Sports Law • Risk Management

Blogs

Skydivers Survive Because of Brave Risk Management of Hot Air Balloon Pilot

Earlier in the week, a 63 year old hot air balloon pilot heroically saved 5 skydivers’ lives by calmly telling them that they needed to jump immediately after he had maneuvered the balloon above a 15 acre field. Pilot Edward Ristaino must have been aware of the grave danger of the storm that had hit and exercised risk management decision making when he took action to save the skydivers and risk his own life.

The Advantage of Mediation of Sport Disputes

Is your organization involved in litigation or are you dealing with a dispute between 2 or more parties? Litigation is costly, time consuming, necessitates hiring expensive lawyers and means placing the outcome in the hands of a Judge or jury. There are alternative dispute resolutions that should be considered before or after a lawsuit is filed. Two such ADRs are arbitration and mediation.

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.