Re: [Paddlewise] Club Insurance, Liability

I see this as the problem with a formalized leader system. While it  
has the potential of being the safest system, the leader must be  
competent and really on top of the situation. If the leadership  
falters in some way, all the responsibility still lies with the  
leader. It is possible that the leader is just not qualified, in  
which case the liability is passed up to who ever approved that  
person as a leader.

  What typically happens is the leader feels compelled to keep a  
short leash and rule with an iron fist. If someone wanders from the  
group, the leader needs to call them back, if someone is not  
following instruction the leader is forced to ban them from the  
group. In other words, the leader's main task is as the Fun-Nazi;  
anyone varying from the set plan must be quashed. This is no fun for  
the followers, so they evolve away from club sponsored trips. It is  
no fun for the leaders so they stop volunteering to lead trips, or to  
keep it fun they loosen the reins and compromise the safety the  
system was intended to promote.

Unfortunately, what tends to happen is a small groups of compatible  
paddlers form around the periphery of the club. These groups tend to  
be exclusive and fairly closed. While they would like more members,  
outsiders don't know about them and don't have the opportunity to  
learn the skills desired by the existing members.

If the original larger club can be maintained with enough diversity  
it can serve as a training ground for new members to work their way  
into the sub-groups.


On Jun 30, 2005, at 8:45 PM, Steve Holtzman wrote:

> If the leader is able to kick someone off of a trip because they  
> lack the
> required skills, than if someone gets hurt, the trip leader could  
> be legally
> liable for saying this person was capable of doing a particular trip.
>
> That's one of the reasons that our club doesn't use Trip Leaders.
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