Kid Gets Hurt Playing Baseball and Mom Sues

[bmfc1]

http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2009/08/staten_island_mom_settles_suit.html

I'm sorry that the kid got hurt but as a former coach, this scares the crap out of me. Kids get hurt playing sports but, as we are all too aware of, that's part of the game. This is money that could have been used to buy equipment and fix fields. I'm sure it will also have a chilling effect on people that want to coach.

I'm just surprised that the boy wasn't a Met.

[nymr83]

any participant in a sport shoulsd assume the risks normally inherent in that sport, there might be some borderline cases (like getting run over as a catcher when running over the catcher isnt explicitly permitted or banned), but this, imo, isn't one.

[soupcan]

As a dad who has volunteered to be a little coach, I'm really disappointed to see that they settled and paid this family.

Maybe it would have cost more to continue defending the case but by showing people that if they bring a suit there is a good chance of a payday they've opened a can of worms here.

Little League solicits dads - any dads - to coach. We all have the best of intentions but I'm not a professional baseball coach. I don't have a degree in physical education. For all I know, I am teaching the kids the wrong way to slide. But if I don't volunteer to coach, who will?

So now what happens? All dads who want to coach have to go through a mandatory skills seminar? Paid for by who? Little League? The kids? The dads? We play against towns whose families are so poor that some of the kids can't even play because their parents don't have the $50 that it costs for the season.

[nymr83]

]the $50$125 that it costs for the season

the lawyers fixed that for you.

and lets not pretend a "skills seminar" is going to make kids slide "right", because a) there are major leaguers who don't know how and the trial lawyers are going to try and define what is "right" after the fact as any injury = wrong.

[soupcan]

Agreed about the skills seminar but at least it provides another line defense if sued.

Its like how the Long Island Railroad got sued after a woman fell between the train and the platform. Now there are big, garish yellow triangle warning signs plastered everywhere on the trains making certain that you are aware of the 'GAP'.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I always thought the leagues should hire folks with PE degrees as managers, letting the volunteer parents assist as coaches.

Some parents are nutty and the kids are better off with no supervision..

[Valadius]

I'm reminded of my brother's brief experience playing baseball.

He was probably about 10 years old. The both of us went to baseball tryouts. After taking one lap around the field, my brother went up to my dad, said "This is not for me," and went back to the car.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

In related news, a Hylan Blvd. Duane Reade reported a record $125,000 expenditure by a local 12-year-old boy on Exxxtra Hold gel and Axe body spray. (I'm such a bitch!)

I take it the liability waiver the parents are required to sign before the season isn't worth the paper it's printed on, practically speaking. (Lawyerin' folk?)

[bmfc1]

="Edgy DC":2x7v4v33]I always thought the leagues should hire folks with PE degrees as managers, letting the volunteer parents assist as coaches. Some parents are nutty and the kids are better off with no supervision..[/quote:2x7v4v33] In a perfect world, there would be paid coaches but "rec" leagues can't afford that. In fact, coaches and parents have to pay for many necessities beyond the registration fee. As a coach, I'd supply equipment beyond bats, balls and gloves (tees, tennis balls, "hitting stick", extra bases, kitty litter to dry the fields, etc.). I did it for the love of the game, to be with my son, and because I loved coaching. None of us are pros and we can't know everything. The SI coaches didn't deserve to be sued.

Met Hunter Aug 06 2009 10:15 AM

I coached my son's LL team for years. I took the responsibility of the safety of the other kids very serious. So did our league. Our coaches were required to attend both coaching and umpiring clinics. The clinics were taught by high school and college coaches that volunteered their time. Their angle for us was to try and teach the kids properly and they would take it at the next level. The league was very concerned about insurance and safety and were on top of any injuries that occured. Stationery bases were a big no-no at the younger level. Safety bases were used at first to avoid collisions. Helmets with masks for first base and pitcher, even safety vests for batters all at the younger levels. We were even required to inspect the field before games. We weren't in a wealthy neighborhood and the equipment wasn't always top notch. But the group was solid, responsible, and accountable. I'm not so sure I'd want to coach again without that type of structure. Especially after a suit like this one.

Edgy DC Aug 06 2009 10:50 AM

]The league was very concerned about insurance and safety and were on top of any injuries that occured. And that's the upside of lawsuits. They lead to new standards. The downside is when they lead to standards that are more irrational than any jury would need but nonetheless so costly that they price kids out of playing.

Rockin' Doc Aug 06 2009 11:27 AM

I hate that the kid was hurt playing sports, but it is a part of life. I feel even worse for the young man because he has to grow up with an overprotective that apparently has no sense of right from wrong . People need to learn to accept responsibility for their actions.

metsmarathon Aug 06 2009 11:35 AM

i'd like to know what the injury rate on that team was. did every kid who attempted to slide blow out their knee, or was it something that this kid did wrong? i'd also like to sue each and every teacher on whose exams and homework assignments i ever failed to score 100%. because, if these mooks were doing their job right, and teaching me properly, i'd never ever get a thing wrong ever, not even on the first try, or if i wasn't paying attention during a lesson, or if i was lazy or foolish or just plain doing it wrong.

[Met Hunter]

I coached my son's LL team for years. I took the responsibility of the safety of the other kids very serious. So did our league. Our coaches were required to attend both coaching and umpiring clinics. The clinics were taught by high school and college coaches that volunteered their time. Their angle for us was to try and teach the kids properly and they would take it at the next level. The league was very concerned about insurance and safety and were on top of any injuries that occured. Stationery bases were a big no-no at the younger level. Safety bases were used at first to avoid collisions. Helmets with masks for first base and pitcher, even safety vests for batters all at the younger levels. We were even required to inspect the field before games. We weren't in a wealthy neighborhood and the equipment wasn't always top notch. But the group was solid, responsible, and accountable. I'm not so sure I'd want to coach again without that type of structure. Especially after a suit like this one.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]The league was very concerned about insurance and safety and were on top of any injuries that occured.

And that's the upside of lawsuits. They lead to new standards.

The downside is when they lead to standards that are more irrational than any jury would need but nonetheless so costly that they price kids out of playing.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I hate that the kid was hurt playing sports, but it is a part of life. I feel even worse for the young man because he has to grow up with an overprotective that apparently has no sense of right from wrong . People need to learn to accept responsibility for their actions.

[metsmarathon]

i'd like to know what the injury rate on that team was. did every kid who attempted to slide blow out their knee, or was it something that this kid did wrong?

i'd also like to sue each and every teacher on whose exams and homework assignments i ever failed to score 100%. because, if these mooks were doing their job right, and teaching me properly, i'd never ever get a thing wrong ever, not even on the first try, or if i wasn't paying attention during a lesson, or if i was lazy or foolish or just plain doing it wrong.