Anyone who has taken a basic law course - sport focused or not - knows about negligence and the reasonable-person standard. If you are involved in high school sports in any form, and you don't know about negligence, I suggest you study up.
I found these two examples of how the actions - or inactions - of a few coaches ended up costing two schools - and the taxpayers - mucho dinero.
In Sallinen v. Upper Lake Union High School District, a high school football player suffered a fractured femur, torn meniscus and a possible torn ACL in his knee. After removing him from the field, coaches apparently left him alone in the locker room without making sure he had a ride home. While attempting to walk to a pay phone to call for a ride home, Sallinen fell again. His injuries required four surgeries to repair.
Total award: $250,000.
Duh: Are you kidding me? Uh, first, why not 911? And second, duh.
In Gill v. Tamalpais a high school basketball player ran into a metal pole that normally had a protective padding on it. On this day, it didn't, and she suffered a cut to her eye. To make matters worse, she fell off a counter in the trainers' room and knocked out a tooth.
Total award: $336,932
Duh: Coaches need to make sure their fields/court are in decent shape - it's not just up to the ADs. Would the coach let a puddle of water on the court? Would you allow running drills with basketballs everywhere?
The lesson here is make sure that your practice area is safe for your athletes. A quick scan can often do wonders to ward off lawsuits such as these.
Perhaps York Catholic shouldtake heed of this, their football field and stands are in horrendous condition. A lawsuit just waiting to happen, and we all know how the Catholic Church ends up paying out huge in court cases.