{"id":346138,"date":"2019-01-08T15:59:16","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T22:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=346138"},"modified":"2019-01-10T04:02:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-10T11:02:12","slug":"mayall-vs-usa-water-polo-a-landmark-case-for-concussions-promises-profound-changes-for-polo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mayall-vs-usa-water-polo-a-landmark-case-for-concussions-promises-profound-changes-for-polo\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayall vs. USA Water Polo; A Landmark Case for Concussions Promises Profound Changes for Polo"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a new year commences, a lawsuit concerning age group concussions is likely to cast a long shadow over USA Water Polo\u2019s<\/a> Huntington Beach headquarters. The case, Mayall vs. USA Water Polo<\/em>, which seemed discarded from the courts after a decision in 2016, has resurfaced<\/a> on appeal. Last November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reinstated the suit, being argued by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP<\/a>, a consumer protection firm best known for a 2015 settlement regarding youth concussions with a variety of organizations involved with American youth soccer.<\/p>

Much like that lawsuit against U.S. Soccer<\/a>, which resulted in a ban on heading for children ages 10 and under, the potential benefits of this legal action are reforms that will serve USA Water Polo\u2019s age group membership well. As the national governing body for the sport, USAWP is in a tough spot\u2014not only because it was their tournament in 2014 where a 16U athlete was allegedly injured in a manner that the plaintiff claims is negligent\u2014but because whatever agreements are finalized will have significant impact on the way the sport is played at the youth level in America. Unlike youth soccer in America, which includes a far larger population as well as multiple entities that oversee the sport\u2014including U.S. Soccer<\/a> and the American Youth Soccer Organization<\/a>\u2014USA Water Polo is the predominant entity for American water polo.<\/p>

What\u2019s at stake<\/strong><\/h3>

In 2015, Hagens Berman, a Seattle-based firm, filed suit in California on behalf of Alice Mayall<\/strong>, whose teenage daughter \u201cH.C.\u201d was allegedly injured during a USA Water Polo-managed water polo tournament. According to the lawsuit, on February 15, 2014, while playing for the Livermore Area Recreation & Park District Lazars water polo club, H.C. sustained multiple head injuries while playing goalie during the annual three-day WinterFest tournament at Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base in California.<\/p>

The\ncrux of the suit is that H.C. \u201cwas hit hard in the face by a shot which led to\na concussion.\u201d She then swam over and spoke with her coach\u2014unnamed in the suit,\nbut Matt\nCroghan<\/strong> is listed as the Lazars head\ncoach at the time\u2014who allowed her to return to the cage.<\/p>

Over\nthat day and the next two days of the tournament, H.C. played in additional matches\nand allegedly endured more blows to the head, which, Hagens Berman claims, exacerbated her initial injury. It is\nthese additional head shots, reportedly witnessed by referees and by H.C.\u2019s\ncoach, that Hagens Berman claims resulted\nin long-term, debilitating health effects from post-concussion syndrome.<\/p>

\"hustle-gr-jos-jul18\"
Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

The\nfirm further maintains that, by allowing H.C. to resume playing following the\ninitial blow, USA Water Polo is culpable in that it did not follow its own\nstandards for preventing concussion injuries. That\u2014and the facts that H.C. was\nnever evaluated by a medical professional during the tournament and that her\ncoach was allegedly \u201clacking any concussion management training,\nqualifications, and education from USA Water Polo\u201d\u2014rises to gross negligence.<\/p>

\u201c[W]hile\na water polo coach or sponsoring organization may be unable to protect a player\nfrom an initial blow to the head, the player can be protected from a secondary\ninjury from a repeated blow, where \u2018the greatest danger exists\u2019 and was\n\u201creasonably to be expected\u2026.Such secondary injury increases the risks to a\nparticipant over and above those inherent in the sport,\u201d the filing states.<\/p>

Numerous attempts were made to reach Coach Crogan as well as the Livermore Area Recreation & Park District<\/a> office. Patrick Lucky<\/strong>, since 2013 the Aquatics Coordinator for the LARPD, replied, \u201cNo comment\u201d in response to a telephone call.<\/p>

For its part, USA Water Polo has vigorously resisted this\nlegal action, and a statement from Chris\nRamsey<\/strong>, Chief Executive Officer for USAWP, defended his organization\u2019s conduct\nin this case while emphasizing its concern for members\u2019 safety.<\/p>

USA Water Polo is committed to athlete safety.\u00a0Consistent with that commitment, at the time of the incident giving rise to the Mayall case, USAWP had in place a rule that prohibited an athlete from returning to competition following a serious injury (e.g., a concussion) and without the clearance of a medical professional.<\/em><\/p>

While USA Water Polo is disappointed by the Ninth Circuit\u2019s ruling in the Mayall case, it is important to understand that the court\u2019s ruling was based upon the unproven allegations of the complaint filed in the case, and not upon testimony or other evidence presented to the district court that could be considered by the Ninth Circuit. USA Water Polo will be formally requesting that the court reconsider its ruling (or refer the questions of California law decided by the federal court to the California Supreme Court).  <\/em><\/p>

Even if the court refuses to reconsider its ruling, once the courts can consider the actual facts of the matter, rather than just Mayall\u2019s allegations, we are confident that USA Water Polo will be found to have acted appropriately.<\/em><\/p>

A case in\nsearch of a client?<\/strong><\/h3>

There are a number of issues to consider in this woeful\nsituation, notwithstanding the natural empathy most would have for the litigant\nparents<\/p>

To start with, there is the intent of Hagens Berman to both\nprotect its client\u2019s interest as well as win what it hopes will be a landmark\ncase. In the original complaint, filed in 2015,<\/strong> the firm made the following argument about what it hoped to\naccomplish with a class action suit.<\/p>

\u201cPlaintiff, on behalf of\nminor H.C. and a proposed class of all current or former water polo players\nwho, from 2013 to the present, competed for a team governed by USA Water Polo,\nseeks injunctive relief requiring (1) the enactment and enforcement of proper\nconcussion-management practices and return to play guidelines; and (2) proper\nsubstitution rules that allow for medical evaluation.\u201d <\/p>

When questioned by Swimming World<\/em>, Hagens Berman responded by email that the plaintiffs are\nseeking \u201cmedical monitoring for class members in the\nform of neurological and neuropsychological evaluations.\u201d And further, \u201cWe are motivated to hold all youth sports organizations accountable for\nfollowing consensus best practices with respect to concussion management and\nreturn-to-play protocols.\u201d<\/p>

Class action\nsuits typically are filed on behalf of one or two claimants, and then opened up\nas counsel look to attract others. It is noteworthy in H.C.\u2019s case\u2014almost four years after the\noriginal filing\u2014that there is still only one claimant: Alice Mayall.<\/p>

Also noteworthy is the fact that Hagens Berman has previously pursued landmark litigation in the same federal court\u2014the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. In 2015, the firm won the aforementioned major settlement that impacts, literally, hundreds of thousands of youth soccer players in America (water polo has fewer than 100,000 youth athletes playing countrywide). As it happens, though, filing again with the Ninth Circuit Court was both necessary and advantageous. As the Hagens Berman response pointed out, \u201cWe filed in the District in which USA Water Polo is headquartered, which is provided for in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Moreover, the court is known to be quite liberal-leaning, as noted repeatedly<\/a> by President Trump.<\/p>

Determining what’s a concussion is VERY difficult<\/strong><\/h3>

At the root of the legal action is the question of whether\nH.C.\u2019s coach was properly equipped to diagnose his player\u2019s condition, and whether\nUSA Water Polo had adequately prepared for such a possibility. In addition,\nthere is the issue of the failure to provide adequate medical attention as\nneeded. This will be debated on appeal by a series of experts, but one thing that\nis not debatable is the fact that, short of unconsciousness, it\u2019s extremely\ndifficult for anyone to diagnose a concussion.<\/p>

According to the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine<\/a>, a concussion is \u201cdefined as a traumatically induced transient disturbance of brain function and involves a complex pathophysiological process. Concussion is a subset of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) which is generally self-limited and at the less-severe end of the brain injury spectrum.\u201d<\/strong> It\u2019s the determining of the severity of the \u201ctransient disturbance\u201d that makes concussions such a challenging topic.<\/p>

Tony Ricci<\/a><\/strong> is an adjunct professor with the Department of Sports Sciences at Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY. With an masters degrees in Sports Science from the United States Sports Academy and in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport, Ricci also has a depth of practical experience. A former competitive Olympic lifter and a bodybuilding champion, he holds black belts in multiple combat disciplines. Founder and director of RICCI \u2013 Elite Performance, he has over 20 years of experience training boxers and MMA athletes, including Chris Weidman<\/strong>, Ryan LaFlare<\/strong>, Chris Algieri<\/strong> and Heather Hardy<\/strong>.<\/p>

\"hopkins-polo-dec18\"
Photo Courtesy: M. Randazzo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cThe obvious difficulty is while symptoms of\na concussion may last weeks or even months, they are not always expressed\nimmediately,\u201d Ricci wrote in an email. \u201cThe diagnosis of a concussion remains\nchallenging even for clinicians that have advanced training in the diagnosis of\nthe acute symptoms. Less than 10% of concussions are the result of a loss of\nconsciousness, which is a clear and concise indication of concussion\/traumatic\nbrain injury.\u201d<\/p>

In a sport like boxing, it would seem obvious\nif and when an athlete is concussed. Not so, said Ricci.<\/p>

[!]n fight-sports such as boxing [and] MMA, we have clearly seen\nfighters knocked down, and near unconsciousness, yet they defy a referee\u2019s\ncount and then get up, immediately return to fighting, and in some cases, win.\u201d<\/p>

Citing a recent heavyweight bout between Tyson Fury<\/strong> and Deontay\nWilder<\/strong>, Ricci explained that Fury was knocked down twice by Wilder, first\nin the ninth round, then again in the twelfth round. \u201cIt looked as if [Fury]\nwould not get up for a month, moreover return to finish the round.\u201d <\/p>

Despite being rendered briefly unconscious during the match, Fury showed\nno visible signs of a concussion after multiple [blows to the head]. Ricci\nsurmises that\u2014depending upon the genetics of an athlete\u2014outwardly detectable\nsigns may not manifest at all.<\/p>

\"football-image-jan19\"<\/figure><\/div>

Switching to the most scrutinized sport for concussions\u2014American\nfootball\u2014Ricci explained that the National Football League (NFL) established baseline\ndata in pre-season play, then when head trauma results in a game, that baseline\ndata is immediately compared to testing data acquired after the strike\/blow to\nthe head.  <\/p>

\u201cA player may pass this concussion screening protocol only to have\ncommon symptoms of a concussion manifest later,\u201d Ricci wrote. \u201cAdditionally,\nwhile symptoms such as dizziness, loss of balance, headaches, ringing in the\nears, blurred vision[,] to name a few, are easily detected,\u2026 such symptoms may\ntake hours to manifest.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAccordingly, even for the trained clinician, concussions are not always\nimmediately detectable despite having baseline data and advanced protocols and\nmodalities for detecting such,\u201d he adds.<\/p>

\u201cWhile there is clear science on concussion as it pertains to the\nmechanisms, bodily responses, symptoms, and long-term consequences, to date, on\nsite diagnosis and detection remains in part, an art.\u201d<\/p>

There\u2019s no\ndoubt about it: polo is a tough sport<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>

An Internet search for concussion in water polo yields the following quote from a 2016 article<\/a> in the Mercury News by sports reporter Vytas Mazeika<\/strong>.<\/p>

\u201cPart of being a goalie is learning to get hit in the face a\nlot, and trying not to close your eyes when it happens,\u201d Mazeika quoted Sam(antha) Acker<\/strong>, now a senior at\nHarvard who plays for the Crimson women\u2019s polo team. <\/p>

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s embarrassing, but one of my coaches said to\nme once, \u2018Hey, if you get hit in the face, you block the ball.\u2019 So that\u2019s all\nthat we care about in the long run.\u201d<\/p>

The\none-time goalie for Gunn High School girls\u2019 team\nin Palo Alto, CA tellingly added, \u201cAnd as\nwe get hit, obviously it will hurt and we worry about concussions\u2014but that ball\nisn\u2019t going in the cage.\u201d<\/p>

\"ccup02-haynes-nov18\"
Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Acker\u2019s comments underscore what might actually be the\nbiggest challenge in determining concussive injuries in any sport: under-reporting.\nWithout definitive signs of a traumatic brain injury\u2014and given the competitive\nnature of the sport, especially for goalies, who regularly face a dozen or more\nshots in a match\u2014it is the athletes themselves who needs to identify the\nproblem. In a win-at-all-costs environment for team sports, how comfortable is\narguably the most important player in the water in coming out of the pool?<\/p>

Mayall vs. USA Water Polo<\/em> is likely to drag its way through the U.S. courts, but a possible action will be insisting on changes\u2014both in equipment and reporting\u2014that will help mitigate, if not eliminate, the risks water polo players face. Which means this case will provide a silver lining for the thousands of age group polo athletes in America.<\/p>

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. They do not reflect the viewpoint of Swimming World.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mayall vs. USA Water Polo; A Landmark Case for Concussions.
\nWhatever agreements are finalized in a lawsuit making it’s way through the federal courts will have a significant impact on the youth water polo in America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":337796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[73281,73296,73289,61627,73287,66791,73292,73282,73290,73284,73049,60192,969,73285,73286,73294,73291,73283,3613,73293],"class_list":["post-346138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-alice-mayall","tag-american-medical-society-for-sports-medicine","tag-chris-algieri","tag-chris-ramsey","tag-chris-weidman","tag-concussions","tag-deontay-wilder","tag-hagens-berman-sobol-shapiro-llp","tag-heather-hardy","tag-matt-croghan","tag-mayall-vs-usa-water-polo","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-national-football-league","tag-patrick-lucky","tag-ryan-laflare","tag-sam-acker","tag-tyson-fury","tag-u-s-soccer","tag-usa-water-polo","tag-vytas-mazeika"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nMayall vs. USA Water Polo; A Landmark Case for Concussions<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whatever agreements are finalized in a lawsuit making its way through the federal courts will have significant impact on youth water polo in America\u00a0\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mayall-vs-usa-water-polo-a-landmark-case-for-concussions-promises-profound-changes-for-polo\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mayall vs. USA Water Polo; A Landmark Case for Concussions Promises Profound Changes for Polo\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whatever agreements are finalized in a lawsuit making its way through the federal courts will have significant impact on youth water polo in America\u00a0\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mayall-vs-usa-water-polo-a-landmark-case-for-concussions-promises-profound-changes-for-polo\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-08T22:59:16+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-10T11:02:12+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ccup04-haynes-nov18.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2200\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1467\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Randazzo\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Randazzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mayall-vs-usa-water-polo-a-landmark-case-for-concussions-promises-profound-changes-for-polo\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mayall-vs-usa-water-polo-a-landmark-case-for-concussions-promises-profound-changes-for-polo\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Randazzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fb1d58ba008040c3ad837f46defed7bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mayall vs. USA Water Polo; 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