As it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the issue of open-toed shoes on the track has recently come up, raising another question…
According to the Risk Management Guidelines, spectators are prohibited within Zones A - E. However, after games and tournaments, including Regional Playoffs, spectators often circle the track to high-five players, occupying Zones D & E, with some wearing sandals and some kiddos.
Should safety volunteers enforcing the Risk Management Guidelines prohibit this practice? Are they “guidelines” rather than “rules” to allow some flexibility for community good vibes?
This is the key – the rules and guidelines only apply to gameplay. After a game is not covered by these regulations. So it’s up to the venue/host league whether they want to care or not.
In the Purpose of the Risk Mgmt doc it states: “The following guidelines apply to games, practices and other activities where WFTDA Insurance is in effect…”
I would expect that WFTDA insurance would still be in effect while participants on skates are on the track after the conclusion of gameplay.
The is so widely practiced, and as you point out, has been done (repeatedly, for years) in front of the entire WFTDA BOD and our Insurance director(s). We should trust that if our entire organizational leadership has seen it and not intervened, it’s fine.
We should trust our leadership to uphold a standard they’ve set because trust is earned.
We have had event sanctioning withheld and threats of insurance claims being denied due to the vagueness & conflicting information in the Risk Mgmt document, so understand that the question being asked because of uncertainty and concern.
I’m not sure what you’re looking for here. If you (as a league) want to stop allowing fans to approach the track boundary after a game for high fives, that’s your decision. If you want everyone to stop allowing it, that’s not likely to happen. If you want someone in an official capacity to say it’s fine, that’s also unlikely to happen. Risk Management Guidelines are notoriously difficult to update (without incurring increases in fees), but thanks for bringing it to the org’s attention.
I believe the answers are correct that this requirement was intended for participants during gameplay and not for the high fives at the end. I did send it to someone for review just in case the answer is incorrect.
We are still getting a lot of committees back online and have plans to revamp these guidelines and provide more clarity. So I apologize for the delay getting timely answers.
