No padding on backboard

[jas4yf]

Originally Posted by Randa16

My biggest thing is to cover my ass on things like this. If you have both coaches saying play and someone gets hurt it’s on you in the end because you have to explain why you allowed teams to play with goals that illegal. I call my assignor and if I can’t get ahold of him I get the AD’s on the court to give a yes or a no and explain its on them if anything happens

Neither team had an athletic director in attendance. This was the first question we asked. Unfortunately, this was a game between two small schools, the host school used this off-site location (which was essentially the equivalent of a YMCA type location) as their host site. The head coach, the kids at the scorer's table and a mom taking tickets were the only people identified to us as 'school officials'

[Kelvin green]

Everybody asks what do the athletic directors or governing officials say.... but
I’m going to ask what would your lawyer say?

Not enforcing a safety rule is never a good idea. Exposes the officiating crew to liability if an injury occurs when ignoring a safety rule. .. the coaches agreeing doesn’t help with liabilities.. in fact based on what I have seen from the California Supreme Court .......others generally do have a duty not to increase the risk of harm beyond what is inherent in the sport. (Kahn v. East Side Union High School )

The California Supreme Court has also noted, in dicta, that those responsible for maintaining athletic facilities have a similar duty not to increase the inherent risks. With intercollegiate sports competition, the host college or university owes a duty to home and visiting participants alike not to increase the risks inherent in the sport. I suspect they’d apply it to high school sports....

I wonder if padding wasn’t available or could have been.. poly high carb vinyl pad ( whatever that is) may not have been available but something else that was reasonable....even then that may not absolve liability

For most girls games I wouldn’t worry, but above the rim play would concern me for boys...

Some food for thought from a different perspective.....

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Kelvin green

(Kahn v. East Side Union High School)

Swimmer breaks neck, loses case against High School and Coach - Sports Injury Law

I wonder if officials (not coaches, or school districts) have ever been sued for negligence?

http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu...text=sportslaw

[Kelvin green]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

I wonder if officials (not coaches, or school districts) have ever been sued for negligence?

The answer is yes. Whether they win or not is a different story..Ask the football officials in Texas what it is like to face a 10 million dollar lawsuit. They eventually won but still...

Whether the standard in a state is negligence or gross negligence.. makes a difference. i think most states would follow the gross negligence standard. I posted the generalities of California becuase the game was played there .( and that’s where I’m licnsed) .. and of course this post does not create any attorney client relationship and are id applicable in all states

[CJP]

Originally Posted by Kelvin green

Everybody asks what do the athletic directors or governing officials say.... but
I’m going to ask what would your lawyer say?

Not enforcing a safety rule is never a good idea. Exposes the officiating crew to liability if an injury occurs when ignoring a safety rule. .. the coaches agreeing doesn’t help with liabilities.. in fact based on what I have seen from the California Supreme Court .......others generally do have a duty not to increase the risk of harm beyond what is inherent in the sport. (Kahn v. East Side Union High School )

The California Supreme Court has also noted, in dicta, that those responsible for maintaining athletic facilities have a similar duty not to increase the inherent risks. With intercollegiate sports competition, the host college or university owes a duty to home and visiting participants alike not to increase the risks inherent in the sport. I suspect they’d apply it to high school sports....

I wonder if padding wasn’t available or could have been.. poly high carb vinyl pad ( whatever that is) may not have been available but something else that was reasonable....even then that may not absolve liability

For most girls games I wouldn’t worry, but above the rim play would concern me for boys...

Some food for thought from a different perspective.....

Very interesting. We officiated a DH earlier this winter where there were multiple slips due to moisture on the floor. I bet we called 6 travels due to it (kids hitting the floor). Multiple kids off the ball fell as well. I was worried I would slip while transitioning. I am guessing it was do to the weather outside (lots of snow), location of the entrance to the gym, and the sidelines being very close to the bleachers. The host school did everything they could to keep it dry but it was still and issue. The chances of a kid injuring themselves due to the moisture were much higher than the backboard issue we are discussing. I never thought about stopping the game and a lawsuit never crossed my mind.

[BryanV21]

Originally Posted by CJP

Very interesting. We officiated a DH earlier this winter where there were multiple slips due to moisture on the floor. I bet we called 6 travels due to it (kids hitting the floor). Multiple kids off the ball fell as well. I was worried I would slip while transitioning. I am guessing it was do to the weather outside (lots of snow), location of the entrance to the gym, and the sidelines being very close to the bleachers. The host school did everything they could to keep it dry but it was still and issue. The chances of a kid injuring themselves due to the moisture were much higher than the backboard issue we are discussing. I never thought about stopping the game and a lawsuit never crossed my mind.

Maybe because there's no rule specifying slippery floors?

I'm not criticizing those that would play. I'm merely trying to cover my ass and trying to do what's best when it comes to the rules and the interests of coaches, players, administrators, etc.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by CJP

Very interesting. We officiated a DH earlier this winter where there were multiple slips due to moisture on the floor. I bet we called 6 travels due to it (kids hitting the floor). Multiple kids off the ball fell as well. I was worried I would slip while transitioning. I am guessing it was do to the weather outside (lots of snow), location of the entrance to the gym, and the sidelines being very close to the bleachers. The host school did everything they could to keep it dry but it was still and issue. The chances of a kid injuring themselves due to the moisture were much higher than the backboard issue we are discussing. I never thought about stopping the game and a lawsuit never crossed my mind.

You should have. An NBA game was postponed last week for "moisture on the floor." Safety issues need to be taken seriously.

I can't stress this enough: game officials have two jobs--1. Enforce the rules of the game fairly, 2. Look out for the safety of the participants.

[BryanV21]

Girl shoots the ball, but it hits the bottom of the backboard and comes back down and breaks the girl's nose.

Parents sue on the grounds that if the required padding were there the ball wouldn't have come back so fast.

Ridiculous? Probably. Possible? Yeah. And I'd want to make sure my name wasn't attached to the lawsuit.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[rotationslim]

Oh my, BryanV21 you have left me speechless. You win. I concede. Oy Vey.

[BryanV21]

Originally Posted by rotationslim

Oh my, BryanV21 you have left me speechless. You win. I concede. Oy Vey.

Yeah. Why strive for an answer when we can all simply agree with your common sense?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[rotationslim]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

Yeah. Why strive for an answer when we can all simply agree with your common sense?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I quit because you in fact stopped "striving for an answer" and abandoned all connection with reality and reason in your striving to be right. I figured if it is that important to you to be right, I would give it to you. You're welcome.

[BryanV21]

Originally Posted by rotationslim

I quit because you in fact stopped "striving for an answer" and abandoned all connection with reality and reason in your striving to be right. I figured if it is that important to you to be right, I would give it to you. You're welcome.

No, me asking SOMEONE ELSE (the NFHS, your state association, your assignor, or another authority figure) to give us a definitive answer is not at all about me being right. On the other hand, you saying your common sense is to be taken above all else is most definitely about you being right.

Nor did you quit by putting my name in your post.

Reality is some people will look to sue or at least blame others for silly things like my aforementioned situation. Covering our asses is not dumb at all.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

Girl shoots the ball, but it hits the bottom of the backboard and comes back down and breaks the girl's nose.

Parents sue on the grounds that if the required padding were there the ball wouldn't have come back so fast.

Ridiculous? Probably. Possible? Yeah. And I'd want to make sure my name wasn't attached to the lawsuit.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Bryan:

A very good example of a lawsuit waiting to happen.

MTD, Sr.

[deecee]

You could get sued for cancelling the game. Stop being so scared of a lawsuit and just take steps to minimize your risks. If this is like a majority of HS basketball games, this will not be a safety issue. If it's a game with a bunch of tall and athletic kids then it will be a safety issue.

I don't think a blanket "call it off" works here.

[jeremy341a]

I would have played the game if the Coaches said there was no concern of the players being injured.

For those that say that isn't good enough why would a call to the assignor or whoever else saying it was ok make any difference. It would still be me ignoring the rule and playing.