a divorced couple is battling in a pittsburgh family court over whether their 17yearold son should be allowed to continue playing football for his senior year of high school despite the teens history of concussions the teens father john orsini argues that his youngest son whom he shares custody of with his exwife should no longer play football due to three sportsrelated concussions he suffered in the past according to court documents filed in allegheny county family court janice orsini the teens mother believes that her son should continue playing football because he understands the risks the pair relied on the input and opinions of his treating physicians and medical providers to make the decision according to a statement released by her attorney john demas on tuesday the parents have been divorced since 2004 the new york times reported it is disappointing that a father has chosen to address this private family matter related to his minor son in a public forum the statement read the record reflects that mrs orsinis first priority is and has been the health safety and wellbeing of her children and to suggest otherwise is patently false the teen had played football since he was 5 years old court documents state his older brothers and father also began playing football at a young age and his eldest brother 21 now plays football at case western university in cleveland according to the new york times in addition john orsini attended his sons practices and games and rooted for the pittsburgh steelers john orsini alleged that high school football is a voluntary and nonessential activity and that his son could engage in other sports including baseball and basketball which do not carry the same degree of risk of sustaining further concussion the court documents state although he was previously a football enthusiast john orsini changed his mind after he said his youngest son suffered a trio of concussions the first occurred in 2013 when he was hit in the head with a baseball bat without a helmet and in 2015 and 2016 during football games according to the times after each concussion the teen was medically cleared to return to sports john orsini told the new york times but he noticed that he son would slump in his chair at the dinner table 3 female olympians pledge to donate brains for concussion research after gronkowski injury heres what you need to know about concussions former nfl player confirmed as 1st diagnosis of cte in living patient the next step after senior nfl official acknowledges link between footballrelated injuries and cte for first time john orsini sent a letter to his sons principal in july saying that he no longer consented to him participating in the football team resulting in the school district prohibiting from playing janice orsini alleges the teens mother then filed an emergency request to let him play but the judge allowed the ban to stand case filings show two weeks later in