Witnesses say PRP player's death tied to denial of water

The right of passage when I was a kid, was surviving that set of football practices known as August two-a-days. It was all about toughness; heat and helmets. There was no such thing as a a heat index.

One day during practice I reportedly became a bit delirious, passed out, and I woke up in the showers - straddled by my coach Paul Kroth; cold water streaming over me.

Fifteen year old Max Gilpin wasn't so lucky. The Pleasure Ridge Park player will be buried today after he collapsed at football practice and was taken to the showers - but did not recover - a victim of complications of heat stroke.

An initial in-house investigation "found no violations whatsoever.

But now, witnesses are coming forward to refute that finding.

This from C-J:

4 who saw PRP practice say players denied water
PRP student, 15, died 3 days after collapsing on football field

Four people who were at Pleasure Ridge Park High School when a player collapsed during football practice last week say they heard a coach deny players' requests for water.

All four told The Courier-Journal yesterday that they came to the school to watch an Aug. 20 soccer game between PRP and Waggener High School on an adjacent field, but were closer to the football players and their attention was drawn by the coach's yelling.

"A couple of them asked for water and he went off on them," said Mary Frazier, whose granddaughter was playing soccer. "He said, 'Don't you ask for a water break, I will tell you when you can have a water break.' "

Lauren Roberts, a spokeswoman for the district, said Monday that PRP coaches made sure players had water breaks every 20 minutes and that water was left running. And Superintendent Sheldon Berman said yesterday, "We have not heard about any of these complaints, either by the team or from others.

"If people have any information and they want to come forward and give us their
names and what they saw, we urge them to do so and we will look into it."

Brian Bale, who was at PRP on Aug. 20 to watch his daughter play soccer, told the newspaper yesterday that he heard a football coach ridicule the players' requests for water, noting that they had had the previous day off, yet couldn't finish their practice.

Bale, who said he once played football at Waggener, said he understands the need to push athletes but thought the coach's behavior was excessive.

Bale's former wife, Robyn Kirchner, who estimated she was one of about 30 soccer fans, said she saw three or four football players walking off the field to get water when a coach yelled that he hadn't given permission to get water and to "get your butts back over here."

Rhonda Barnett, whose daughter attends PRP, said she had been watching the soccer game for about 10 minutes when she heard one of the football players ask if he could
stop to get a drink of water.

"The coach's response was to yell, 'Did I tell you that you need a drink of water? You don't tell me when you need something, you got that? We are the professionals here, we'll tell you when you need a drink or a break or anything else,' " Barnett said in an e-mail.

She also said the coach told the player that he was still sweating, so he was not
dehydrated yet...

Kentucky High School Athletic Association guidelines say that when the heat index is 94 degrees or less, "water should always be available, and athletes should be able to take in as much as they want."...