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Registration for the 2010 Jay Prepchuk QB camp and Power2Perform Receiver Academy now open
Share your minor football memories and win with the BC Lions
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Parents and players, do you have a picture or short video from this football season? Maybe it’s a great catch, a funny touchdown celebration or a touching moment. Send it to the BC Lions and you are eligible to win one of the following prizes:
Please e-mail pictures to nneumann@bclions.com
or, if you are sending video clips, please put them on a disk and mail it to: |
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| The Huddle would like to thank everybody who has been reading and supporting us since we first launched back in late August. Our newsletter will be taking a short hiatus after next week for the holiday season. In the meantime, we would like for you - our fans - to tell us what you think so far of our newsletter. We invite you to go fill out our survey. If you have any additional feedback you would like to share with us that aren’t covered in the survey, feel free to e-mail us at communications@playfootball.bc.ca. Thank you in advance! |
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| By Steven J. Indig, BRec, LLB Question: When I register my child for a sport program, we are asked to sign a waiver form. Do these have any legal meaning? Answer: Any adult who is physically active, or who is a parent with children involved in sports, has signed waivers at one time or another. This question about their validity arises all the time - I could be doing a workshop on employment contracts, and invariably a participant asks this question at some point! The answer is - both yes and no. Waivers are hopelessly misunderstood and are often improperly used. Most people who sign them think they are meaningless (and if they thought otherwise, they wouldn’t sign them!). Most organizers who use waivers don’t really think about them at all, but just consider them to be part of the necessary registration paperwork. To answer the above question, some legal background is needed. The term ‘waiver’ is short form for ‘waiver of liability for negligence’. A waiver is a contract by which the person signing it agrees to give up something. They are ‘waiving’ a right or entitlement that they otherwise would have. In the sporting context, the person signing it is usually a participant in a sport program or activity who agrees, by signing this contract, that they will give up their right to sue the organizer of the program or activity for negligence. In other words, the person who signs a waiver agrees to forfeit their legal right to pursue a legal remedy, should they come to harm as a result of their participation and should this harm be caused by the organizer’s negligence (as opposed to being caused by other factors). It should also be noted that ‘negligence’ is a precise legal concept. Being negligent means that a person who had a duty of care towards another did not fulfill the reasonable standard of care that such duty imposed. Put another way, negligence may result when an organizer fails to behave as a reasonably prudent person would behave. To be negligent is to have failed, legally, in fulfilling your ordinary and reasonable responsibilities. Our legal system provides that someone seriously harmed by such a failing has a legal remedy. A waiver is thus a method a sport organization uses to transfer risk, in this case from the organization back to the participant. That is essentially what any contract does, and a waiver is simply a very specific form of contract. A waiver is also said to be a very onerous contract, because by signing a waiver, a person is relinquishing a very closely held and important right - the right to seek compensation or legal damages in the event that person is harmed by another person’s negligence. Put another way - when I sign a waiver I am essentially agreeing that if the organizer of the program I am enrolling in is negligent, I will accept the result of that and not pursue any legal action. In my opinion, waivers are perfectly acceptable from a legal and contract point of view. Transferring risk is a good risk management practice for any sport organization. In certain circumstances waivers are a good idea - where the activity is inherently risky, the environment in which the activity occurs cannot readily be controlled or managed, and the participants are skilled adults. Backcountry skiing, deep sea diving or bungee-jumping might be examples of situations that call for adult participants to sign a waiver. However, the use of waivers also raises many ethical and moral issues. The organization that uses them is attempting to contract out of legal responsibility for their own negligence. As noted above, this may be appropriate in certain limited circumstances. In my view, however, using waivers for ordinary sport programs or after-school recreational activities is not appropriate. As well, waivers have no legal effect if used for children. Remember that they are an onerous legal contract and minors cannot sign contracts, and likewise parents or guardians cannot sign contracts on behalf of a child that are not in the best interests of the child. A waiver is never in the best interest of the person who signs it - in fact, it is a terrible bargain all around when you consider what is forfeited (the right to sue for liability for negligence) versus what is gained (the opportunity to participate in a particular sport activity). So what is the short answer to the above question? Waivers can and do hold up legally, when they are properly written and executed and when they are used in appropriate high-risk situations with adult participants. However, the vast majority of waivers are poorly written, casually executed, used for minors and used in low-risk situations that simply do not justify their use. These waivers would not withstand legal scrutiny. This is not to say waivers are a wasted effort - they aren’t - because a fortunate side benefit of using a waiver is that it brings to people’s attention that the activity being undertaken presents risks and a participant could be harmed as a result of those normal and inherent risks. Thus they have considerable educational value, and education of participants and their parent is always a good idea. Waivers are a complex topic. For more information on waivers and their use in sport and recreation, have a look at the resources posted on the Centre for Sport and Law’s web site (www.sportlaw.ca). Specifically, go to the ‘writings’ section and scroll down to the topic headings ‘Liability/Negligence’ and "Risk Management’. There are a number of articles and reports there that may be of interest. Recent British Columbia Court decision effects all in BC. Wong v. Lok’s Martial Arts Centre Inc., 2009 BCSC 1385 Victor Wong, a 12-year-old boy, was injured after being thrown to the floor during a sparring session at Lok’s Martial Arts Centre. Wong’s mother, Yen To, had previously attended the class and decided to enroll her sons as well. Before enrolling her sons, Michael Lok (the owner and operator of the Centre) required Yen To sign the following document on behalf of her children: It is expressly agreed that all exercises and treatments, and use of all facilities shall be undertaken by the student’s sole risk. LOK’S HAPKIDO SCHOOL and its affiliated studio’s (Flying Eagle Hapkido, Flying Tiger Hapkido Studio and any other studio’s) shall not be liable for any injuries, past/future medical complications, any claims, demand, injury, damages, actions or cause of actions whatsoever, including without limitation, those resulting from acts of active or passive negligence on the part of Lok’s Hapkido School. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL INJURIES. In addition to this waiver, there were also signs and notices posted informing the participants that they were responsible for their own injuries and that Lok’s Martial Arts Centre could not be held liable. Yen To claimed she did not see these warnings and, despite signing a waiver, she and her son sued the Centre. Michael Lok filed a motion saying that the lawsuit should be dismissed because Yen To signed a waiver absolving his school of negligence. Not surprisingly, the court denied Michael Lok’s claim and decided that the lawsuit should go to trial. The judge maintained that a parent cannot waive a child’s right to sue for negligence. Our website contains many articles on the issue of waivers, and their validity (or lack thereof) when executed by minors or on behalf of minors. Visit our Writings section for more information. About the author: Steven Indig is a lawyer based in Vaughan and is also a certified sports agent representing professional athletes. Steven works with Football BC providing consulting services relating to governance, contracts, policies, disputes, investigation, and privacy. To read more of Steven's work, visit the Centre for Sport and Law website. Steven can be reached at sji@sportlaw.ca |
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| For a selection of photos from 2009 BCCFA 12-man provincial Bantam and Midget championship games, respectively, please visit Football BC’s
Facebook
page and don’t forget to sign up and be a fan! We also encourage fans to upload their best photos from the 2009 football season directly onto our Facebook page. Don’t forget to also check out our previously uploaded photos of the 2009 Subway Bowl championship games. Special thanks to Ray Shum and Tempest Photo (www.tempestphoto.com) for providing all the photos. |
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| Football BC would like to encourage members and supporters who have the financial ability to make a contribution to support Football BC with a donation through the National Sport Trust Fund
(NSTF). To support Football BC, simply visit the NSTF webpage on Sport BC's website and click on Cash Donations. Fill out the information as required and select "Football BC - SR Bowl Program" under the Select a Project drop down menu. Thank you in advance for your support. To discuss different methods that you can help support Football BC, contact us at communications@playfootball.bc.ca or by phone at 604.677.1025. |
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