Facilities & Equipment
April 08, 2011
Katharine M. Nohr, Esq.
Nohr Sports Risk Management LLC
Combine passionate fans, alcohol and football, the equation for spectator unruliness, and your university may have a crowd control problem to contend with. It is not unusual for stadium and event management to engage in a public relations campaign in an effort to prevent anticipated rowdy behavior or address safety concerns before a big game. As you can well imagine, underdog University of Hawaii Warriors football team elicited a tsunami of fan excitement leading up to its Sugar Bowl berth. After a home game against Fresno State, some visitors complained about fan conduct in Aloha Stadium. In response, and before its remaining games against Boise State and Washington leading to an undefeated season, Coach June Jones made television public service announcements and advertisements were placed in electronic and print media to curb potential fan violence. His ‘good sportsmanship’ message urged the fans to show their ‘aloha spirit’, and specifically asked “for the safety of players, please refrain from throwing paper or other objects on the field.” Security was significantly beefed up for subsequent games and there was no repeat of the problems reported at the Fresno State game.
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April 08, 2011
An Important Part of Daily Operations
Roger Heimerman
Assistant Director-Facilities/Membership Services
Recreation Services
University of Kansas
It is 10:15pm on a Friday night. The recreation facility closed at 10pm. The Facility Supervisor on duty last checked the locker rooms at approximately 9:45pm. All seemed normal on this Friday night. The facility staff is in a hurry and ready to start their planned Friday night activities. They neglect to check the locker rooms after closing, adopting the attitude that there is little reason to walk downstairs to check this area. The Facility Supervisor and Facility Assistants sign out and exit the facility. Little to their knowledge, a participant had walked into the men’s locker at 9:55pm, placed paper towels over the drains and turned on all ten showers. As you can imagine, water damage to the facility would be quite extensive by the time facility staff arrive next morning!
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April 07, 2011
Katharine M. Nohr, Esq.
Nohr Sports Risk Management, LLC
Sports and recreation facilities are challenged not only with making sure that their sports and activities are operated safely, but also that all public areas, including parking lots, pathways and stairs are free of hazards. This is not an easy task when weather and foliage combine to litter the ground with leaves, pine cones, seeds, branches (and snow!) that patrons can slip or trip on.
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April 07, 2011
John Lentz
Director, Office of Recreational Sports
Indiana State University
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus — remember it, recognize it, respect it. MRSA (“mersa”), as it is commonly known, might be recognizable to the reader as the nasty bug that has been the serious concern of hospital patients and administrators for the past couple of years. It is a particular staph infection that is resistant to typical antibiotics. To those who are already ill and hospitalized, it can even become deadly. So what does this infectious disease have to do with the recreational sports field?
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April 07, 2011
Tim Stoecklein, Assistant Director
Recreational Services
Kansas State University
It has been said that the weather is the most popular topic of conversations across the world, and if you think about it, that is probably a fairly accurate statement. To play or not to play is often the question we face when it comes to our recreational programs. Typically the decisions focus on the rain, the snow, the wind, or the lightning. Sometimes it can be a combination of several as once I had to cancel a softball game due to snow AND lightning! Of all the elements served up by the environment, lightning is the second most deadly, behind floods.
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April 07, 2011
Goalpost Safety
Katharine M. Nohr, JD
Nohr Sports Risk Management, LLC
If your organization uses goalposts in football, soccer, or any other sport, you should make yourself familiar with an Indiana case that is hot, well maybe, warm off the press, Bourne v. Gillman, 452 F.3d 632 (7th Cir., June 20, 2006). If you’ve read this opinion, you are probably wondering what a products liability case in which an injured fan sued the manufacturer of the goalpost has to do with you. A look at the history of the case as described by the court will reveal some startling facts that might be relevant to your organization.
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