Medical Coverage of High School Football in New York State

In brief: The principals of all New York secondary schools were surveyed regarding medical coverage of interscholastic sports. The overall response rate was 65.3%, which represents approximately 90% of schools having varsity football teams. Results showed that the team physicians for most of the high schools are family practice physicians. Medical coverage at football games is often not provided directly by a physician, especially at the junior varsity and freshman levels. In addition, many schools do not record injury data, and only about half require either parental liability waivers or health insurance. One fourth of the high schools have been involved in litigation related to sports injuries in the past five years. The authors suggest several ways to correct these problems, measures that could apply to other states as well.