LAS VEGAS (KLAS)– Several Las Vegas parents are defending a high school football coach after some players reportedly suffered burns to their hands while practicing on artificial turf.
On Monday afternoon, around 90 varsity football players were practicing at the Spring Valley High School stadium when the incident occurred.
Sarah Ginsburg’s son plays on the Spring Valley team, and she supports the coaches amid criticism that several players were hurt.
“It was not known during the drill…the coaches were not intentionally burning them, or punishing them, by having them place their hand on hot turf,” Ginsburg said. “I value and I’m grateful for the time they put in with my student.”
Ginsburg explained that her son came home with blisters on Monday after practicing on artificial turf, but she believes the issue should have been addressed by district staff.
“More than one was hurt. More than one has blisters. Give them the opportunity to rectify the situation,” she added.
On Tuesday, relatives of a football player reached out to 8 News Now, reporting that their child had suffered heat-related injuries. It was also reported that several members of the varsity football team were allegedly punished by being ordered to crawl on artificial turf for not wearing their kneepads correctly.
Parents say son suffered severe burns during Las Vegas-area high school football practice on artificial turf James Wolfram, a parent with a son on the team, explained that his son’s hands are fine.
“No one was going out there to try and torture a kid based on something as stupid as kneepads. That’s not what happened,” Wolfram said.
Wolfram then explained that new surfaces had been installed, and no one had experience with them.
“We put in all these new surfaces, it’s very hot. It’s not something that anybody has experience with, and these coaches care about these kids,” Wolfram said.
On Tuesday, Tara Powell, the principal of Spring Valley High School, issued a statement acknowledging awareness of the incident at Monday’s football practice. She also emphasized that all allegations are taken seriously but noted that individual personnel matters cannot be discussed.
According to several parents, football practice was canceled on Wednesday.
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