The Coach and the Safety of Athletes: Ethical and Legal Issues

This chapter provides an overview of developing law regarding the nature and scope of a coach's duty to protect the health and safety of athletes participating in youth and high school sports or college sports and illustrates a coach's ethical obligation to do so. The danger of permitting "the range of the ordinary activity" involved in teaching or coaching the sport to establish a coach's legal duty of care is that it conclusively establishes customary practices in the coaching profession as the appropriate standard for protecting athletes' health and safety. In most instances, this standard probably achieves the desired level of safety and provides an adequate level of protection to youth and high school athletes. The Moose court's negligence standard requiring coaches to use reasonable care to protect against foreseeable harm under the circumstances is a better means of protecting the health and safety of intercollegiate athletes under his or her supervision and control.