The family of high school lacrosse player Kendalle Holley has sued the School Board of Orange County (Fla.), the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), and an opposing Lacrosse player, after the opposing lacrosse player struck her in the head with a stick and caused a concussion.
The plaintiffs went on to claim that Holley, who plays for East River High School, was not properly evaluated, leading her to be reinserted in the game, causing a “severe exacerbation” of her injury, which they described as “continuing” and “permanent.”
The family, who is represented by attorney Karen Wasson of Dan Newlin & Partners, is seeking in excess of $15,000.
“None of the referees, coaches or trainers present performed any evaluation of Kendalle Holley to determine if she had suffered injury including concussion,” they alleged in the complaint.
“I went from like a 4.0 student to failing my tests and not being able to comprehend and my (end of course exams),” Holley told a local television station in Orlando.
In naming the FHSAA as a defendant, the plaintiffs noted that it “trains, provides and supervises referees for such events and specifically provided referees for this event.”
In naming the School Board of Orange County as a defendant, they noted that it “trains, supervises, and provides ‘medical trainers’ for county high school athletic events and provided a trainer for the event at issue in this case.”
They alleged in the complaint that the opposing player, Ellie Yenor, “negligently hit Holley in the head with her lacrosse stick.
“The rules in women’s high school lacrosse provide for a ‘halo around the cranium’ designed to prevent head injuries,” wrote the plaintiffs.
Successfully Making Claim against Opponent Will Be ‘Difficult’
Carla Varriale, a partner at Havkins Rosenfeld Ritzert and Varriale told Concussion Litigation Reporter that the plaintiffs have the work cut out for them as far as making their claim against Yenor.
“A negligence claim against another participant under these circumstances may be difficult,” Varriale said. “To the extent being struck during a game in this fashion is one of the risks inherent in the sport of lacrosse, it will make a negligence claim difficult to sustain, it will be interesting to see how the court address this.”
More Concussion Claims in Lacrosse May Be Forthcoming
In a study published in 2014 by The American Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Colorado School of Public Health found that high school players experienced 1,406 injuries over the four academic years from 2008 through 2012. The overall injury rate was 20 per 10,000 lacrosse competitions and practices.
More than 22 percent of those injuries were concussions, making that the second most common injury diagnosis behind sprains and strains (38 percent).
Researchers also found that while the rules for girls’ lacrosse largely prohibit person-to-person contact, almost 25 percent of concussions in girls’ lacrosse were a result of that kind of contact. Another 63 percent of concussions resulted from being struck by lacrosse sticks or balls. Most high school girls’ lacrosse players are only required to use protective eyewear and mouth guards, and not the helmets and additional padding required for boys’ lacrosse.
“Lacrosse is becoming more and more popular across the United States, and it’s a great way for high school students to be active,” said Lara B. McKenzie, PhD, an author of the study, principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s and associate professor at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. “Still, we see injuries in the sport every day during the season. Our research shows that we need to do more and can do more to prevent those injuries.”
Boys’ and girls’ high school lacrosse have different rules regarding person-to-person contact, and the study found that the number and kinds of injuries differed between the genders. Boys sustained 67 percent of the total injuries, and boys had a higher overall injury rate than girls. About 36 percent of boys’ injuries were sprains and strains, and about 22 percent were concussions. Person-to-person contact, which is allowed in boys’ lacrosse, caused 74 percent of concussions and 41 percent of boys’ lacrosse injuries overall.
Almost 44 percent of injuries to girls were sprains and strains, and concussions made up another 23 percent. The most common causes of injuries were no contact — for example, a foot pivot leading to a pulled muscle — and contact with playing equipment. For both boys and girls, injury rates were higher during competition than practice.
Dawn Comstock, PhD, an author of the study and a professor of Epidemiology for the Pediatric Injury Prevention, Education, and Research (PIPER) program at the Colorado School of Public Health, said that the study’s findings will contribute to evidence-based discussions of ways to prevent injury — including the current debate over whether girls’ lacrosse players should wear helmets as boys are required to do.
“Concern over concussions in both boys’ and girls’ lacrosse underscores the need to learn more about these injuries,” Comstock said. “Further study will help those working to develop and implement effective injury prevention programs.”
