A sports injury claim is a claim for an injury suffered while playing, practicing, training or watching a sport, when the injury was caused by someone’s carelessness rather than the ordinary risks of the game. Those claims usually involve unsafe facilities, defective equipment, poor supervision or medical decisions made on the sideline.
Blank Kim Injury Law represents athletes, parents of young athletes and spectators across Northern Virginia, from youth leagues in Fairfax, Centreville and Chantilly to high school and college athletics, fitness centers, trampoline parks and golf courses. Our attorneys work from our Fairfax office on Chain Bridge Road, open 24/7. Attorney Robert Kim speaks Korean, and our paralegal team speaks Spanish.
When a sports injury becomes a legal claim
A sprained ankle from landing wrong on a rebound is part of basketball. The legal question is whether someone other than the athlete created a risk that went beyond the game itself. Virginia courts recognize that people who choose to play a sport accept its ordinary, obvious risks, and defendants raise that argument in almost every case. It does not cover risks that were hidden, increased by someone’s carelessness or never explained.
Situations that commonly lead to valid claims include:
- A coach or trainer who returns a player to the game after a head injury
- Practices in extreme heat without water, rest or monitoring
- Fields with holes, exposed sprinkler heads, broken fencing or unpadded goalposts
- Gym equipment that is broken, poorly maintained or missing safety parts
- Defective helmets, pads, bindings or other protective gear
- Mismatched play, such as adults placed in drills with children
- Spectators struck by balls or pucks where the facility left netting down or seating unprotected
- Intentional or reckless violence by another player
Concussions and head injuries in youth sports
Head injuries are the most serious concern in football, soccer, lacrosse, hockey, wrestling and cheerleading. A second blow before the brain has healed from the first can cause lasting damage, and in rare cases, a dangerous swelling of the brain.
Virginia requires school divisions to adopt concussion policies for student athletes, including removal from play when a concussion is suspected and written clearance before return. Many private leagues follow similar protocols. When a coach, trainer or league ignores those rules and a player is hurt again, the protocol itself becomes powerful evidence.
Watch for headaches, confusion, sensitivity to light, mood changes, trouble sleeping and difficulty in school after a hit. Our page on traumatic brain injury claims explains how lasting head injuries are documented.
Gyms, fitness centers and sports facilities
Members of a gym, players at a private sports complex and spectators at a game are on the property for business reasons. Virginia law requires owners to use reasonable care to keep the premises reasonably safe and to warn of hidden dangers they knew or should have known about. For sports facilities, that includes:
- Inspecting and repairing treadmills, cable machines, benches and free-weight racks
- Keeping pool decks, locker rooms and courts free of slipping hazards (see our slip and fall page)
- Maintaining trampolines, climbing walls and padding at trampoline parks and adventure centers
- Providing lifeguards and safety equipment where required (see swimming pool accidents)
- Training staff to respond to emergencies, including cardiac events, with working automated external defibrillators
Injuries at amusement and adventure venues are covered in more detail on our page about amusement park injuries.
Did signing a waiver end your claim?
Nearly every gym, league and trampoline park asks members and parents to sign a release. Many people assume that means they have no claim. In Virginia, that assumption is often wrong. Virginia courts have taken a distinctive approach to pre-injury releases of liability for personal injury, and a signed waiver does not automatically bar a claim. The wording of the document, who signed it and what caused the injury all matter.
Bring a copy of anything you signed, including online registration pages, to your case review. We review it along with the facts of the injury.
When a child is hurt playing sports
Children are held to a different standard than adults. Under Virginia law, a child under seven is presumed incapable of negligence, so the contributory negligence defense generally cannot be used against a very young child. For older children and adults, Virginia’s contributory negligence rule applies: an injured person found even slightly at fault is generally barred from recovering.
Many youth sports injuries happen at public school fields, county parks and recreation centers. Claims involving local governments can require written notice within six months under Va. Code § 15.2-209, and local governments have immunity for many governmental functions. Public school claims raise their own questions about which body is responsible and what notice is required. Our guide to government claim notice in Virginia explains more.
Families who suspect a coach or trainer has abused a young athlete can find confidential information on our page about coach and sports abuse.
Defective sports equipment
Helmets that crack, bindings that do not release, bicycle parts that fail and exercise machines that collapse can all cause serious injuries. Virginia does not recognize strict liability for defective products, so equipment claims proceed in negligence and breach of warranty, including the implied warranty of merchantability under Va. Code § 8.2-314. Under Va. Code § 8.2-318, a player does not need to have bought the gear personally to bring a warranty claim for injuries.
Keep the equipment exactly as it was after the injury, along with the box, receipt and any recall notice. See our page on product liability claims and, for cycling crashes on the road, our page on bicycle accidents.
Deadlines and what a sports injury claim includes
Virginia generally allows two years from the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit under Va. Code § 8.01-243(A). Claims for injured children follow different timing rules, and government notice deadlines are much shorter, so check early.
A claim can seek medical costs, including surgery, physical therapy and future care; lost income for adult athletes; and compensation for pain and the loss of activities the injured person loved. For young athletes, lost scholarship opportunities and future earning capacity are sometimes part of the picture. Payments from your own health insurance generally do not reduce what the responsible party owes.
