A friend of mine who coaches a Nassau travel team just called me very upset. While he was conducting his winter workouts, one of his players broke his arm at the facility the team was utilizing. My friend (the coach) helps take the kid to the emergency room and when the clerk at the hospital’s registration office asks for the insurance information, the parent looks at the coach and say’s, “I do not have any insurance through work, I am going to need to place this injury under the teams insurance.” The coach says, “let me check with the facility, I am sure they are insured. If not, I think I am insured through the league we participate in.” The coach then leaves the ER and performs his due-diligence and finds to discover that he signed a waiver at the facility placing all of the liability on his shoulders and that the leagues insurance expired at the end of 2010, therefore leaving him naked without any insurance. Then the coach gets a call from the kids mother informing him that her boy is going to require surgery and she is pressing for the insurance information. The coach informs her that there is no insurance, the mother reply’s, “you will be hearing from my attorney.”

My friend, the coach has put himself and his family in harms way because he did not ensure that this team had adequate insurance. Coaches, do not let this happen to you! Parents, ask to see the insurance certificate before your kid works out with any team.