KSHSAA will not oversee investigation into Shawnee Mission NW football player’s death
SHAWNEE, Kan. (KCTV) - The Kansas State High School Activities Association said it will not be overseeing the investigation into a Shawnee Mission Northwest student-athlete’s death following an off-season practice.
Fifteen-year-old Ovet Gomez-Regalado suffered what school officials are calling a “medical incident” during an off-season football workout on Wednesday, Aug. 14. He died two days later at the hospital.
KSHSAA will not directly oversee the investigation or issue disciplinary actions if any wrongdoing is found because it happened during offseason practice, though the organization said it’s heartbroken about Gomez-Regalado’s death. Instead of KSHSAA, any investigation will be led by the Shawnee Police Department and Shawnee Mission School District.
Hearing a 15-year-old died while just trying to get ready for football season, left KSHSAA Executive Director Bill Faflick devastated.
“This is very out of the ordinary, first time ever in my seven years at the association,” Faflick said. “So, it’s a difficult time for all those involved.”
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Because Ovet Gomez-Regalado’s medical incident occurred before the regular season began, KSHSAA said the school district will oversee the investigation into what led up to this tragedy.
“We always rely on the school to provide as much information as possible,” Faflick said. “So that we’ll learn just as much as the member school learns what occurred so we can strategize and have best practices.”
It’s still unknown what caused Ovet’s death.
KSHSAA mandates into heat and weather-related policies kick in this week. They state in part, “Only one practice per day is permitted the first 5 days of practice. All individuals shall only practice once per day for the first five days the individual practices, no matter when the person s the team or if the person misses days due to injury/illness. b. No single practice may last longer than 3 hours. All warm-up, stretching, conditioning and weightlifting is included as part of the 3-hour limit.”
Faflick said there’s also a limit on the number of practices during the first week.
“They can do single practices for the first five days,” Faflick said. “All of those rules are adopted by the association.”
KSHSAA does, however, regulate what kind of workouts can occur in the off-season. That means Gomez-Regalado and other players could only be doing running and weight-lifting drills with no and without full padding on.
The Johnson County Coroner’s Office has also not ruled what officially caused Gomez-Regalado to die. The Shawnee Mission School District responded Tuesday, Aug. 20 to our request for a statement on Ovet’s death.
“The Shawnee Mission School District will explore all facets of what happened to Ovet last week, to better understand and determine if anything could be done to prevent such an event,” said David Smith, SMSD’s Chief Communications Officer. “I would expect that process to take some time, as we will be dependent on information from other agencies. The regular season for high school football began Aug. 19, and the Kansas State High Athletic Association (KSHSAA) rules apply, which we follow.”
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