Every year, over 1.35 million children sustain a serious injury while participating in a sports related activity (Healy, 2013). Each of these injuries represents potential negligence litigation against athletic leaders including coaches. As a result, organizations have developed legal duties derived from lawsuits against coaches and schools where negligence contributed to an athlete’s injuries. These fourteen legal duties represent the standards or obligations expected of athletic leaders. It is imperative that coaches understand and add these obligations as part of an effective risk management strategy. Programs can mitigate risks with an effective risk management plan as discussed in Appendix E. A risk management plan identifies the
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Therefore, administrators and coaches must plan for reasonable supervision particularly where there is a foreseeable risk of injury to participants. In the context of athletics, reasonable supervision denotes how a trained coach would act under a similar situation (Rosenthal, 2004). Consequently, coaches must carefully evaluate each situation and decide if adequate supervision exists. In this evaluation process, coaches need to consider factors like “age, skill, experience, judgment, and physical condition of participants and the activity involved” (Cotton and Wolohan, 2012, p.169). For instance, coaches would need to use close individualized supervision when introducing complex skills like a new dive or a new gymnastics routine. On the other hand, coaches would take a more general supervisory role when in the locker room or in transportation situations such as on the bus or bus loading area where there is less potential for injury. As a girls’ junior high school basketball coach, the author faced a situation where adequate supervision did not happen in the locker room. The athletic director decided to accept the risk and did not require any supervision in this situation. In hindsight, the inadequate supervision exposed the school to unnecessary risk because a court may have found negligence due to the lack of …show more content…
In a legal context, the standard of care represents how a reasonable coach would act in similar situation (Rosenthal, 2004). The fourteen legal duties have evolved over time to establish this standard of care concept expected from a coach. Hence, incorporating the fourteen legal duties with an effective risk management strategy significantly reduces the possibility that courts will find a coach negligent. More importantly, every coach has the ethical duty to use such proactive measures so all participants can enjoy and learn in a safe, protective
Therefore, administrators and coaches must plan for reasonable supervision particularly where there is a foreseeable risk of injury to participants. In the context of athletics, reasonable supervision denotes how a trained coach would act under a similar situation (Rosenthal, 2004). Consequently, coaches must carefully evaluate each situation and decide if adequate supervision exists. In this evaluation process, coaches need to consider factors like “age, skill, experience, judgment, and physical condition of participants and the activity involved” (Cotton and Wolohan, 2012, p.169). For instance, coaches would need to use close individualized supervision when introducing complex skills like a new dive or a new gymnastics routine. On the other hand, coaches would take a more general supervisory role when in the locker room or in transportation situations such as on the bus or bus loading area where there is less potential for injury. As a girls’ junior high school basketball coach, the author faced a situation where adequate supervision did not happen in the locker room. The athletic director decided to accept the risk and did not require any supervision in this situation. In hindsight, the inadequate supervision exposed the school to unnecessary risk because a court may have found negligence due to the lack of …show more content…
In a legal context, the standard of care represents how a reasonable coach would act in similar situation (Rosenthal, 2004). The fourteen legal duties have evolved over time to establish this standard of care concept expected from a coach. Hence, incorporating the fourteen legal duties with an effective risk management strategy significantly reduces the possibility that courts will find a coach negligent. More importantly, every coach has the ethical duty to use such proactive measures so all participants can enjoy and learn in a safe, protective