Here is an example. The family sued Riddell because they did not explain the concussion risks while wearing a helmet. Do you not think that a similar law suit could be brought by a girl that is injured while wearing a piece of mandated non-certified safety equipment?This could be brought against the manufacturer and the organization that required she wear a non-certified piece of safety equipment. All it takes is her saying I could not see as well. We live in a society where you can sue McDonalds because they didn't tell you your coffee was hot. I guarantee in the event of an injury while wearing a mask a lawsuit will happen.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ll-helmet-lawsuit-11-million-dollars/2083251/
If we mandate face masks, where does it end? Suppose a girls takes a comebacker that snaps her leg in half and severs an artery. She bleeds out and dies. Do we then mandate leg guards for all? All of this silliness needs to stop. The fact is, bad things happen to good people every day, and no matter how arrogant we are to think we can stop them, we can't.
I have no problem with the mask rule. Hockey players didn't have to wear helmets 20 year ago, and the mandated protection level hasn't gone much above that.
Do you think that wearing seat belts should be a law?
The mask debate is taking care of itself. The older players did not have masks available when they started. Coaches and players looked at them as unnecessary when players started wearing them. As more younger girls started using them they became more common place at younger ages. This has eventually spread into older age groups as these girls got older. Now you are seeing them more than ever in college.
The argument that the mask might itself contribute to injury / death when hit by a softball appears speculative, counter-intuitive, and without foundation. It certainly runs counter to everything I've personally seen with them. That's like saying we shouldn't have seat belts or airbags in cars because THEY could cause injury in a collision.
I'd really like to see an example of a successful lawsuit showing how a mask injured a player BEYOND what would have happened had the mask not been there. If such a lawsuit was brought, it would come against the manufacturer, and would allege some type of design or manufacturing defect. An injury lawsuit against a state sports regulatory agency for requiring a piece of commonly used gear in the interests of player safety seems a long-shot.
This requirement, I believe, only extends to high school. Most high schools are part of government organizations, and their sports are regulated by state agencies. So, the appropriate regulatory body "sticking their nose into this or other sports situations" is entirely normal. Your aversion to the government getting involved seems at odds with your argument that "there is no standard". In the absence of that elusive "standard", manufacturers have a vested interest in making their protective equipment safe and effective. Good products rise quickly, and bad products sink fast. Sometimes, an idea is good enough to not have to wait for one regulatory body to catch up with another.
Catching equipment and batting helmets should be totally optional too.
I disagree. In order for a parent to have a claim they'd have to show that the injury was more significant due to the use of a mask than if the player had no mask. It's claim that they would almost certainly lose.
I hear the liability claim often stated but in reality it doesn't hold any legal water.
My guess is Insurance Companies will be the ultimate drives if/when they put exclusions in coverage for players w/o masks.