Arizona State University is placing its head hockey coach on paid administrative leave. This comes after a student athlete collapsed from life-threatening heatstroke during the team’s first coach-led practice in August.
Matthew Mayich has been hospitalized since the Aug. 20 practice and is not expected to recover.
In a letter to ASU President Michael Crow on Monday, seven anonymous members of the team said Mayich never had a water break during the practice, which lasted more than an hour. They said he was showing obvious signs of distress before he collapsed. And they raised concerns about head coach Greg Powers’ handling of the incident.
“From what we could tell, at no point did Coach Powers seem to appreciate the severity of the situation,” the hockey players wrote. “Coach Powers told us Matthew’s condition was ‘just a little heat stroke’ and ‘heat exhaustion,’ that he had ‘seen this a million times,’ and that Matthew ‘just needs an IV.’”
During a National Collegiate Hockey Conference media event Sept. 23, Powers declined to comment on the Aug. 20 practice but said he is still the right person to lead the team.
“Not everything is going to go perfectly, and I’m certainly far from that,” Powers said. But, he added, “I believe that I am the right guy, and 20 years of a body of work and building a program, almost 20 years now, I still believe that.”
But members of the team and Mayich’s parents have been calling for Powers and other coaching staff to be put on leave until an independent investigation of the Aug. 20 practice can be completed.
“We want this team to have a great season, and we'll be cheering for you. But the coaches who ran that workout on Aug. 20 need to be removed while an independent investigation gets to the truth. The players shouldn't have to worry about retaliation from the people they report to every day,” Mayich’s parents, John and Christina Mayich wrote in a Sept. 29 statement. “Mostly, we want accountability for what happened to our son, and we want his teammates to be safe.”
ASU Athletics announced Powers would be put on administrative leave in a statement Wednesday.
“Our focus continues to be on Matthew and his family, and on our student athletes to make sure they have the support they need during this time and as the season begins,” ASU Athletics Director Graham Rossini stated. “We have continued to collect as much information as possible. After thorough and careful deliberation, I believe this is the best move to provide stability for the hockey program.”
The statement from ASU Athletics said assistant coach Mike Corbett would lead the team as the season opens this weekend. It said an interim coach would be named soon.
Tim Casey, an attorney representing the seven hockey players who anonymously wrote to ASU about their concerns, said the athletes still want other members of the coaching staff to be placed on leave.
“It’s a good start that Coach Powers is no longer there, but my understanding is that the entire staff was present on Aug. 20,” Casey said.
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