Team sports play an important role in the lives of many children across the country. While organized sports can help your child learn discipline and teamwork, many of these sports can be dangerous. Injuries are an inevitable part of sports, but anything more than a minor injury could entitle your child to significant compensation.

The relationship between personal injury lawsuits and children's sports injuries is one that all parents need to understand before allowing a child to participate in any organized sport.

Assumption of Risk

Personal injury cases involving sports injuries can be challenging to take to court. The doctrine of "assumption of risk" states that anyone participating in a sport understands that there are inherent risks involved with the activity.

If your child's injury was sustained during the normal course of play, then you will have a hard time proving a personal injury case. If there are special circumstances surrounding your child's injury, then an experienced personal injury attorney will be able to identify how an assumption of risk might affect your case.

Negligence

Negligence plays a critical role in any personal injury case. In order to be awarded compensation, a plaintiff must be able to establish a duty of care, show that a breach of that duty occurred, and prove that the breach was negligent.

Negligence may have contributed to your child's sports injury if there was inadequate adult supervision at the time the injury occurred, if the playing facility was not maintained properly, or if improperly trained coaches were overseeing a practice or game. Discuss these factors with your attorney to determine if negligence contributed to your child's sports injury.

Third-party Lawsuits

Safety gear is required for participation in most youth contact sports. Pads, helmets, mouth guards, and other protective gear helps to ward off an injury in the event of a collision between your child and an opponent. If the safety gear your child was using malfunctioned, you may be able to sue the manufacturer for personal injury. These lawsuits are referred to as third-party lawsuits.

Another type of third-party lawsuit you will want to discuss with your lawyer is a lawsuit against an opponent involved in your child's injury. If the intentional actions of an opponent led to your child's injury and the actions may be sufficient to prove assault, you can seek compensation for your child's sports injury by filing a lawsuit against the opponent and his or her family. For more information, contact a company like Alexander Law Group.