Latest news with #PeteSatterthwaite
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Teen's death sparks calls to ban viral head-on tackle game inspired by American football's biggest hits
A burgeoning new sporting trend inspired by the biggest and hardest full contact hits in American football and rugby has proved deadly, and there's now calls for it to be banned. Branded by an organized league as 'the world's fiercest, new collision sport,' Run It Straight games see two people sprint directly towards each other for a high-impact collision, with no protective gear. Whoever dominates wins. Tens of thousands of dollars are offered up as prize money in organized events in New Zealand and Australia and the game has become a social media craze with teenagers trying it out at home, with fatal consequences. Ryan Satterthwaite died in hospital on Monday after a backyard challenge went tragically wrong in the small city of Palmerston North. New Zealand Police said the 19-year-old suffered a serious head injury. His uncle, Pete Satterthwaite, told CNN affiliate RNZ that Ryan was at a friend's birthday party on Saturday and decided to play a round of the game that's become so popular in New Zealand. Pete Satterthwaite said when he saw local news reports about Run It, he thought the game was a 'stupid idea' and instinctively knew that 'someone is going to get seriously hurt.' He just wasn't expecting it to be his own nephew. 'The ultimate aim is to hurt your opponent, run over the top of him … you're leading with your shoulder, leading with your head,' he said. 'Regardless of whether they have medical staff on site and everybody has a test, it's still the most stupid thing I've ever seen.' New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon urged people not to take part in the tackling game, calling it a 'dumb thing to do.' 'You're hearing the advice from police, from the medical fraternity, from government, from principals saying don't do it,' Luxon told local media on Friday, adding that organizers of formal events should stop them. 'To the adults that are involved in more formal organization of it and are influencing it and leading this out on social media, I think you need to stop and I can't be any clearer,' Luxon said. Following calls for the tackling game to be banned, New Zealand's sport minister Mark Mitchell said on Friday he had sought advice on what measures the government can take to crack down on what he labelled 'unregulated activities that pose a significant level of risk.' The Run It Straight game combines elements of American football and rugby – two sports that have tackling in common but with distinct rules to protect players. Footballers wear a helmet and thick padding to withstand high-impact tackles on the whole body except the head and knees. Rugby players take the field without helmets and with no, or little, padding, while tackles are only allowed below the shoulders. The new game has been popularized in part by by a company called RUNIT Championship League, which says the game was 'born to go viral' and claims to have 'taken social media by storm with tens of millions of views.' CEO and owner Charizma, whose real name is Christian Lesa, says the concept started when he was hospitalized and struggling with mental health, according to an interview with Australian public broadcaster ABC. Lesa said he was inspired by YouTuber Donald De La Haye, nicknamed 'Deestroying,' a Costa Rican-American professional football player who would pit players 1-on-1 for viral clicks. He replicated the concept in Australia and the tournament-like event has spread across New Zealand and the Pacific islands. As followers and subscribers grew on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, RUNIT began hosting championships where participants bull run into each other and the last one standing takes home a cash prize. The finals of the RUNIT league were scheduled in June with 200,000 New Zealand dollars (around $118,800) up for grabs. Run It Straight-type collisions are more than five times the force of a rugby tackle, according to Professor Patria Hume from Auckland University of Technology, who warned there was a high risk of brain injury or death. 'Ryan's death was preventable. It was a backyard copycat of the Runit events which have been designed for social media impact,' Hume said. 'Runit lacks the structure, safety protocols, and purpose of traditional sports. While rugby, boxing, and MMA are inherently physical, they are governed by rules designed to minimize harm and protect athletes.' Stacey Mowbray, CEO of brain injury organization Headway, told CNN the trending game is not a sport, adding it's 'just reckless, glorified violence.' 'We raised the alarm in New Zealand when we heard about the Run It Straight challenge, warning of the high risk of brain injury or death. Social media was used to target our young with a message that this was a bit of fun. It is not. It is deadly,' Mowbray told CNN. 'It's not about the head hitting the ground, it's the impact,' she said. A RUNIT Championship League spokesperson said in a statement that it does not encourage 'any copying of the sport' saying it should only be done under 'strict conditions.' 'All Runit events follow established protocols including screening of participants for suitability, strict guidelines around where and how to tackle (between the shoulders and hips only), with qualified medical support and medical assessments conducted during and after competition,' they told CNN. Alarm bells had already been ringing about the game before the death of Ryan Satterthwaite. Two men were knocked unconscious, with one of them going into a seizure, during a Runit league event at Auckland's Trusts Arena last week. Lynette Adams, interim CEO of the Trusts Arena, told CNN in a statement that 'there has been overwhelming concern for the high-risk nature of Runit style events.' 'Safety of all participants at our venue is paramount and we therefore made the decision not to allow any future Runit events to take place at The Trusts Arena.' High-contact sports like rugby and rugby league are hugely popular in New Zealand and the death of Satterthwaite has put pressure on sporting bodies to take a stronger stance on the Run It Straight trend. New Zealand Rugby issued a statement warning people 'not to take part in Run It Straight games or competitions as they carry significant risk of serious injury.' 'Those wanting to play contact sports should register for a school or club team and learn in a controlled and safe environment how to tackle safely and the art of evasion,' the statement said. A number of New Zealand schools have moved to ban students from playing the game on school grounds and it has also been banned from some public parks in the country's biggest city, Auckland, by a local council board. David Bovey, rector of Palmerston North Boys' High School which Ryan Satterthwaite attended several years ago, said he had been planning to warn his students about the risks of playing Run It Straight on campus before he heard about Ryan's death. 'It's an absolute tragedy… you can almost say something like this was almost going to happen,' Bovey told RNZ, adding he received the news just 20 minutes before he was due to address the students on Monday. 'Teenage boys are terrible at thinking about consequences and they never think anything is going to happen to them and so, you know, something like this I think really hit home in terms of the message we are trying to give the boys – 'this is something I shouldn't be doing.''
CNN
3 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Teen's death sparks calls to ban viral head-on tackle game inspired by American football's biggest hits
A burgeoning new sporting trend inspired by the biggest and hardest full contact hits in American football and rugby has proved deadly, and there's now calls for it to be banned. Branded by an organized league as 'the world's fiercest, new collision sport,' Run It Straight games see two people sprint directly towards each other for a high-impact collision, with no protective gear. Whoever dominates wins. Tens of thousands of dollars are offered up as prize money in organized events in New Zealand and Australia and the game has become a social media craze with teenagers trying it out at home, with fatal consequences. Ryan Satterthwaite died in hospital on Monday after a backyard challenge went tragically wrong in the small city of Palmerston North. New Zealand Police said the 19-year-old suffered a serious head injury. His uncle, Pete Satterthwaite, told CNN affiliate RNZ that Ryan was at a friend's birthday party on Saturday and decided to play a round of the game that's become so popular in New Zealand. Pete Satterthwaite said when he saw local news reports about Run It, he thought the game was a 'stupid idea' and instinctively knew that 'someone is going to get seriously hurt.' He just wasn't expecting it to be his own nephew. 'The ultimate aim is to hurt your opponent, run over the top of him … you're leading with your shoulder, leading with your head,' he said. 'Regardless of whether they have medical staff on site and everybody has a test, it's still the most stupid thing I've ever seen.' New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon urged people not to take part in the tackling game, calling it a 'dumb thing to do.' 'You're hearing the advice from police, from the medical fraternity, from government, from principals saying don't do it,' Luxon told local media on Friday, adding that organizers of formal events should stop them. 'To the adults that are involved in more formal organization of it and are influencing it and leading this out on social media, I think you need to stop and I can't be any clearer,' Luxon said. Following calls for the tackling game to be banned, New Zealand's sport minister Mark Mitchell said on Friday he had sought advice on what measures the government can take to crack down on what he labelled 'unregulated activities that pose a significant level of risk.' The Run It Straight game combines elements of American football and rugby – two sports that have tackling in common but with distinct rules to protect players. Footballers wear a helmet and thick padding to withstand high-impact tackles on the whole body except the head and knees. Rugby players take the field without helmets and with no, or little, padding, while tackles are only allowed below the shoulders. The new game has been popularized in part by by a company called RUNIT Championship League, which says the game was 'born to go viral' and claims to have 'taken social media by storm with tens of millions of views.' CEO and owner Charizma, whose real name is Christian Lesa, says the concept started when he was hospitalized and struggling with mental health, according to an interview with Australian public broadcaster ABC. Lesa said he was inspired by YouTuber Donald De La Haye, nicknamed 'Deestroying,' a Costa Rican-American professional football player who would pit players 1-on-1 for viral clicks. He replicated the concept in Australia and the tournament-like event has spread across New Zealand and the Pacific islands. As followers and subscribers grew on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, RUNIT began hosting championships where participants bull run into each other and the last one standing takes home a cash prize. The finals of the RUNIT league were scheduled in June with 200,000 New Zealand dollars (around $118,800) up for grabs. Run It Straight-type collisions are more than five times the force of a rugby tackle, according to Professor Patria Hume from Auckland University of Technology, who warned there was a high risk of brain injury or death. 'Ryan's death was preventable. It was a backyard copycat of the Runit events which have been designed for social media impact,' Hume said. 'Runit lacks the structure, safety protocols, and purpose of traditional sports. While rugby, boxing, and MMA are inherently physical, they are governed by rules designed to minimize harm and protect athletes.' Stacey Mowbray, CEO of brain injury organization Headway, told CNN the trending game is not a sport, adding it's 'just reckless, glorified violence.' 'We raised the alarm in New Zealand when we heard about the Run It Straight challenge, warning of the high risk of brain injury or death. Social media was used to target our young with a message that this was a bit of fun. It is not. It is deadly,' Mowbray told CNN. 'It's not about the head hitting the ground, it's the impact,' she said. A RUNIT Championship League spokesperson said in a statement that it does not encourage 'any copying of the sport' saying it should only be done under 'strict conditions.' 'All Runit events follow established protocols including screening of participants for suitability, strict guidelines around where and how to tackle (between the shoulders and hips only), with qualified medical support and medical assessments conducted during and after competition,' they told CNN. Alarm bells had already been ringing about the game before the death of Ryan Satterthwaite. Two men were knocked unconscious, with one of them going into a seizure, during a Runit league event at Auckland's Trusts Arena last week. Lynette Adams, interim CEO of the Trusts Arena, told CNN in a statement that 'there has been overwhelming concern for the high-risk nature of Runit style events.' 'Safety of all participants at our venue is paramount and we therefore made the decision not to allow any future Runit events to take place at The Trusts Arena.' High-contact sports like rugby and rugby league are hugely popular in New Zealand and the death of Satterthwaite has put pressure on sporting bodies to take a stronger stance on the Run It Straight trend. New Zealand Rugby issued a statement warning people 'not to take part in Run It Straight games or competitions as they carry significant risk of serious injury.' 'Those wanting to play contact sports should register for a school or club team and learn in a controlled and safe environment how to tackle safely and the art of evasion,' the statement said. A number of New Zealand schools have moved to ban students from playing the game on school grounds and it has also been banned from some public parks in the country's biggest city, Auckland, by a local council board. David Bovey, rector of Palmerston North Boys' High School which Ryan Satterthwaite attended several years ago, said he had been planning to warn his students about the risks of playing Run It Straight on campus before he heard about Ryan's death. 'It's an absolute tragedy… you can almost say something like this was almost going to happen,' Bovey told RNZ, adding he received the news just 20 minutes before he was due to address the students on Monday. 'Teenage boys are terrible at thinking about consequences and they never think anything is going to happen to them and so, you know, something like this I think really hit home in terms of the message we are trying to give the boys – 'this is something I shouldn't be doing.''
CNN
3 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Teen's death sparks calls to ban viral head-on tackle game inspired by American football's biggest hits
A burgeoning new sporting trend inspired by the biggest and hardest full contact hits in American football and rugby has proved deadly, and there's now calls for it to be banned. Branded by an organized league as 'the world's fiercest, new collision sport,' Run It Straight games see two people sprint directly towards each other for a high-impact collision, with no protective gear. Whoever dominates wins. Tens of thousands of dollars are offered up as prize money in organized events in New Zealand and Australia and the game has become a social media craze with teenagers trying it out at home, with fatal consequences. Ryan Satterthwaite died in hospital on Monday after a backyard challenge went tragically wrong in the small city of Palmerston North. New Zealand Police said the 19-year-old suffered a serious head injury. His uncle, Pete Satterthwaite, told CNN affiliate RNZ that Ryan was at a friend's birthday party on Saturday and decided to play a round of the game that's become so popular in New Zealand. Pete Satterthwaite said when he saw local news reports about Run It, he thought the game was a 'stupid idea' and instinctively knew that 'someone is going to get seriously hurt.' He just wasn't expecting it to be his own nephew. 'The ultimate aim is to hurt your opponent, run over the top of him … you're leading with your shoulder, leading with your head,' he said. 'Regardless of whether they have medical staff on site and everybody has a test, it's still the most stupid thing I've ever seen.' New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon urged people not to take part in the tackling game, calling it a 'dumb thing to do.' 'You're hearing the advice from police, from the medical fraternity, from government, from principals saying don't do it,' Luxon told local media on Friday, adding that organizers of formal events should stop them. 'To the adults that are involved in more formal organization of it and are influencing it and leading this out on social media, I think you need to stop and I can't be any clearer,' Luxon said. Following calls for the tackling game to be banned, New Zealand's sport minister Mark Mitchell said on Friday he had sought advice on what measures the government can take to crack down on what he labelled 'unregulated activities that pose a significant level of risk.' The Run It Straight game combines elements of American football and rugby – two sports that have tackling in common but with distinct rules to protect players. Footballers wear a helmet and thick padding to withstand high-impact tackles on the whole body except the head and knees. Rugby players take the field without helmets and with no, or little, padding, while tackles are only allowed below the shoulders. The new game has been popularized in part by by a company called RUNIT Championship League, which says the game was 'born to go viral' and claims to have 'taken social media by storm with tens of millions of views.' CEO and owner Charizma, whose real name is Christian Lesa, says the concept started when he was hospitalized and struggling with mental health, according to an interview with Australian public broadcaster ABC. Lesa said he was inspired by YouTuber Donald De La Haye, nicknamed 'Deestroying,' a Costa Rican-American professional football player who would pit players 1-on-1 for viral clicks. He replicated the concept in Australia and the tournament-like event has spread across New Zealand and the Pacific islands. As followers and subscribers grew on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, RUNIT began hosting championships where participants bull run into each other and the last one standing takes home a cash prize. The finals of the RUNIT league were scheduled in June with 200,000 New Zealand dollars (around $118,800) up for grabs. Run It Straight-type collisions are more than five times the force of a rugby tackle, according to Professor Patria Hume from Auckland University of Technology, who warned there was a high risk of brain injury or death. 'Ryan's death was preventable. It was a backyard copycat of the Runit events which have been designed for social media impact,' Hume said. 'Runit lacks the structure, safety protocols, and purpose of traditional sports. While rugby, boxing, and MMA are inherently physical, they are governed by rules designed to minimize harm and protect athletes.' Stacey Mowbray, CEO of brain injury organization Headway, told CNN the trending game is not a sport, adding it's 'just reckless, glorified violence.' 'We raised the alarm in New Zealand when we heard about the Run It Straight challenge, warning of the high risk of brain injury or death. Social media was used to target our young with a message that this was a bit of fun. It is not. It is deadly,' Mowbray told CNN. 'It's not about the head hitting the ground, it's the impact,' she said. A RUNIT Championship League spokesperson said in a statement that it does not encourage 'any copying of the sport' saying it should only be done under 'strict conditions.' 'All Runit events follow established protocols including screening of participants for suitability, strict guidelines around where and how to tackle (between the shoulders and hips only), with qualified medical support and medical assessments conducted during and after competition,' they told CNN. Alarm bells had already been ringing about the game before the death of Ryan Satterthwaite. Two men were knocked unconscious, with one of them going into a seizure, during a Runit league event at Auckland's Trusts Arena last week. Lynette Adams, interim CEO of the Trusts Arena, told CNN in a statement that 'there has been overwhelming concern for the high-risk nature of Runit style events.' 'Safety of all participants at our venue is paramount and we therefore made the decision not to allow any future Runit events to take place at The Trusts Arena.' High-contact sports like rugby and rugby league are hugely popular in New Zealand and the death of Satterthwaite has put pressure on sporting bodies to take a stronger stance on the Run It Straight trend. New Zealand Rugby issued a statement warning people 'not to take part in Run It Straight games or competitions as they carry significant risk of serious injury.' 'Those wanting to play contact sports should register for a school or club team and learn in a controlled and safe environment how to tackle safely and the art of evasion,' the statement said. A number of New Zealand schools have moved to ban students from playing the game on school grounds and it has also been banned from some public parks in the country's biggest city, Auckland, by a local council board. David Bovey, rector of Palmerston North Boys' High School which Ryan Satterthwaite attended several years ago, said he had been planning to warn his students about the risks of playing Run It Straight on campus before he heard about Ryan's death. 'It's an absolute tragedy… you can almost say something like this was almost going to happen,' Bovey told RNZ, adding he received the news just 20 minutes before he was due to address the students on Monday. 'Teenage boys are terrible at thinking about consequences and they never think anything is going to happen to them and so, you know, something like this I think really hit home in terms of the message we are trying to give the boys – 'this is something I shouldn't be doing.''
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Parents of teen who died playing bull rush 22 years ago want community to condemn Run It trend
A RunIt event in Auckland. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport There are mounting calls for sports stars and influencers to come out publicly against the dangers of the run it straight craze, including from the family of a man who died of head trauma over 20 years ago. This week Palmerston North 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite died when he was injured in a tackle game with friends. His uncle Pete has issued a public plea for rugby and rugby players, and social media influencers, to use their platforms to speak out about the risks. That plea has received further backing. William Cranswick was also 19 when he died after suffering head injuries in a game of bull rush following a night drinking at notorious Palmerston North bar The Fitz in September 2003. The tragedy 22 years ago was brought back home to his parents Rod and Belinda this week when they heard the news of Ryan Satterthwaite. "Ryan's death really touched a raw nerve with us. These deaths are highly preventable," Rod Cranswick said. "We totally understand the suffering and pain that Ryan's family are going through. It's a parent's worst nightmare." Rod and Belinda Cranswick heard Pete Satterthwaite's call for action on RNZ. "We endorse Pete's comment. I thought he spoke very very well and right to the point re sports stars condemning this behaviour," Rod Cranswick said. "It's not up to the politicians to legislate, but this is a community responsibility and everyone needs to step up to the mark and condemn this activity." He said that would even extend to, for example, people walking past a park who might see something taking place. "I think if someone does have the guts to go and say, 'Listen, this can lead to a tragedy. This has already happened on a couple of occasions.' Just have the guts to try and influence them to stop it." Ryan Satterthwaite. Photo: Instagram And influencing people to stop taking part in Run It was what Rod Cranswick hoped people with public recognition would do, so the message got through. "Young people are really influenced by social media and also sports stars - they have a huge influence on our young. They are the role models and followed religiously. "We need to listen to our medical experts, who are also condemning this behaviour. "In our case having to switch off Willie's life support because of a severe brain injury was our worst nightmare." At Ryan Satterthwaite's old college, Palmerston North Boys' High School, Rector David Bovey had already planned to speak to students about Run It this week. Like a growing number of schools it's banned the craze, and Bovey said when news about Satterthwaite came through it added weight to the warnings. "I spoke to the seniors again yesterday about the risks involved. We talked about Ryan and the fact that could be any one of the boys sitting in front of me, because [they] don't think about consequences, it's as simple as that. "What seems like a bit of fun can have a devastating impact, as we've seen." This week's incident was top of mind at the school, so much so that when there was a collision on the school's courts between two students some immediately asked if they were playing Run It Straight. They weren't. "But, I guess with what's happened there's a really heightened awareness of what's going on. I don't think it's going to stop kids from playing, but we've told the boys categorically not to get involved in it at school." Bovey also backs the call for people with social media presence to speak out. Principals' Federation vice-president Jason Miles said even children supposedly too young to use social media were influenced by it, although the Run It craze hadn't spread too far through primary schools. When a viral craze arose, knowing when to say something was tricky. "It can be a catch 22, because if you talk about them you're also informing children about them, including those who haven't had access to them. "It's a balancing act that principals need to take because it's looking at the safety of the children who are perhaps being influenced, but also trying not for it to be a wider problem." There is no nationwide edict from officials to schools about Run It. Ministry of Education leader of operations and integration Sean Teddy said schools had autonomy to make rules on many matters. "We know that health and safety is a priority for all schools, and we are confident that the decisions they make will reflect their strong commitment to creating safe, supportive, and inclusive environments where all students can thrive." He said the ministry was available to provide advice and guidance where needed. "While schools are not required to inform the ministry of the rules they adopt, we would expect schools to communicate with and, where appropriate, consult their parent communities as part of the decision-making process."
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Calls for sports stars, influencers to speak out against RUN IT
There are mounting calls for sports stars and influencers to come out publicly against the dangers of run it-type games, including from the family of a man who died of head trauma over 20 years ago. Palmerston North 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite died when he was injured in a tackle game with friends. His uncle Pete has issued a public plea for rugby and rugby players, and social media influencers, to use their platforms to speak out. Jimmy Ellingham reports.
