Parents of football players should be aware of the risks of the game — concussions, broken bones, strains, sprains — but the parents of a 15-year-old football player from Memorial High School in San Antonio were not prepared for the injuries presented by their son when he returned home last week. Laura and Jacob Obregon's son returned home from his high school football practice with what turned out to be third-degree burns on his hands.
The 15-year-old, whose parents requested he remain unnamed, showed up late to practice. As a punishment, he was required to perform bear crawls — a type of floor workout — in the dirt.
According to the Obregons, their son had to do this exercise at 1:30 pm, and they believe the dirt "was too hot" for this type of activity. As a result, their son had large pieces of flesh missing from the palms of both of his hands.
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The Obregons met with coach Alex Guerra who took full blame and apologized and said immediate action is being taken.
Edgewood Independent School District Athletic Director Robert Gomez ensured changes would be made to prevent issues like this from occurring in the future. He explained that bear crawls are a common football practice drill, but questions the way they were used in this situation. He didn't say whether or not Guerra would be reprimanded.
Laura Obregon said about the incident, "It was really poor judgment." But she also added she was content with the school's response to the situation.
The Obregons say they are not going to take legal action against any of the parties involved, but believe funding of the school district is a problem and with better funding, the situation could have been prevented.
“They (EISD) are a poor district,” the Obregons said. “They don’t have enough money to fund them.”
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Jacob Obregon mentioned that "simple gloves" would have protected his son's hands from the heat of the ground.
Their son was treated for his burns and was allowed to return to limited practice on Wednesday.
According to Jacob Obregon, his son has taken the situation in stride. “He didn’t complain once, he took it like a soldier because he loves the sport.”
