Police Investigate Reports About High School Football Program

POSTED: 2:59 pm EST January 26, 2012
UPDATED: 11:35 pm EST January 26, 2012

PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Peters Township School District has drawn the attention of local police because of alleged actions in the football program, as trainers raised concerns about football players being pressured to play while nursing serious injuries.Concerns about the program were raised by two trainers at Mortland Physical Therapy. Owner Mark Mortland took the concerns to the school district. His business provides two trainers to oversee athletes for the sports programs at the high school."I've never seen it before, just where you question an injury right from the beginning when it hasn't even been appropriately evaluated yet," Mortland told Channel 4 Action News reporter Sheldon Ingram."There was a kid evaluated during camp by trainers. He came over to the sideline, had a sore wrist. Kid got hollered at -- so did my trainer -- that there was nothing wrong with him, get back in there, tape it up. The kid came to school the next day with a cast on. He broke his wrist."Mortland said another football player was diagnosed with concussion symptoms by his trainers."The kid and my trainer were pressured, saying that you don't have a concussion, you just have a headache, get back in there and play," Mortland said. That child's father wrote a letter to the Peters Township school board about the incident, saying, "The football program was giving Grant and Andrew a hard time all week, telling them that he was clear neurologically and should be practicing with the team."After visiting a specialist, the letter says, "As it turns out, after our appointment with the doctor at UPMC, Grant did sustain a concussion."The family says they were told "that if Grant had sustained another concussion soon after the first one, he could have had severe brain damage."Superintendent Nina Zetty said the school district found no wrongdoing by the football program because it is not their responsibility to allow injured players to play or practice -- it's the trainer who has the final say.And Zetty says, according to the trainer, no student was allowed to play without a medical release.The township police chief says they're investigating those and other allegations to see if charges are warranted.

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Source: http://www.wtae.com/high-school-playbook/30307790/detail.html

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