Tragedy on the field

Tom Cutinella, a football player in Shoreham-Wading River High School, died after a game last week. Cutinella, 16, had blocked a player from John H. Glenn High School during an Oct. 1 game. He collided with the opposing player and collapsed soon afterward. Cutinella died at Huntington Hospital a few hours later.

“Our athletes are instructed how to properly tackle, as well as how to receive a hit in an effort to minimize injury,” Carol Roseto, the Rockville Centre School District athletic director, wrote in an email. “We all understand, unfortunately, that regardless of proper training and precaution, we cannot completely eliminate the possibility of injury in any sport.”

In 2013, eight high school players died directly from playing football, and another eight died indirectly, according to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. That’s less than one death for every 100,000 football players. However, more high school athletes die or are seriously injured while playing football than any other sport, according to the University of North Carolina’s National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research.

Roseto also wrote that the Rockville Centre athletic department follows all safety guidelines and protocols established by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. There is an EMT on the sidelines at all Varsity, Junior Varsity, and middle school games.

“Plus, we offer baseline concussion testing for all contact sport athletes which helps with post injury assessment,” Roseto wrote.

A Certified Athletic Trainer consults with the student athletes daily, and is at the JV and Varsity games. Certified Athletic Trainers specialize in the prevention and treatment of athlete injuries.