Hot turf leads to burn injuries for Greater Latrobe basketball players, AD says

Three members of the boys Greater Latrobe High School basketball team have resumed workouts after district officials said they severely burned their hands last month on hot football field turf during a training session.

Athletic Director Mark Mears said team members were doing off-season lifting and conditioning on July 20 at the high school athletic complex.

“The athletes, … after the workout was over, reported to the coach that their hands were burnt,” Mears said. “The coach had no idea this was happening to them.”

Trainers from Excela Health examined the players, and two were taken to area hospital burn units with their families for treatment. The players resumed practices late last month.

“The district did meet with the strength coach and talked through the situation,” Mears said. “As unfortunate as it was, it truly was an accident and has been handled and the kids are back training.”

Turf can be between 35 to 55 degrees hotter than natural grass, according to Penn State’s Center for Sports Surface Research. It typically increases in temperature during low humidity with lots of sunshine. The temperature will decrease with higher humidity and cloud cover, according to the center.

July temperatures have been in the 80s and 90s in the region with little rain.

Mears said trainers were asked to make sure the field’s temperature was being monitored during any future sessions at the athletic complex. The injuries didn’t have anything to do with bullying, hazing or punishment by a coach, he said.

Two wrestling coaches were charged by police earlier this year in connection with allegedly failing to report hazing incidents involving the Greater Latrobe junior high wrestling team.