PoleVaultPower.com

Don't know if anyone has run into this situation or heard of anyone else having this situation but, the HS I’m coaching for is now making the athletes that WANT to vault and DO NOT wear a helmet, that their parents must sign a waiver for NOT wearing the helmet. If they wear the helmet, they don't have to sign anything.
Now, a bit of history, for the past 5 years, our entire city, which is 3 High Schools, are required to wear helmets if there is some kind of bar in-place. Now we've merged with another league and the newly formed league has decided to handle the helmet rule with a waiver, as stated above.

Just wanted to get coaches, parents, and athlete’s thoughts on this

Our county just makes us sign a waiver anyway, regardless.

Seems to me I heard that some places were making helmets required and then their legal "people" told them that if an athlete was injured, and it could be demonstrated that requiring the helmet had something to do with causing the injury then the institution would be libel.

Signing something is just a school / institutions way of trying to not be held libel. Sort of like the required "weight and pole verification form" that has to be signed by the coach.

OK just my .02

Dan

I think helmets are great, only after a school hires a knowledgeable coach and gets proper training equipment so that they would hopefully never have to make use of the helmets. Safety starts with preventing an incident, not making sure an injury is only minor if there is one at all.

Our school does not require helmets at all but they are made available for a vaulters use, but really if you are landing some where other then the pit the coach shouldn't have had you vault in the first place