Sports Team Insurance for Youth Leagues

Finding the Right Coverage Has Never Been Easier

Team sports involve teamwork, fitness, competition, fun, excitement, winning, and losing. On any given day, you see multitudes of teams practicing and playing many different sports throughout your community.

Coaches, players, and fans are having a great time, but sometimes things go wrong. A player experiences a concussion when tackled, or a foul ball hits a spectator or car.

In order to fully enjoy your team and your sport, you need to insure yourself and your participants from liability and injuries. Sports team insurance is specifically designed to protect youth and sports teams from all the risks they face.

Where can you find the sports team insurance you need? An independent insurance agent can help you compare professional, amateur, or youth sports insurance policies and customize an insurance program to fit your situation. Contact a local agent now for sports team insurance quotes.

Youth Sports Statistics

• 60 million kids and teens (aged 6 to 18) play organized youth sports each year
• About 60% of kids (aged 5 to 14) play a sport outside of school
• About 70% of boys participate in a sport
• About 56% of girls participate in a sport

What Does Sports Team Insurance Cover?

Sports team insurance protects millions of kids and adults who play organized sports annually. The insurance includes a combination of risk protections that insure teams, leagues, associations, and clubs against youth and adult sports risks. 

You can purchase a complete package or custom-design a policy that meets the needs of your particular organization and sport. Liability insurance is a vital part of this policy. Liability insurance covers your organization, participants, volunteers, and employees if a claim arises from protected activity.

• Covered activities include organized and supervised practices, games, tryouts, tournaments, playoffs, and other events.
• Sports event insurance can insure events that you host.
• You can include additional events, such as fundraising projects, picnics, award banquets, and more.

Types of Sports Team Insurance for Youth Sports Leagues

It's recommended that youth teams get equipped with at least accident insurance, general liability insurance, directors and officers liability insurance, crime insurance, workers compensation, property insurance, and equipment insurance. 

Accident insurance can cover medical expenses related to injuries during a game. In contrast, general liability insurance covers lawsuit expenses if the youth sports organization gets sued over claims of a player suffering personal property damage or bodily injury due to the team or league's negligence. 

For lawsuits not covered by general liability insurance, directors and officers liability insurance may be required. Crime insurance can help protect the team or league against financial losses resulting from embezzlement. Property insurance and equipment insurance can help protect the organization's property, like office buildings and sporting equipment, from theft, vandalism, and other disasters like fire.

Participant Liability and Accident Coverage

Participant liability coverage is one of the necessary liability coverages for youth sports teams. It protects your organization or team, as well as your directors and supervisors, from lawsuits that can result if a player or participant is severely injured.

Some insurance providers limit this coverage, so make sure your sports team's liability policy fully covers your risks. In addition to participant injury, a liability policy shields you from lawsuits or claims related to property damage, libel, slander, false arrest, and more.

The other major coverage you need to consider is participant accident insurance. This covers a player or coach injured in the course of a supervised sports team activity. It includes sponsored games, practices, clinics, travel, and more. As an excess medical policy, this insurance typically pays what is left over after the participant's health insurance has paid its portion.

Directors & Officers Liability Insurance Coverage

A team or league's directors, officers, employees, and volunteers need protection against lawsuits, too, including those relating to discrimination charges, financial mismanagement claims, charges alleging failure to follow laws when making administrative decisions, or accusations of violating others' state, federal, or constitutional rights. 

Since general liability insurance only covers third-party lawsuits related to claims of bodily injury or property damage, directors and officers insurance coverage is required to protect sports teams, leagues, and youth sports organizations against the above-mentioned claims. 

However, having general liability insurance is also critical for your team, league, or organization, as directors & officers liability insurance excludes lawsuits related to bodily injury or personal property damage. Both types of liability coverage are needed to work together for youth sports organizations, teams, or leagues to provide a complete picture of liability protection. 

Equipment Related Liability Insurance Coverage

Sports leagues use equipment in their games, including helmets, padding, balls, goal stands, and more. Any piece of equipment can cause injury to a player or third party, whether used correctly or not. 

But while the equipment manager must ensure that the team or league's equipment is as current, functional, and safe as possible, incidents can still happen. Some general liability policies exclude coverage for punitive damages. 

You should discuss this with your independent insurance agent to be sure there are no gaps in coverage. Having coverage for these incidents is critical to the continued success and operation of the team or league. 

Workers Compensation Insurance Coverage 

You must check in with your local ordinances to determine if your organization is required by law to carry workers compensation insurance. League employees can sustain injuries while working due to carrying and dropping equipment, getting struck by a foul ball, tripping over a player's shoe or bag, or any number of causes. 

A workers comp policy can help your league avoid penalties such as state fines and liabilities if an employee gets injured. Youth sports organizations must carry workers comp if they regularly employ three or more workers, at least in most states.

Commercial Auto Insurance Coverage

It's also necessary to insure a youth sports organization's drivers who may drive vehicles owned by the league or organization. A league-owned vehicle is titled in the league or organization's name, while a personal (or "non-owned") vehicle is titled in the individual's name but may be used by a staff member to perform duties for the league or team. 

Commercial auto insurance is required for league-owned vehicles, non-owned vehicles, and for-hire vehicles. In contrast, personal auto insurance is necessary for your own vehicle but wouldn't be sufficient coverage for your sports league's vehicles used for business purposes. 

Theft and Vandalism Insurance Coverage

Youth sports organizations may sometimes fall victim to theft, stealing of their property or equipment by a third party or employee, or vandalism, which is the deliberate destruction or damage of property. 

Two forms of coverage can help protect teams or leagues against these crimes, including crime insurance. Crime insurance covers losses from employee dishonesty, forgery, computer fraud, and theft of cash and securities. Equipment insurance covers losses as a result of fire, vandalism, theft, and wind. 

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Other Types of Sports League Insurance Options

There are a number of additional insurance coverage options you can discuss with your insurance agent. For example:

• Equipment damage: You can purchase sports equipment insurance if your team has high-value equipment that is stored in certain facilities.
• Excess liability: You may want to consider an "umbrella" liability policy, which provides excess liability coverage in increments of $1 million to protect your organization against large accident claims and lawsuits.

Specific Youth Sports League Insurance: Baseball Team Insurance

About 14% of youths (ages 6 to 12) and 8% of those aged 13 to 17 play baseball. Since it's one of the three most popular youth sports, sports insurance companies have put together specific coverage to serve youth baseball teams. 

Youth baseball insurance combines a liability policy with accident coverage for participants. Team insurance covers traveling and local baseball teams.

Here are some important considerations:

• Many youth teams travel and require travel baseball team insurance that extends accident coverage to travel-related activities.
• You must ensure that this coverage is customized to the type of travel your team participates in, such as buses, vans, or carpools.
• You must get coverage for out-of-state travel if your team crosses state lines.

For any specific or difficult-to-find insurance coverage you need, be sure to work with an independent insurance agent. These agents are an excellent resource for finding the specific insurance and customized coverage you need most for your youth sports organization.

High-Risk Youth Sports Insurance: Youth Football Insurance

Youth football is one of the most popular and dangerous youth sports. So, it is critical that youth football teams, organizations, and leagues have adequate liability and participant accident coverage.

Youth football experts recommend that teams carry at least $100,000 of accident insurance for tackle football due to the risk of concussions.

You also want to carry at least a limit of $1,000,000 for your liability coverage and make sure that it provides for future problems with an injury.

For example, an "occurrence" policy protects a player who receives a concussion or other injury that causes problems years later. The injured athlete is covered as long as the original injury occurred while the policy was in force.

Get Sports Insurance for Your Youth Sports Team & Youth League

Independent insurance agents can help you get the best sports team and youth league insurance coverage, accessibility, and competitive pricing while working for you. No matter what sport your team plays, whether it's football, baseball, basketball, soccer, or another team sport, you can find the sports team insurance you need to cover liabilities and injuries. Independent insurance agents will break down all the insurance jargon into language that's easy to understand and ensure that you get connected to the best blend of coverage and cost.