assistant coach in a whellchair on the court

[hey_zebra]

This actually happened on one of my 3 person crews this season. The gym only had fan bleachers on the side opposite from the table. On the table side, there were folding metal chairs with padded seats and back and the scorers' table, which had padding along the top, sides and bottom. It also had breakaway plexi panels that move on impact. There was 4 feet from the side line to the out of bounds line.

There was a quadraplegic man (we found out later that he was the head coach's brother who was injured six years ago when he came home and found someone burgularizing his home) in a large motorized wheelchair sitting between the table and his team's bench. The front of his chair almost touched the sideline.

We were worried that one of the players and this man might be injured if there was contact. The player's parents might also want to sue us if there was a serious injury!

We asked the head coach if he could have this man sit in an alcove located at the end of the team's bench. The alsove contained doors which lead to the locker rooms. The assistant coach could still see the game and participate in coaching. The head coach complied without as much as a peep.

After the game, the paralyzed man and his parents tried to read us the riot act.

How would you have handled this?