Running head: YOUTH SPORTS INJURY 1

Youth Sports Injury: A Trending Issue Posing a Serious Threat to the Future of Sports

Entertainment

Thomas W. Green

First Colonial High School, Legal Studies Academy

YOUTH SPORTS INJURY 2

Abstract

This paper will focus on the issues surrounding the growing epidemic that is youth sports injury,

a problem that seriously threatens the future of one of Americas biggest industries; sports

entertainment. From the causes of such injuries to the legal aspects of youth sports injury, this

document will explore the root of injuries in amateur athletics as well as who should be held

liable for said injuries. Legal analysis of the issue at hand will be made and an in depth look at

the reasons, causes, and possible prevention methods of youth sports injuries will be taken.
YOUTH SPORTS INJURY 3

Youth Sports Injury: A Trending Issue Posing a Serious Threat to the Future of Sports

Entertainment

Youth sports injuries have plagued this nations amateur athletes for as long as there have

been youth sports; however, there has been a recent spike in the volume of such injuries, which

poses a serious threat not only to the immediate and long term health of our young athletes, but it

threatens the future of one of the biggest industries in North America: sports entertainment.

1.24 million children were seen in emergency rooms for sports injuries in 2013 that averaged

out to 3,397 a day, 141 per hour and one every 25 seconds.(Harman, 2014).

The Value of Professional Sports

Sports entertainment is one of the United States biggest industries, and it is continuing to

grow at an exponential rate. The National Football League is projected to bring in over $13

billion, which will be more than twice as much revenue as they did in 2010 (Belzer, 2016). The

National Basketball Association was responsible for over $5.2 billion in 2015 (Jaaskelainen,

July, 2016). The National Hockey League made more than $2.9 billion in 2015, a record amount

for the second straight year (Jaaskelainen, May, 2016). The NCAA, a nonprofit organization for

amateur collegiate athletics, made over $913 million last year (Berkowitz, 2015). And Major

League Baseball tallied over $9.5 billion in 2016, breaking the previous years revenue record by

more than $500 million (Brown, 2015).

After learning the staggering amount of money that professional sports bring in, it is clear

to see just how large of an industry that it is, and in order to protect the future of professional

sports, and to keep improving the level of play within those sports, our young athletes must be

taken care of.

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Baseball and its Role in Youth Sports Injury

While youth sports are becoming more and more prevalent in todays culture, the risk for

injury has increased ten- fold. There are countless ways in which a young athlete can injure him

or herself, so for the sake of brevity, this paper will focus on a few particular types of injuries

that occur most frequently in baseball. In recent years, young baseball players have been more

and more susceptible to injuries to the throwing arm, a key asset to any player, and without the

use of a throwing arm, half of the game is eliminated. Although baseball has a lower rate of

injury than most other sports, there are still far too many injuries taking place, and the baseball

arm is getting hurt far too often. Of the major league baseball players injured from 2002- 2008,

most of them were pitchers. A quote from a statistical journal documents this trend, They found

the general rate of injury was 3.61 per 1000 A-Es. Pitchers had 34% higher injury rate than

fielders. Among all player injuries, upper extremity injuries accounted for 51.4%, while lower

extremity injuries were 30.6% (Shaginaw, 2014). The arm is crucial to the game of baseball. It

is used repetitively throughout the course of any given baseball game, or any game similar to

baseball for that matter. The pitcher starts with ball on the mound, he then will contort his body

in such a fashion as to deliver the ball to the catcher with the most possible force, but perhaps the

biggest part of the pitchers delivery is what goes on with the arm. The arm is swung down and

then up, as if it were some kind of a medieval catapult; then it is brought over the head and

towards home plate, using extreme force to pull down and release the ball with as much velocity

as possible. This complex motion may look smooth and natural to the naked eye; however, there

is an unbelievable amount of stress put on both the elbow and shoulder during this motion,

enough stress to cause serious injury in some cases. With all of this being said, it is clear to see

that the pitcher has to deal with the greatest risk for arm injury, but the pitcher is only one facet
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of the game. After the ball is pitched, the batter will have a chance to hit the ball. If he is able to

make contact and put the ball in play, then the strain is put on the fielders, or the other eight

players who have taken on the defensive obligations, and if they come into to contact with the

ball, more often than not, they will be forced to use their arm to make a throw to the necessary

teammate in order to further the game. While the position players are less likely to hurt

themselves, it is still a possibility for them to be unfortunate enough to have to deal with an arm

injury. Now lets say that the batter misses the ball, or chooses not to swing, then the burden is

put on the catcher, which is the position where the player has the greatest chance of an encounter

with an arm injury, after the pitcher of course. The catcher is highly susceptible to this kind of

throwing related injury because of the sheer volume of throws that they are asked to make

throughout the course of any given ball game, and the varying amounts of force and effort

required to make different throws is a large contributing factor to the high risk of injury for the

catcher.

An In-depth look at Arm Injuries

So now that it has been made clear just how much the throwing arm is used in the game,

we can focus on why the arm can be injured and what causes the arm to fail in most cases. After

interviewing First Colonial Baseball Coach and former college baseball player, Gary Hodges,

several of the possible causes of arm injury were identified. One of the most common causes of

arm injury as listed by Coach Hodges is overuse, and simply throwing too much and too

frequently. Overuse can lead to many different kinds of injury, most of which are not very

serious, according to Hodges; however, some can be serious, and with the rising volume of these

minor overuse injuries, they are leading to more serious injuries later in the athletes career.

Overuse type injuries can be attributed to a multitude of factors ranging from improper coaching
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to players failing to acknowledge their own limitations. In cases where the coach is neglectful

and allows players to throw to the point of injury, it is unclear as to where the blame should be

placed, and this is where the legal aspect of youth sports injury comes into play.(G. Hodges,

personal communication, November 23, 2016)

Liability, and Influential Court Rulings

When something bad happens resulting in injury, in most cases someone can be held

liable, and in sports this general rule can be applied as well. There is a great debate among

professionals regarding the answer to the question that is key in determining who truly is at fault

in a sports related injury, and that question is whether or not the athlete must assume certain risks

when participating in sports, and if this can be made applicable, how much risk must the athlete

assume?

There have been a number of court cases in the past that have dealt with this very

question, or something closely relatable to the main question. In the case of Beckett v. Clinton

Prairie School Corp., 504 N.E. 20 552 (Ind. 1987), an 18 year old varsity baseball player

sustained an injury after running into a fellow teammate as both of them went for a fly ball in the

outfield. The court ruled that the players were playing with a reasonable amount of caution and

awareness, and that the level of awareness that a player is expected to have should be determined

based on the age and experience of said athlete. For example, a 6 year old t-ball player should

not be held to the same standards of reasonable behavior as a 16 year old varsity baseball player,

and at the same time, the younger the player is, the less responsibility he should have in regards

to his own health. In other words, the younger the athlete is, the more supervision he or she

should require in order to prevent against such preventable injuries. This case relates to the

problem of overuse type injuries that many young baseball players (pitchers in particular) face,
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and that begs the question of coach responsibility and liability as well. This is where the

responsibility of player health falls on the coach, leading to the next question; at what point

should a coach be held liable for a sports related injury of a young athlete?

Coaches and their Responsibilities

The responsibility of coaches in regards to the prevention of youth sports injury remains

to be in question today in youth sports culture. When does a coach need to step in? Where can

the line be drawn?

The root of this problem can most likely be traced back to the experience and

qualifications of the coach. A good coach must be both educated and up to date on all

precautionary measures pertaining to arm health, and in order for a coach to promote health and

safety to his players, he must be knowledgeable of the practices considered necessary and proper

to the cause of the protection of young athletes.

Coach Supervision

Coaches should be held responsible for watching over their players at all times. In many

cases of youth sports injury, the injury could have been easily prevented if the coach was paying

proper attention to the athletes, and this goes back to making sure that the coach is properly

qualified. In the case of Blake Hunt, a young football player was seriously injured due to a

situation where the coach was not as vigilant as he could have been. Below is an account of the

case involving Blake Hunt.

Supervision is one of the most fundamental duties that coaches, athletic administrators

and sports organizations owe program participants. In fact, when a player is injured and a

lawsuit results, improper supervision or a lack of supervision are among the most

common charges leveled against the defendants.

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Therefore, if a lot of young people are involved in a dangerous activity in which

they have little or no experience, the athletic association or school will need to provide

more than one coach in order to a) control the large group, and b) give more attention and

direct instruction to all the participants. In considering whether an organization has

provided proper supervision, the courts may also consider whether warnings of the

dangers inherent in the activity were provided to the participants, whether the coach or

instructor communicated and enforced rules of the game or activity, and whether the

participants were equally matched for the sport or activity they were playing. (Woolan,

2010)

This quote from John T. Woolan from his 2010 article, Catastrophic Football Injury leads

to $8 million Settlement, shows just how important that coaching supervision and responsibility

is to young athletes, as it could very easily be putting their livelihood on the line. To conclude

this section, we can say that coaches must be qualified and have proper training or experience to

protect their players the best of their ability.

The Importance of the Warm Up

The stretch and warm up components of the game or workout are crucial to the safety of

players and the prevention of injury. Here is a quote describing the importance of stretching and

getting a proper warm up before doing any kind of physical activity from the Harvard medical

journal:

Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to

maintain a range of motion in the joints.

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Regular stretching keeps muscles long, lean, and flexible, and this means that

exertion "won't put too much force on the muscle itself," says Nolan. Healthy muscles

also help a person with balance problems to avoid falls. (Harvard Medical Journal, 2013)

Legal Aspects of Sports Preparation

The legal aspects associated with the importance of the proper warmup and stretch still

remain unclear; however, when looking deeply into the issue, one can determine that this leads

back to the more centralized issue of how much responsibility and liability that an athlete must

take on when participating in a sport. Judge Anthony P. Calisi stated in an article about assumed

risk in relation to amateur sports injury that, Most sports injuries occur without negligence.

When we voluntarily engage in a sport, we know, or should know, there always exists the

possibility of injury (Calisi, 2014). The way one can interpret this in relation to youth sports

injury is by finding a case of injury to a young athlete, determining whether the actions in

question were in fact negligible, and then concluding whether or not there was unnecessary risk,

and if there is, then someone is liable. When an athlete agrees to play a sport, he or she is also

agreeing to take on the assumed risk associated with that sport.

Injuries Related to Improper Guidance or Technique

In sports, form, posture, and technique is critical to both performance and safety. A quote

from the Sports Medicine Information Organization explains the above statement well. Any

overuse injuries are attributed to doing repetitive actions with poor technique; this can cause

excessive pressure to be applied to particular joints or muscles which can contribute to an

injury(Sports Medicine Information, 2013) An example of poor technique- related injury in

baseball would be if a pitcher continuously throws the ball with incorrect form, and this can be

incredibly detrimental to the players health.

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Improper Form in Relation to Baseball Pitchers

When a pitcher deliver the ball to home plate, he is using incredible force, the harder he

throws the ball, leading to the more force he must use. This puts pitchers at a great risk of injury

due to the strain that all of the force puts on his elbow and shoulder, and that paired with the

possibility of him using poor or incorrect form, could result in a disastrous situation. For

example, if a pitcher does not use his legs or core enough while delivering his pitch, he will be

putting far too much stress on his arm, particularly his elbow and shoulder, which are the most

common types of arm injuries. If the pitcher has the right form and technique, however, he will

be putting himself in a much better position to be both successful and healthy. The coach should

also play a role making sure the player are doing everything safely so that they dont get hurt.

This goes back to the requirement for the coach to be educated and up to date with the latest

procedures regarding player health and safety.

Comparative Law

For the comparative law section of this paper, the laws regarding youth sports injuries,

concussions in this case, from Virginia will be compared with the concussion laws from

Washington State. Washington State has been chosen as a state to compare Virginias concussion

laws to because it was the first state in the country to require removal and clearance for Return

to Play in regards to student athletes suspected to have suffered from a head or brain injury

while playing a sport (Center for Disease Control, 2015).

Virginia law requires that each student athletes parents must attend a mandatory

informational meeting provided by the local school division before the athlete can participate in

school sanctioned sports (V.A Code 22.1-271.5., 2014). Virginia law also states, A student-

athlete suspected by that student-athlete's coach, athletic trainer, or team physician of sustaining
YOUTH SPORTS INJURY 11
a concussion or brain injury in a practice or game shall be removed from the activity at that time

(V.A Code 22.1-271.5., 2014). The Virginia Code also mandates that A student-athlete who has

been removed from play, evaluated, and suspected to have a concussion or brain injury shall not

return to play that same day nor until (i) evaluated by an appropriate licensed health care

provider as determined by the Board of Education and (ii) in receipt of written clearance to

return to play from such licensed health care provider (V.A Code 22.1-271.5., 2014).

In Washington, they have adopted the Zackery Lystedt law, which states, if a kid is

suspected of having a concussion, he must be removed from play and can only return if and

when he or she has been cleared by a licensed healthcare professional (Washington State Law,

2010).

The Virginia Code and Washington Law regarding youth sports injuries, concussions in

school sports in particular, are very similar, and the reason for that is because the Virginia Code

was based on the revolutionary Washington law that tackled concussion protocol in school

sports. These laws both do a good job to both prevent injury, and also to treat athletes who

appear to be injured. The Virginia laws on youth sports injury are all up to date, and this proves

that the state has the youth sports injury epidemic in a good place as they are doing everything

they can to preserve the great sports of this country.

Conclusion

High school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries and 500,000 doctor

visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year (CDC, 2015). The epidemic that is youth sports

injury is one that is sweeping the nation and leaving a path of destruction and broken dreams in

its path.
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In this paper, many topics focused on the causes and effects of youth sports injury were

addressed and discussed. The legal aspects of injuries to amateur athletes were also analyzed and

discussed, and the assumption of risks associated with youth sports was also focused on in this

paper. The liability issues regarding injuries to young athletes and who should be held

responsible in the unfortunate circumstance of an injury, as well as the role of the coach in the

protection of athletes. Youth Sports injuries are a huge problem in todays society, and every

measure possible to prevent them should be taken.

YOUTH SPORTS INJURY 13

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Grading Rubric for Almost Final Graded Draft

Criterion 4 -- Advanced 3 Above Average 2 Proficient 1 -- Emerging

Mechanics, Zero to very few A few errors Several errors Many errors inhibit

Grammar, Spelling, errors the reading of the

Sentence text

Structure, etc
Academic Voice Academic language Academic language Academic language Paper lacks

used throughout used through most used for some of academic language

paper of paper paper informal throughout

Law Law is a major Law is present Lacking law No law

presence There is a little law

but needs more and

to be more focuses
Title, Abstract, All present and All present needs All present need to Missing pieces

Body, Reference correct to fix a few errors fix several errors or

somewhat incomplete

Uniform LSA Scoring convention

16 = 100 12 = 88 8 = 76 4 = 64

15 = 97 11 = 85 7 = 73 No submission = no score

14 = 94 10 = 82 6 = 70

13 = 91 9 = 79