Todd Seidler

Planning and Designing Safe Facilities

T hose who manage physical education, athletic, and recreation programs have a number of legal duties that they are expected to carry out. Among these is an obligation to take reasonable precautions to ensure safe programs and facilities. According to Hronek and Spengler (2002, p. 273), “The law recognizes a duty owed by coaches, recreation managers, and their staff to provide safe facilities for both participants and spectators.” Physical education and sports facilities that are poorly planned, designed, or constructed may lead to many problems for program leaders in those facilities. A poorly designed facility may limit the programs that can be offered; make the facility harder to operate, maintain, and supervise; and signifi cantly increase the participants’ exposure to hazardous conditions. These factors can lead to a greater likelihood of injury and can increase the organization’s exposure to claims of negligence. A poorly designed facility can usually be traced to a lack of expertise or effort on the part of the planning and design team. It is not uncommon for a sport, physical education, or recreation facility to be designed by an architect who has little or no experience working with that type of building. For persons without the proper background and understanding of the unique aspects of sport and recreation facilities, many opportunities for mistakes exist that may lead to increased problems related to safety, operations, and staffi ng. Design problems commonly found in activity facilities include inadequate safety zones around courts and fi elds, poorly planned pedestrian traffi c fl ow through activity areas, poor access control and security, lack of proper storage space, and the use of improper building materials. Safety problems related to design are often diffi cult, expensive, or impossible to fi x once the facility has been built, and especially once the facility is in use. These facilities must be planned and designed by professionals with activity-related knowledge and experience and with the input of appropriate faculty, coaches, and staff who will work in the facility. One essential aspect of planning multipurpose facilities is to consider all foreseeable activities that may take place within its walls. A gymnasium designed specifi cally for recreation will be very different than one meant for large groups of spectators. By identifying as many potential uses as possible and planning for each, many problems can be reduced or eliminated before construction even starts. This article will provide a brief look at a few of the areas where errors in the planning and design process often create hazardous conditions within physical activity facilities; it does not cover the safe If all hazards were obvious, this article would be unnecessary.

Prayer 101: Deciphering the Law — What Every Coach and Administrator Should Know

Sport and religion have been linked in many societies and are still a part of many traditions today. In recent years, the topic of prayer in interscholastic sport has received public attention due to many high-profile court cases. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000) was the landmark case that prohibited school officials, administrators, and employees from initiating, leading, sponsoring, or promoting prayer at interscholastic athletic events. Unfortunately, the practice still continues today and is most prevalent in the sport of football in the Southern states. Public school administrators and coaches need to be aware of the current laws regarding prayer and interscholastic sport. This article highlights key court cases and includes several steps that administrators and coaches can take so that religious controversy is minimized at interscholastic athletic events.

Injuries in the Buffer Zone

4 JOPERD • Volume 78 No. 2 • February 2007 In order to provide a reasonably safe environment, most sport and recreational activities require a certain amount of space between the activity area and any obstructions such as walls, benches, and equipment. This space is commonly referred to as a buffer zone or safety zone. Too few professionals recognize the importance of maintaining adequate buffer zones around many of the activities they offer, and there is surprisingly little agreement on how much space is enough when it comes to protecting participants from collisions with obstructions.

An exploratory examination of risk-management practices in South Korean community sport clubs*

Abstract Club sport participation in South Korea is increasing at an unprecedented pace. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the risk-management policies and practices of sport clubs in South Korea. Specifically, this study investigated a broad spectrum of issues including the number of injury-related lawsuits, risk-management polices/practices, and legal implications in sport clubs. This study was conducted using a self-developed 36-item questionnaire that was distributed by five trained survey couriers who obtained completed surveys from 304 sport club managers by visiting various sport/recreation facilities in South Korea. Overall, the results of this study revealed that risk-management policies and practices of sport clubs were not conducted in a consistent manner although most managers experienced or observed a significant number of sport-club-related injuries. The vast majority of injuries, however, did not result in lawsuits.

Softball: Nothing Soft about It

Softball is a popular sport in the United States and continues to grow internationally. It is a team sport that enables females and males of all age groups to participate. Softball is an enjoyable and exciting sport and provides significant health benefits, such as enhancing fitness as well as upper- and lower-body strength. Additionally, important social skills can be learned by interacting with coaches and teammates. Although softball has many positive effects on participants, inherent risks could lead to injuries. Thus, it is important for physical education teachers, coaches and practitioners to provide a safe environment for participants in order to make the experience of softball safe and enjoyable. Physical education programs should also ensure that teachers are protected from liability. The main purpose of this article is to call attention to the types of injures that are common in softball, as well as to the related legal liability and risk management. This article also offers ways to prevent softball injuries and describes safety equipment that can reduce injuries.

An Exploratory Study of the Transportation Practices Utilized by NCAA Universities: Preventative Measures for Coaches and Administrators

Currently more than 1,000 NCAA member institutions have intercollegiate athletic programs. The athletic teams from all of these institutions must travel in order to participate in sanctioned competitions as well as some training sessions. Transportation methods vary and consist of airplanes, chartered buses, 12 and 15-passenger vans, university-owned vehicles, minibuses, and student-athlete vehicles. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine and compare the current transportation practices of Division I, Division II, and Division III teams, in particular those transportation practices involving teams for sports which are typically non-revenue producing. A total of 120 colleges were randomly selected for this study, and 43% of these institutions responded. Results indicate that many teams are not using the safest methods to transport their athletes. Coaches are frequently called upon as drivers and 15-passenger vans are used at a high rate. Schools also failed to implement the majority of the ...