Athlete Suffers Brain Damage During Unsafe Drill

This action sports case takes place in New York and involves an injury sustained by a college athlete during a hockey drill. The plaintiff is a male student who was playing as goalie on his college’s varsity hockey team. On the day in question, the coach ran a practice drill where the players were instructed to shoot pucks into the goal one after another while the plaintiff was not wearing protective gear. At one point, the student was concerned for his safety and asked the coach to stop the drill. However, the coach dismissed his concerns and continued coaching with the exercise. Eventually, one of the pucks hit the student in the head, and he now suffers from permanent brain damage.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. Please discuss your background in setting safety standards as it relates to school sports.

2. What could have been done to avoid this accident?

3. Have you ever served as an expert witness on a case similar to the one described above? If so, please explain.

4. Please tell us why you are qualified to serve as an expert reviewer of this case.

Expert Witness Response E-011163

This case is right in my area of expertise. I coached college hockey for 7 years, youth lacrosse for 3 years, and for the past 15 years I have served as a professor and academic chair of physical education at a community college. I have extensive knowledge as to what constitutes proper supervision of hockey drills. I have not had an injury like this occur while I was a coach, and I would be able to speak to coaching standards and would like to know what kind of equipment the students were wearing and whether it was a sanctioned practice. I am happy to discuss further.