As the school year begins, many school-aged children will try out for or join sports teams or leagues. Sports teams are an excellent way for children to stay active, work as a team, and develop athletic skills. Unfortunately, sports also always come with the risk of injuries. While many injuries, such as sprains or pulled muscles, may be unavoidable in sports, other injuries may be preventable and may occur because a coach or other team staff member was negligent. In such situations, that negligent party should be held responsible for all of the child’s injury-related losses.
How can a coach be negligent?
Though some sports injuries are inevitable, others occur directly because a coach or other party acted irresponsibly. Coaches are supposed to have the knowledge and capability to lead a team, while also keeping them safe. Unfortunately, there are several ways a coach or staff member might be negligent, including the following:
Pushing players beyond their age level, skill level, or physical abilities
Not properly monitoring play to prevent conflicts between players
Actively allowing or encouraging rough play
Not providing or requiring the proper safety equipment for players
Providing defective safety equipment
Not providing possibly injured players with medical attention
Encouraging players to continue playing when they may be possibly injured
Providing inadequate supervision in locker rooms and other facilities
Contact a Coweta County personal injury attorney for a free consultation
When you sign your child up for a sports league, whether school-sponsored or not, you should be able to trust that the coaches and other people hired to lead the team will do so in a safe and responsible manner. When coaches are negligent or overstep their bounds and your child is injured as a result, you and your family deserve to receive a fair settlement from the responsible party. At Shane Smith Law, our personal injury attorneys work to identify negligence in sports injuries and hold coaches and other employees liable. Contact our office today at (980) 246-2656 to schedule a free consultation.