Sports Law • Risk Management

Blogs

Lacrosse: Contact Sport?

Even though I have seen men’s professional lacrosse before, this weekend I witnessed my first collegiate women’s lacrosse game. According to US Lacrosse, in the United States the sport is the both the oldest and the fastest growing at both the high school and collegiate level. I recently learned that men’s lacrosse is a contact sport, while women’s lacrosse is a non-contact sport. Thus, there are different rules and protective equipment requirements depending on whether it is men or women playing.

Here are some of the differences between men’s and women’s lacrosse:

Punishment in Sport: Deadly Consequences?

Should there be punishment in sport? One father of a middle school girl in Indiana apparently does not agree with punishment in sport. The father did not think it was appropriate for his daughter’s basketball coach to make her run laps for arguing with another teammate. According to a Yahoo! Sports article from March 16th, the father was so upset with his daughter’s punishment, the dad administered his own punishment to the coach by socking him in head until he was unconscious. The incident may have turned deadly had another coach not intervened.

New ADA Swimming Pool Access Requirements

The U.S. Department of Justice updated the Americans with Disability (ADA) Standards for Accessibile Design on July 26, 2010, establishing new requirements for accessibility for public pools. Specifically, one means of access is required for a pool that is under 300 linear feet in size and 2 means of access need to be available for pools larger than that size.

Sports Safety: Remember to Use Your Turn Signal

Motor vehicle drivers are required by law to communicate with other drivers by using their turn signals before changing lanes or turning. When this law is followed, accidents are prevented. In sport, athletes generally don’t have electronic “turn signals” and so when they make sudden moves whether as a skier, runner, cyclist, swimmer, basketball player, or soccer player, they may plow into another athlete and cause injury.

Triathlon Risk Management: The USAT Advantage

USA Triathlon, like many national governing bodies of sport provide multi-sports race directors the opportunity to sanction their events for a fee in return for insurance, use of USAT branding, liability waiver form, risk management expertise, inclusion of their race in the athlete ranking system, use of USAT Competitive Rules and enforcement by certified officials, access to educational opportunities and race director certification, and more. What puzzles me is why any race director of a multi-sport race would choose to go it alone without this sanction.

Hockey Dad Accused of Shining Laser at Goalie: The Risks of Lasers in Sport

A hockey Dad allegedly pointed a laser beam into the eyes of the goalie of the opposing hockey team playing his daughter’s high school team in an important game this week. Once his dangerous behavior was observed by the school’s assistant superintendent, she ordered that the man leave the rink. The outcome of the game was not changed even though there was an appeal. The man was charged with disturbing the peace and will have to appear in court to face such charges. On the morning news, I heard that he was or might be charged with assault and battery. This is yet another case in which a parent interferes with his child’s game.