Matthew Mayich collapsed during an outdoor workout on Aug. 20 and remains hospitalized, after Arizona State University’s hockey player was rushed to a local hospital in Tempe. A lawyer for the 21-year-old sophomore defenseman said his condition is highly unlikely to change.
That is why the case is drawing attention now: it puts a named athlete at the center of a collapse that happened during team work in heat that reached 106 degrees in Tempe. The recovery Mayich faces is not being described as a short-term setback. Robert Carey said Mayich is incapacitated and that his family is at his side, grateful for the support they have received from the hockey community and from Matthew’s teammates.
Arizona State University said the morning outdoor workout was a team event with coaches and training staff present, along with a third party who had previously worked with the ASU Hockey team. The school also said Sun Devil Athletics has heat-illness guidelines informed by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. James Rund is leading the university’s review of all the circumstances surrounding the workout and the related university policies, procedures and training protocols.
The friction in the case is hard to ignore. Officials said the workout did not happen during the hottest part of the day, yet the heat was still severe enough that Frank LoVecchio described training in it as “very, very hard.” He said the average person, even athletes, cannot make it in that heat without needing some assistance, and added that it does not take long for body temperature to rise very quickly in such conditions.
Mayich, who is from Ontario, Canada, was taken to a local hospital after collapsing and has remained there since. Arizona State University’s review now carries the practical burden of explaining what happened in a workout that was not held at peak heat but still ended with a player in a coma-like condition and a family waiting for answers.
