Source: post-gazette.com | Repost Duerson Fund 9/12/2022 –
A former West Mifflin Area High School football player testified Friday that an aggressive team culture led to a teammate receiving a concussion at a 2009 practice that led to debilitating mental health conditions that continue to this day.
Shane Skillpa, the former football player suing the school district for his injuries, told jurors that he was hurt during a drill where he was told to run directly at a much larger player, who hit him in a helmet-to-helmet collision that broke his facemask and caused his head to hit the ground.
That hit and the subsequent head injuries he sustained as he continued practicing led to long-term conditions such as memory loss, fatigue, depression, anxiety and others, Mr. Skillpa, now 29, claimed in a lawsuit against West Mifflin Area School District. Also named as defendants in the suit are the WPIAL and the PIAA, the organizations that, respectively, host athletic events in Western Pennsylvania and across the state.
A former teammate and current friend of Mr. Skillpa on Friday testified that the drill was used by coaches to determine who the “badasses” on the team were.