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

[Rich]

If this was a game where I thought a head could actually hit that board, I'd hesitate.

Small school game or girls game? Different to me.

[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

[CJP]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

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

Our pregame duties require us to inspect and approve the court.

[BryanV21]

Originally Posted by CJP

Our pregame duties require us to inspect and approve the court.

I figured all the concerns happened during the game and weren't apparent during pregame.

BTW, I not saying you did anything wrong, just pointing out that the rule book doesn't specifically mention slippery courts while it clearly talks about the padding on the backboard.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[CJP]

Originally Posted by bryanv21

i figured all the concerns happened during the game and weren't apparent during pregame.

Btw, i not saying you did anything wrong, just pointing out that the rule book doesn't specifically mention slippery courts while it clearly talks about the padding on the backboard.

Sent from my sm-g955u using tapatalk

10-4

[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.

[CJP]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

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.

I think you are correct.

[rotationslim]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

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.

I cant imagine anyone disagreeing with that statement. That isnt what is in question in this thread. The issue is- whether or not the condition described is a threat to the safety of the participants. Just because other ref would use critical thinking skills to evaluate the risk, then decide to continue the game does not mean they dont value safety. It means their conlusion was slightly different than yours. Saying they somehow dont care about safety isnt fair.

If you really wanted to put some critical thinking skills on this, and not just rule by rote, you would take a holistic view of safety, and consider the added, and very real risks, of making the players and fans make a second four hour round trip by car or bus to attend the second attempt to get the game in is worth the possibility of a broken fingernail when a player scrapes the bottom of the backboard.