Coatesville Coach Says Pennsylvania Ahead of Curve in Preventing Non-Injury-Related Football Deaths

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Image of Matt Ortega via Pete Bannan, MediaNews Group.

According to Matt Ortega, the football coach at Coatesville High School, Pennsylvania is ahead of the curve in preventing non-injury-related football deaths, writes Mari Schaefer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A new report presented last month at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s annual meeting showed that August is the deadliest month for football players. It also found that most of the deaths come from over-conditioning.

According to the study, 187 fatalities have occurred during conditioning sessions over the last decade. More than half of those were related to cardiac issues, while another 24 percent were heat-related and five percent were from asthma.

While there are guidelines at both the collegiate and high school levels that are intended to help reduce the number of these preventable deaths, they are not mandated.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association requires all coaches to take a class on the fundamentals of coaching, as well as a first-aid class.

While completing all the requirements can be time-consuming, it is necessary, said Ortega.

“We are not going to play around,” he said. “We are always going to do right by the student-athlete.”

Read more about preventing non-injury-related football deaths in The Philadelphia Inquirer here.

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