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| All managers, coaches, parents and volunteers that will be helping the children on the field (practices and/or games) are required to be certified. There will be no exceptions. |
| Rutgers Clinic Date |
| Date |
Location |
Time |
Cost |
| 2/26/2013 |
Parsippany High School |
6:30 PM |
$30.00 |
| If you missed the PTE Rutgers certification clinic, please click on the following link, then click on the calendar on the right side for other safety clinics throughout NJ: |
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To Register please email Jeff Kreitman – at coaches@parsippanybaseball.com |
Get smart get certified! The above dates are available for the Rutgers Safety Course. This gets you set up for life with the proper safety information for Little League needs.
Rules: call ahead as there are likely limits on seats and course materials, bring $30 (check or exact cash), and prepare to spend 3 hours learning good stuff. It’s important to know exactly what to do in a medical situation, whether its sports related, or not. As we know "stuff" happens. Check these dates out and go get smart! |
Introduction
During the 1980's state legislatures throughout the United States responded to the legal liability crisis and soaring insurance costs by enacting civil immunity laws - laws which protect individuals and the agencies which employ them.
On May 12, 1986, New Jersey became the first state in the nations to pass a civil immunity law for volunteer athletic coaches, managers, and officials. Commonly referred to as the Little League Law (2A:62A-6 et. seq.), this legislation extends partial civil immunity to volunteer coaches who have attended a "safety orientation and training skills program."
Since 1986, the Youth Sports Research Council, in cooperation with the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association (NJRPA) has trained more than 100,000 volunteer coaches in New Jersey. |
Objectives
In accordance with the stipulations in the Little League Law, the Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y. Clinic:- Legal Aspects of Coaching
- Psychological Aspects of Coaching
- General Coaching Concepts
- Training and Conditioning Athletes
- Medical/First Aid Aspects of Coaching
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1. Why do I have to attend a "safety clinic", I'm just a volunteer coach - I mean how hard can it be?
One of the common myths about volunteer coaching is that it requires no training to be effective. Regardless of your experience level or background, there are two reasons for attending the Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y. Clinic. First, to increase your effectiveness as a volunteer youth sport coach by enhancing your knowledge of fundamental coaching concepts such as: training and conditioning, prevention of injuries, communication, philosophy; legal liability, etc. Second to protect you from civil lawsuits "for injuries to a player or participant" as stipulated in the Little League Law (2A;62A 6 et. seq.). |
2. Do I have to attend a course in order to coach or to help out during a practice as a volunteer?
Yes! By law, you are not required to attend the Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y. Clinic (or any other coaching course) in order to be a volunteer in New Jersey. However, if you are ever sued for an injury to one of your athletes, you can present a much better legal defense as a result of having attended the clinic. In New Jersey, there is clear legal precedent for statutory immunity to apply only to those individuals who have been safety trained.
Par-Troy Little League East requires that you attend the Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y. Clinic in order to protect yourself and your family. Under the legal concept of vicarious liability, the "hiring authority" is legally responsible for your actions as a volunteer coach and, therefore, is certainly justified in mandating your attendance. |
3. Previously I was told that my certification was good for life. Is that correct?
It depends upon your definition of certification. Remember, the Little League Law states that a volunteer coach must have "participated in a safety orientation and training skills program." It does not discuss the concept of taking the program more than once. The Youth Sports Research Council has interpreted this phrasing as a one-time requirement. Other safety training providers (not Rutgers) have had policies which require that you attend their clinics more than once, and for every different sport, to maintain your "certification". This attendance requirement was tied to their personal liability insurance protection rather than being stated or implied by the requirements of the state law. Under such an arrangement, therefore, "certification" implies eligibility to purchase liability insurance, and is in no way related to the civil immunity protection provided by the Little League Law.
Conversely, the Youth Sports Research Council defines the term, "certification" as one-time attendance at the Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y. Clinic. This interpretation follows directly from the state legislature's original intent when the Little League Law was initially passed in 1986, (i.e., civil immunity protection will apply to only those individuals who have participated in a safety orientation program). While the YSRC goes further to strongly recommend continuing education on a regular basis, our policy is based upon principles of lifelong learning and universal risk management guidelines. |
4. Do you mean to tell me that volunteer coaches are actually sued?
Unfortunately, yes. The incidence, however, is rare despite what the headlines lead you to believe. In fact, the impact of the Little League Law has been to motivate many individuals, who otherwise would not, to be safety trained, thereby, decreasing the already small number of lawsuits against volunteer youth sports coaches. Perhaps more important, not one successful lawsuit has been brought against any volunteer coach who has been trained by a Rutgers' Clinician since the YSRC began training coaches in 1986. |
5. How should I handle parents who occasionally offer to assist with coaching?
Remember that the state law protects only those volunteers who have attended a program comparable to the Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y. Clinic. Should one of your young athletes become seriously injured, the first question asked will be, "Were the coaches safety trained?" Any parent who had not received proper training has greater exposure to lawsuit than you, or other assistant coaches who have been safely trained.
On this point, however, there is one additional consideration. Having attended the Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y. Clinic; you were informed of the requirements for civil immunity under the state law that is, attendance at a course which meets the Minimum Standards for Volunteer Coaches' Safety Orientation and Training Skills Programs (N.J.A.C. 5:52). Knowing that the standard of care was such, the following question might be posed to you in a legal deposition, "Mr. Volunteer Coach, why did you allow an inexperienced, unqualified parent to supervise an activity which could lead to such tragic consequences for my client?" One could also argue that a competent plaintiff's attorney would assert that you are also liable, notwithstanding your partial immunity under the law, for the injuries sustained by his/her client.
The bottom line, therefore, for your protection and the safety of the young athletes - do not allow untrained parents to coach. |
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