that AActivities that require yearly physical examinations are ... football. The decedent borrowed some work out clothes from his cousin and reluctantly participated in the practice. He felt that he had better do as the coach ordered if he wanted to be on the team. He participated in rest of the practice, which was strenuous and included basic drills such as running the ropes, monkey rolls, long and short pulls, 2 laps at half-speed around the goal posts, and weight lifting. In addition, it was very hot that day. Altogether, practice lasted about 2-3 hours. After practice and his shower, he felt some pain in the arm and chest area and attributed this pain to overexertion on the first day of practice or possibly a recurrence of a muscle pull he thought he had suffered several weeks earlier while water skiing. The decedent went home and went to bed. The plaintiff was awakened by the family dogs at around 1:00 a.m. and after completing several chores, checked on her son. When she went to his bedroom she found that he had died. The cause of death was determined to be an acute heart attack brought on by the strenuous workout during football practice earlier that day.

Dr. Leonard Lucenko, sports and coaching liability expert, testified that the facts of this case show a most heinous neglect of professional responsibility on the part of the coach on August 15, 1995 and that the organization, management, and supervision of the practice session on that date were entirely ineffective, improper, and contrary to proper and safe practicing standards in interscholastic sports. Dr. Lucenko also testified that it is inconceivable that a coach would put the health or life of student athletes at risk by allowing them to practice in a sport such as football, with its inherent risks, without clearance from a physician, and willfully and recklessly disregard the interscholastic rules regarding preparticipation examinations. These preparticipation examinations are very important to the safety and health of the student athlete. It was because of cases like this, where an undetected medical problem led to such tragic consequences, that the rules requiring examinations were established. It was gross negligence on the part of both the administration and the coach to allow a young student athlete to participate in a rigorous football practice, on a hot summer day, without having a certificate of physical fitness from his Physician. Robin Shepperson, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Levi Lloyd Shepperson, Deceased v. Crook County School District No. 1 and Carl Mirich