General Liability policies for sports and recreation organizations should cover the following activities that are supervised by adults and sanctioned by the sports organization:
- Tryouts
- Games
- Practices
- Tournament
- Non-sport Outing
It is critical that coverage is included for non-sport outings such as swimming parties, backyard cookouts, trips to restaurants, etc. Some of the most serious injuries and largest lawsuits that I have witnessed over the past 20 years have come from non-sport outings – particularly swimming parties.
Some General Liability policies that are deficient may restrict coverage to owned and leased premises that are scheduled on the policy. This could be a big problem if the sports organization has travel teams or if non-sporting outings occur away from the premises.
Some General Liability policies include endorsements that restrict coverage to the time periods when officially sanctioned events take place. This is a big problem if a sports organization owns its field or facility or is responsible under the terms of a lease on a 24/7 basis.
