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JANE BOWES, LAWYER DLA PIPER
Jane specialises in sports insurance litigation at DLA Piper, Brisbane Australia. Starting her career in
plaintiff personal injury, Jane has studied her opponent's game plan well, before switching sides to
pursue her true calling, defending those who foster and grow sport in the wider community.
Jane's love of sport started early. With her father, an Australian coach, and surrounded by a family of
athletes, Jane trained in all facets of dance, performing at a professional level before pursuing a career
in law. She combines strong litigation skills, a wealth of sports knowledge and industry contacts with
a genuine passion to protect sporting organisations from excessive negligence claims and their ever
increasing regulatory and compliance challenges.
The Queensland Court of Appeal held that the injury suffered
by the gymnast was an unfortunate accident and dismissed
the personal injury claim. Therefore, practically unavoidable
accidents can and do happen and the courts will recognise this.
However, sporting clubs need to be able to show that
everything reasonably to be expected has been done in terms
of minimising the risk of an injury. Well documented training
manuals and step by step procedures not only minimise the
risk, but provide powerful evidence of a good risk culture
and systems. What other steps can you take to ensure the
risk of injury is minimised? The following are relatively simple
measures which can help to prevent injury occurring in the
first instance:
1. QUALIFICATIONS
Any sporting venue holding cheerleading activities should
ensure their coaches hold the appropriate qualification for
the tasks they are performing. For example a level 1 coach can
only teach students basic cheerleading moves. For students to
advance to flips, a higher-level coach is required. In addition to
this, having at least two coaches conduct classes will help with
the control of the class as well as enforcement of the various
rules.
2. KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE RISKS OF CHEERLEADING
– BOTH PARENTS AND STUDENTS
Parents need to be made aware of the risks – all of them (big
and small). Not to discourage students but so the parents sign
the waiver having a clear understanding of what will happen in
the training sessions and what can potentially go wrong. Ask
prospective participants about any injuries or risk factors and
carefully check their responses.
3. ENFORCE THE RULES
The rules apply to everyone – parents, students and coaches.
Like gymnastics, cheerleading should follow a similar approach
in terms of discipline. It is impossible for a coach to have their
attention on every student for every second of the class. If there
is a system in place to wait for the coaches attention before
commencing a skill, then this system needs to be enforced.
Athletes should be strongly reprimanded for non-compliance
and if necessary sanctioned by time out or suspension from
training. This is difficult when enthusiasm and energy is running
high but lax adherence to the rules is a recipe for disaster.
4. SKILL PROGRESSION - KEEP IT SLOW AND SUPERVISED
Coaches should slowly progress students through each skill
level, providing as much feedback as possible. Once the
student has mastered the basic skills, they can then progress
onto the next. Don't push a student to do more than they
want to and allow everyone to come along at their own speed.
Supervise at an appropriate, safe distance from the students
and provide spotting where necessary.
5. CORRECT SAFETY EQUIPMENT - ALWAYS
Provide crash mats of appropriate thickness and foam pits
and other safety equipment compliant with safety standards.
Make sure students wear the right clothing and footwear.
Make sure someone on staff knows basic first aid and can
access emergency workers.
The Australian All Stars Cheerleading Federation recommends
an EAP - Emergency Action Plan . This is a written document
stating exactly what protocols are to be followed when a
person is injured. It is also important that staff and students
actually practice this so when the time comes everyone knows
what to do.
Cheerleading is a great way for children to learn some rough
and tumble, teambuilding skills, various skills/stunts and
discipline. It is important not to let the negatives dominate and
hold back keen learners, however a little bit of forethought
and preparation can keep risks to a minimum and avoid the
pitfalls.
Most children will fall, pick themselves up, dust themselves off
and get right back into it. It is one of the rich lessons learned
in sport. However sport also teaches us to anticipate the
worst and prepare for it. For those that are forced to defend
a claim in negligence because of a cheerleading injury the best
defence is a good offence. Apply the basic rules early and avoid
the consequences later.
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