Coaches’ Legal Duties

By: Rainer Martens & Robin S. Vealey

Originally Published in: Successful Coaching

Provided by: Human Kinetics

Over the past 50 years, through thousands of lawsuits, the U.S. courts have defined and continued to define your legal duties as a coach. These duties may vary from state to state and may change as sport litigation continues unabatedly. This section describes the most well-established duties and at least some of the actions that you can take to fulfill your legal duties as a coach. Actually, much of this book advises you directly or indirectly on how to fulfill your legal responsibilities. Some of the case studies that introduce each of the 10 duties are based on actual court cases.

Successful Coaching, Fifth Edition serves as the text for Human Kinetics’ Coaching Principles, Fifth Edition Online Course:

• Coaching Principles is recognized by numerous state high school associations, individual school districts, state departments of education, and other sport organizations as meeting coach education and certification requirements.
• Coaches receive a copy of Successful Coaching, Fifth Edition with their course (available as print or ebook).
• Visit the Human Kinetics Coach Education website for more information about the course.