I work for a college that has traditionally allowed UNATTACHED athletes in its Outdoor Track meet each year.
We are now getting questions from our Administration about this and liability protection. Ostensibly, if an ATTACHED athlete from another school gets hurt, they would be covered by their school's insurance policy.
What would be a best practice for indemnifying our school against a jilted and injured UNATTACHED runner? Should we just not be worrying?
Not a lawyer but I've read a bit about activity/recreation/sport liability and spoken to a lawyer buddy about it. My general understanding is that it's pretty safe as long as you are not doing anything that could be considered "negligence."
For example, if your track was in a very bad state and had potholes, some unattached runner might have a good way to squeeze some money from you when they twist their ankle. OR you had your throwers launching shots right at the track and it wanged on of them, that'd be pretty negligent.
Almost every other case, such as a tumble in a race, pulled muscle, etc. are all expected risks you accept when participating in the sport.
K.D.Levin wrote:
I work for a college that has traditionally allowed UNATTACHED athletes in its Outdoor Track meet each year.
We are now getting questions from our Administration about this and liability protection. Ostensibly, if an ATTACHED athlete from another school gets hurt, they would be covered by their school's insurance policy.
What would be a best practice for indemnifying our school against a jilted and injured UNATTACHED runner? Should we just not be worrying?
Never heard of this being an issue before, but if your AD is concerned you could always just have unattached runners sign a standard liability waiver when they pick up their number (or however your check-in process works).
As a former unattached runner who entered the occasional college meet, I was always so grateful for the chance to race that I'd gladly jump through whatever hoops were required.
K.D.Levin wrote:
I work for a college that has traditionally allowed UNATTACHED athletes in its Outdoor Track meet each year.
We are now getting questions from our Administration about this and liability protection. Ostensibly, if an ATTACHED athlete from another school gets hurt, they would be covered by their school's insurance policy.
What would be a best practice for indemnifying our school against a jilted and injured UNATTACHED runner? Should we just not be worrying?
I would suggest getting a waiver that is similar to ones that you would use for a local road race, turkey trot, etc. to cover yourself and the school.
Your college campus should have a lawyer who can be a resource for this issue for any/all campus visitors. You could ask about having unattached runners sign a waiver similar to what is done with a road race. You may be able get by with the "ski lift ticket model" of assumed risks with an activity. You an ask unattached runners to be USATF members, then you will want to find out if their insurance covers competing at an NCAA event (versus a USATF event).