Use those sideline ropes

Many sports related law suits involve injury (that's why there are lawsuits to begin with). I am happy to say that most lawsuits do not involve rugby. However, there are still important principles at play that have implications for the rugby community. In Shain v. Racine Raiders Football Club, Inc., 2006 WI App 257 a coach was injured while standing on the sidelines of a youth (11-12 year old) football game.


Multiple youth teams were playing games on a football field with the youth fields laid out running from side-line to side-line of the full-sized field. As a result, the middle fields shared a sideline. The coach was injured when a player from the adjacent field ran out of bounds and struck the coach, injuring his knee. The coach sued, alleging that the the organizers were negligent in not laying out the fields to allow a safety zone between fields.


The court tossed about whether the coach was a spectator, and therefore subject to the "Baseball Rule" or a participant, and therefore subject to Wis. Stat. s. 895.525(4m) which allows for recovery for injuries in a contact sport "only if the participant who caused the injury acted recklessly or with intent to cause injury." cf. my prior post. The "Baseball Rule", in brief, is that a spectator assumes the risk of attending a sporting event and, therefore cannot sue if, for instance, they are hit by a foul ball or some other foreseeable consequence of attending a particular type of sporting event. Ultimately, the court concluded that the coach was a hybrid spectator/participant and that his own negligence precluded recovery. In other words, when standing on a sideline between two fields, the coach should have known that he might get run into by a player from the other field.


Youth rugby guidelines recommend laying out youth fields in a similar manner (i.e. two fields running width wide across a rugby pitch) -- but suggest having a 5-10m safety zone between the sideline and the field goal posts and a 10m safety zone between the youth pitches -- if only they had been playing rugby this all could have been avoided. More importantly, the court's holding in Shain is directly applicable to the involvement of coaches in rugby in the event a coach (or spectator) is injured on the sideline -- when attending a rugby game -- people standing on the sideline should know that players may run about of bounds and you may get hurt. Therefore, it is best for spectators to stand behind the sideline ropes and for people in front of the sideline ropes to pay attention to the game, so that injury can be avoided.

Vis unita fortior

Vis unita fortior is listed as the motto of Alhambra-Union Rugby Football Club in this article on the influence of Greek and Latin on culture in New Zealand. This motto translates loosely to "A united force is stronger" or "united we are stronger" I think this is one of the better team mottoes and really expresses some positive rugby attitude.

Help Wanted In Kenosha

Are you looking for a way to help out our growing sport? Do you want to start coaching in one of the most competitive (and fun) rugby conferences in the country? Well, now is your chance to get in the game. John Klien, from DSHA, has put out a help wanted add for a coach in the Kenosha area on behalf of a a physical education teacher who wants to start a rugby club, but needs some help coaching and learning the game herself.

This is a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a club. Moreover, you will have the advantage of working with a teacher who is already at the school. This is a huge recruiting/organizational advantage. If anyone is interested, please post a comment here, and I will do what I can to put you in touch with the right people.

Id nos vinixisemus'

One of my favorite mottoes for a rugby team, "Id nos vinixisemus" -- "we should've won that one" comes from Mossley Hill RUFC in England.

I can't verify the authenticity of the Latin -- I'm pretty sure that should be vinxissemus --- (the pluperfect subjective) --- but perhaps I have it wrong. In any event, its a fun one.

The Laws are the law...

In an effort to report about relevant sports law, here is an oldie but one of the few American cases involving the sport of rugby, D'Agostino v. Karjewsi, 89 CIV. 0131 (S.D.N.Y. 1990) [UNPUBLISHED]. Before I recite the facts, let me just say that every sport (even wiffle ball) has cases of injury and foul play. This case does not reflect on Rugby as a whole, rugby players, etc... Rather, it is one unfortunate incident. However, there is a lesson for all players... the Laws of the Game are the law.

In 1988, Old Blue RFC and Mystic River RFC were playing a game at the Can-AM Rugby Tournament. During the game, a Mystic player was lying on the ball during a ruck. The sir called the penalty and blew the whistle to stop play. After the whistle, an Old Blue player the defendant "ran towards" the player on the ground and kicked him in the face. The sir penalized Old Blue and sent the player off immediately.

The injured player later sued the player who kicked him, Old Blue Rugby Club, its Captain and officers (on the theory that they were negligent in recruitment and discipline of the player (who was a professional playing in an amateur game), the tournament organizers (because they were negligent in inviting Old Blue to play in the tournament and should have been aware of Old Blue's reputation for violence).

The defendants moved to dismiss the lawsuit based on the "assumption of risk" doctrine --i.e. that the player, by entering the rugby game, understood the risks and by playing the game "consented to those injury-causing events which are known, apparent or reasonably foreseeable consequences of the participation." This doctrine is generally true, but where the conduct which causes injury was "reckless or intentional" the person can be held liable and potentially those individuals (like the team captain/officers/coaches) who knew or should have known about the player's propensity to play outside the rules.

In denying the motion to dismiss, the court noted that the injury occurred after the whistle had stopped play for the first penalty. The question of whether the injury was "foreseeable" (and therefore within the "assumption of risk" doctrine) depends on factors, including but not limited to "the ultimate purpose of the game and the method or methods of winning it; the relationship between the defendant's conduct to the game's ultimate purpose, especially his conduct with respect to rules and customs whose purpose is to enhance safety of the participants; and the equipment involved in playing the game."

In analyzing these factors, court noted that the type of play involved in the case (i.e. kicking a player after the whistle had blown) had no relationship to the rules of the game of rugby:

Although rugby is an inherently rough contact sport, the act of kicking someone after play has been stopped has no relation to a team's ultimate purpose of gaining possession of or advancing the ball.

Furthermore, such an act is a flagrant violation of the rules of rugby, which state "it is illegal for any player willfully to hack or kick an opponent or to trip him with the foot, or to trample on the opponent lying on the ground."

Therefore, because the player's conduct was flagrantly outside of the laws of Rugby, the judge allowed the claim to proceed to trial. Moreover, the court found that there were material issues of fact as to whether Old Blue, its officer and captain and the tournament organizers should have known that this player had a tendency to flagrantly violate the Laws of rugby when playing.

The lesson for coaches and players should be obvious. We can't tolerate dangerous play and coaches must be sure to discipline players appropriately (i.e. suspending players who have been issued red cards by the sir) and instructing players regarding proper play.

Let me just say one more time -- this isn't a rugby issue. The Court's ruling was actually based on an suit involving jockeys and horse racing, Turcotte v. Fell, 68 N.Y.2d 432 (1986).

The All Star Matches

This past weekend the Midwest U-19 team defeated the Pacific coast team 29-19 to win the all-star tournament held in Nashville. The Midwest U-19 team contained its contingent of Wisconsin high school players from DSHA and Kettle Moraine. Of note, Tony Cattani from KM played Fly-half for the Thunderbirds, the MidwestU-19 select side, and scored one of the 5 tries leading to their victory over the Pacific coast. Congratulations to our Territorial union for this big win!

The U-17 Eagles, which also had a Wisconsin contingent took 5th place with a 24-0 victory over Mid-Atlantic u-19 select side.

Sanctissimum Iisden Studiis Initiari Vinculum Amicitiae

Every club needs a Latin motto. Perhaps that's not true, but I like them all the same. Since it's the off-season, I thought I would post some of the more interesting ones (or ones which I can find) on the blog. This motto 'Sanctissimum iisden studiis initiari vinculum amicitiae' translates to 'Common pursuits make firm friends." This is the motto of Camp Hill RFC which was founded in 1883 at King Edward VI grammar school in England.

Around the high school girls rugby community at least two clubs have a Latin mottoes:

• Fortis et Audax (Strong and Bold) is the motto which appeared on the crest (the yellow and red roses) of the DSHA RFC in the early years. The crest has lost the Latin motto, but it retains the roses.
• Caritas in Omnibus (Charity in all things) is the school motto for CMH.

Along with the practical law for rugby players, we'll throw in some Latin mottoes until the season starts up in the Spring.