The University is At Risk. The Insurance, the NCAA and Covering (lack of) Cheerleaders

In the landscape of intercollegiate athletics, the NCAA does not provide direct governance, regulation nor safety standards for cheerleading.  In spite of the increasing risk factors involved with the skill set utilized by cheerleading teams and the high rate of catastrophic injury those athletes, the NCAA has ignored part of its primary purpose with regard to safety of its member athletes.  It should be expected that the NCAA would recognize this extraordinary risk position and actively engage an avenue of leadership in developing more comprehensive safety, liability and skill-based education programs for coaches, athletes and awareness for administrators.  The NCAA continues to demonstrate its deficient interest in the very group of athletes that fly, jump, flip and simply just stand for the same sportsmanship and leadership at the core of the association’s stated values.   This is transparent through their unwillingness to accept responsibility over the sport-like activity of cheerleading.  While engaging the cheerleading industry leader for guidance appears to be a sound course of action, it should however, be limited to an advisory role.  Instead, this relationship has led to the only instance where intercollegiate athletic department teams are governed and regulated by for profit industry.

NCAA Cheerleading Safety InitiativeThe NCAA has partnered with Varsity Brands, the parent company of the largest national cheer organizations, to undertake an important cheerleading risk management initiative with a goal of enhancing safety for college cheerleaders. As a first step in this initiative, effective August 1, 2006, the NCAA's Catastrophic Injury Insurance Program includes a new requirement in order for an institution's cheerleading program to be included as a covered event under the policy.The new requirement states that cheerleading activities must be supervised by a safety-certified coach or advisor. While there are choices among certifying organizations, the NCAA has partnered with, and recommends the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA). AACCA offers certification courses year-round at sites across the country. Once completed, the safety certification remains in effect for four years.

Insurance for cheerleading programs is currently provided in 3 levels by this partnership with NCAA, Varsity and Mutual of Omaha.

NCAA Catastrophic Insurance (NCAA Insurance)Varsity Catastrophic Insurance (Compete Insurance)Varsity Expanded Insurance (Everything Else Insurance)

“NCAA Insurance”

The NCAA Insurance is the same package that all other NCAA athletes are covered by during the course of their participation.  This coverage is only extended to athletic department sponsored teams.  This would not include student organization teams that cheer at games or club teams that participate in intercollegiate events.  The team must be sponsored (supported financially/benefits) by the intercollegiate athletic department.

Teams are ONLY covered under the following conditions/requirements:

·         The coach/advisor is certified by a formal credentialing program for safety

·         The coach/advisor is designated by the university as such

·         The coach/advisor is NOT a student coach, current member of the team or a full-time undergraduate student

·         The activity must be supervised by that designated coach/advisor

·         Covered activities ONLY include NCAA sport team competition, practices for those events and pep rallies

·         Coverage does NOT include alumni events, fundraisers, camps, clinics, competitions or the practices for those events.

Performances, appearances, alumni events and other university based functions are a standard expectation of duties an athletic department might have for its spirit squad.  These activities are clearly not covered by the NCAA’s Catastrophic insurance program.  It is safe to conclude that the overwhelming majority of NCAA institutions do not have sufficient catastrophic coverage given their participation in activities other than cheering at games, pep rallies or the practices for those events.

OF NOTE:

·         NCAA requires safety certification, but not specifically AACCA. 

·         NCAA itself does not make any rules or require that you follow AACCA rules.

o    It’s insurance that actually says they won’t cover you if you do certain skills

“Competition Insurance”

The Varsity Catastrophic policy is coverage for competitions, camps and clinics.  This “gap” insurance is an additional coverage that was negotiated by Varsity Brands through their insurance broker Menard Gates and Mathis.  Menard Gates and Mathis works with insurance mediator American Specialty create a policy for AACCA that is underwritten by K & K Insurance.

The “Competition Insurance” covers ONLY the following situations/requirements:

·         Attending ONLY Varsity Brands camps, clinics and competitions

·         Travel to and from these activities.

·         DOES NOT COVER practices for these events

Competing is an integral part of the collegiate sideline experience for many of the highly skilled athletes participating on collegiate teams.  As the high school and club level development of the sport creates a higher focus on the advanced skills sets and competitions, those athletes expect to compete as well as cheer.  It is not unreasonable to accept competition as part of the expectations an athletic department might have for its team.  Unless an institution has specifically purchased additional insurance for competitive events, camps or clinics, the team would have to have the “Competition Insurance” in order to be covered.

However, this coverage is not without its holes.  Practices for these camps, clinics or competitions are not covered.  This can be a tricky situation prior to the end of the NCAA basketball regular season.  In this time period, teams could purport to be practicing for performances at games which, fall under the NCAA Catastrophic insurance.  Since the removal of certain skills from the basketball court, it becomes important that the skills being practiced are reflective of the skills allowed to be performed at games.  With the additional specifications of half-time or post game performances for mat-requiring skills, routines involving these skills should have future scheduled performances in order to justify those skills continuing to be practiced.  This is a gray area.

Another area of interest is the conflict of principles with the NCAA and Varsity Brands.  The NCAA requires a safety certification for the coach, but is very specific to point out that there are choices for that certification.  However, the “Competition Insurance” coverage only covers Varsity Brands events and not all camps, clinics and competitions in general.  Furthermore, Varsity Brands requires an AACCA certified coach for teams attending their events.  In essence, they have usurped the NCAA’s intention to remain open to other certification organizations.

“Everything Else Insurance”

This insurance is the Varsity Extended Coverage plan.  It is also brokered by Menard Gates and Mathis.  This insurance plan is the second additional policy available to a cheerleading team on top of the NCAA Catastrophic plan. 

Coverage applies ONLY to the following situations/requirements:

·         Student cheerleaders that are a part of the school’s official team.

·         Must be registered for a Varsity Brands camp, clinic or competition.

·         Athletes are covered during participation for any performances, alumni events or other activities that are not directly related to the Participating School’s intercollegiate athletics program

·         Athletes are covered during practices for Varsity camps and competitions.

o    Coverage of practices for competitions begins 5 days prior to the beginning of fall term and ends the last day of the spring term.

o    Coverage of practices for camps begins 5 days prior to camp and ends on the first day of camp.

·         The activity must be organized and supervised by the official coach/advisor of the institution.

o    The coach/advisor must be certified by AACCA.

o    Activity must follow AACCA rules.

In the course of a season, the cheerleading team will commonly engage in on campus and community events unrelated to the intercollegiate athletics teams they support.  This is a normal expectation the athletics director would have for the program.  The “everything else” coverage insures athletes during these activities.  It also bridges the gap in coverage of practices for competitions.  The continuously identified miscue is the NCAA’s dependence on private industry to provide governance and safety to the highest risk factor activity on college campuses.  In addition, in order for a team to be properly covered for the activities that are common to a team’s season, including competition, the sponsoring institution must purchase two additional policies through Varsity Brands.  These policies force coaches to take the AACCA certification instead of having a choice as the NCAA states and intended.  Nearly to a negligent level, the NCAA ignores the fact that the same company that monopolizes the “collegiate national championships” for cheerleading is also limiting insurance eligibility to only their own events.  They further exploit universities by requiring that a team must attend at least one camp, clinic or competition with Varsity Brands to be eligible for the protection.  While an institution can purchase their own individual insurance to address their cheer teams’ activities, it doesn’t excuse the NCAA’s conscious lack of providing safety for cheer athletes.

The advantage of the “everything else” insurance is the time period that it covers.  Definitive language identifying the start date and the end date create a term which allows teams to be covered in the gray areas created by the NCAA insurance and the “competition” coverage.  For example, a team finished with the basketball team’s season, but who is still practicing skills for competition, can still be covered under the “everything else” plan.  The gray area that is not covered, and not actually all that gray, is being out of season (athletic team’s season is over) and practicing for competition, but compete in a non Varsity Brands competition prior to a later Varsity Brands competition.  It would be impossible to be prepared for the non Varsity Brands competition without devoting some portion of mental and physical preparation to that event.  Thus, there must be a partial if not complete percentage of liability attributable to preparing for the non Varsity event which does not qualify for the “competition” insurance.  This would be an exposed area of risk for the institution in a lawsuit.

The Short of it All

Under the NCAA catastrophic policy (NCAA insurance), teams are only covered at games, pep rallies or practices for those activities as long as they are organized and supervised by official coaches/advisors of the university that are certified by a safety credentialing organization.  Travel sponsored or reimbursed by the institution to and from those events is also covered.

Under the Varsity Extended Plan (compete insurance), teams are covered when participating in Varsity Brands camps, clinics and competitions.  In order to participate in those events, Varsity Brands requires the coach/advisor be AACCA certified.  Thus, the coach’s choice of safety certification programs is eliminated.  The coverage also extends to sponsored travel to and from these events.  Note that it does NOT cover practices for these or other events.

Coverage under the Varsity Catastrophic Plan (everything else insurance) covers all activities not directly related to the intercollegiate athletics teams.  As long as those activities fall within the defined season and are organized and supervised by an AACCA certified coach.  The team must also have registered to attend a Varsity Brands event.  This plan covers the practices for competitions or other events within the defined season as long as the event itself follows AACCA guidelines for safety and is a Varsity Brands event.

A team with only NCAA insurance:
--liable when participating or practicing for anything other than a game or pep rally
                -Should have a halftime or post game performance scheduled with the athletic department in order
                  to be covered after football season.  With the limiting of certain skills to half-time and post-game, there
                  would be no reason to perform those skills in preparation of a game
--Outside of the season of the teams they cheer for, there is no situation the cheerleading team would be
    covered, including tryouts.

A team with NCAA insurance and the Compete insurance:
--liable when practicing for any non Varsity Brands competition, camp or clinic.
--liable when practicing for covered or non covered camps, clinics or competitions, if there are no halftime or post
   game performances scheduled and you are in basketball season. 
--Football season has more leeway because grass surfaces allow for more of the competition oriented skills to be
   performed at games.  The exception is twisting basket tosses.

A team with NCAA insurance, Compete insurance and Everything Else insurance:
--Is  still underinsured if they practice or participate in any non Varsity camps, competitions or clinics.
--potentially liable for any practices prior to the beginning of the first day of classes if the skills being worked on are not “game day” skills, i.e. twisting basket tosses.  In this situation, the Compete and Everything Else insurance are not in effect and the NCAA insurance probably wouldn’t cover a twisting basket injury because it’s not an allowable skill 95% of the time under NCAA insurance.