Liability issues
Leilah McCarthy
Mary before I realized how many clubs were having liability issues. So
far, the emails that have been sent out to the listserv have just made
very vague statements about having safety or liability issues without
specifying what those issues actually are. I'm interested to find out
if my email even addressed the main concern at hand.
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Hello. I thought I'd write you back because we recently had a similar
problem at UC Davis. I also have a variety of info because I've been a
member of 3 different NAIGC gymnastics clubs (Ohio State, UC Davis, and
UC Berkeley).
I believe that for most clubs this is a facilities issue. Many clubs
have their equipment at the university's main rec hall where there is
some kind of staff on duty who can handle any injuries that may occur.
I don't think that many, if any, of these clubs have any safety
certifications required of them. The main concern is if people are
working out in an isolated facility such as the situation that we have
here at Berkeley. We made self-imposed regulations that there must be
a club officer to supervise every practice and give warnings to anyone
who is being reckless (and ask them to leave if they don't stop). Our
club also pays to have all of the officers CPR/first aid certified. As
a result, the sports club staff has never bothered us about safety
(that I'm aware of) despite several injuries.
At Davis, the club recently moved from the main rec hall to an isolated
facility and the sports club staff made a huge fuss and almost closed
us down too. We pretty much didn't get to practice all of spring
quarter last year. We told them we would do the same thing Berkeley
does and have all our officers CPR/first aid certified. This
eventually satisfied them and we got to practice again, although it
took a bit of arguing, persistence, and time. I think CPR/first aid
certifications should be sufficient. USAG safety certification seems
unnecessary to me. I've been USAG safety certified before and they
just make you sit through a seminar and take a little open book test on
stuff that is mostly irrelevant to the issues that would face a college
gymnastics club. CPR/first aid certification would be much more
useful.
I'm sorry you're having to go through this. Rec/sports club staff can
be a royal pain in the butt. Good luck.
Benjamin Johnson
USAG certification does provide some information that is applicable to
gymnastics that you won't get in a first aid / CPR course. For
example, what do you do if someone sustains a neck injury in a foam
pit? According to USAG, some EMT's won't know what they should do to
retreive someone, and might just jump in. USAG suggests placing panel
mats gently on top of the foam so as to create minimal disturbance,
and then using the mats for leverage to remove the person from the pit,
after being braced appropriately by EMT personnel, or whatever needs to
be done.
I agree with Leilah that most of the things you learn in a USAG safety
course would not give you anything more than basic first aid plus some
information that would not be applicable to club gymnasts, but you
never know. Our club (UC Berkeley) does not require any of our
officers to have USAG certification. But if your school requests it,
it is a small price to pay to avoid a liability fight that you are
unlikely to win. Basic first aid training is important, and we do have
to use it sometimes.
In any case, taking the initiative to obtain proper training and
ensure your own supervision will go a long way toward convincing the
bureaucrats that you are responsible enough to start/maintain a
gymnastics club with manageable risk.
Benjamin