ATTENTION ALL SEMLA CLUBS

[Tree13]

All clubs are hereby advised that an email has been sent this evening at 19:36 to the CURRENT contacts listed for each SEMLA club.

The contents of this email requires immediate attention PRIOR to any fixtures listed to be played on Saturday 8th December.

If any club president/chair/captain has NOT received this email, you may request a copy by emailing me at: semlasecretary@goolemail.com

Kind regards

Kieran Balmer

[Raptor_attack]

Did no one at the ELA bother to read the conditions of insurance. How many years have clubs been paying for insurance and not actually been covered? Obviously there can't have been any claims because this wasn't picked up before.

Someone give Swift Cover a call...

[the pom]

what is the issue

is it the same in the north?

[Raptor_attack]

Pom, I assume it is. The insurance appears to be as useful as a chocolate fire guard. No third party liability cover or damage to property.

[Moaning Git]

I suggest until you have the full facts you shut up! loose lips cancel matches

[Raptor_attack]

Like tomorrows game already been cancelled?

[Moaning Git]

Yes exactly, and as you don't know the full facts of the situation, and neither do I, it would be better to keep out of it until the position is clarified

[Raptor_attack]

Well perhaps by discussing it, someone from the ELA could clarify the situation. I'm intrigued who signed off the policy. What the potential implications are, and how many, if any, claims have been made. When did this policy come into effect?

[Jon_B]

Keep calm and contact your club...
Croydon forwarded the information straight to the manager at Bromley Cricket Club who quickly explained we were already covered for accidental damage to property, articles and persons in specific relation to lacrosse. They updated their policy when we joined their facility and are just rolled into our club fees (which are very reasonable).

Sure some other clubs could already have such arrangements in place without knowing or have them put in place quite easily. It's worth asking at the very least. It doesn't solve the overall problem but it may make it redundant in some instances and save some initial panic and cancellations while the ELA issue a formal response.

[Moaning Git]

The whole matter is currently under enquiry, and the SEMLA questions will be responded to. RA, you are apportioning blame without even knowing that there is really a problem, so hold your horse!

[S_24_LAX]

I agree with RA here.

It surely is the responsibility of the management committee to ensure that the insurance cover they procure for the sport is "fit for purpose" and communicate the full cover under which the insurance is agreed.

Epsom for one were asked when joining Epsom Sports Club (our hosts) whether the NGB had insurance and I said "yes". I did not know that it was limited as it appears at this point if time.

Where do the referees stand in this and what, however, limited cover do they have.

I am scheduled to ref tomorrow and know there is a car park next to the field and as a large multi sports activity facility there will be people passing very close to the pitch. Do I have to prepare a risk assessment before I get to the game and evaluate liabilities. Surely not.

It appears at the very least from what I have read to be sloppy and not communicated, by the ELA, the scope if insurance cover.

[S_24_LAX]

Will the ELA reply before tomorrow's face time MG?

It is not just a SEMLA difficulty.

[clclaxman]

Has everyone seen the whole text of the email? If not then here it is:

"URGENT - to all clubs with teams entered in SEMLA competitions:

on behalf of the Executive Committee and Officers of SEMLA



Dear All

At a recent SEMLA fixture, a wayward lacrosse ball caused damage to the physical property of the sports club hosting the fixture. In keeping with the established procedures for such a situation, details of the incident were passed to the ELA for the purpose of making a claim on the Public Liability insurance policy covering the ELA. This policy is the one that all registered players automatically become covered by when they join any club affiliated to the ELA, as all SEMLA clubs are.

The response from the insurance underwriter suggested that the ELA's current Public Liability Insurance policy does not provide cover for damage to property, or indeed injury to third parties, caused by participants in lacrosse matches. Until this point it was believed that by joining the ELA and becoming a member of the ELA, all players derived the benefit of full Public Liability insurance cover on the basis that a policy of this type was advertised by the ELA as being in place for that purpose.

Urgent communications are ongoing between the SEMLA Executive and senior staff and officers of the ELA to establish the full extent to which the ELA's current insurance provisions may or may not apply to registered SEMLA players. It is of serious concern to the SEMLA Executive that we cannot, at this time, state precisely what insurance SEMLA players currently benefit from through their membership of the ELA; it is therefore our duty to inform all players and all clubs that they must consider their own individual insurance positions prior to fulfilling any further SEMLA fixtures, either in the league or Flags competitions.

Clubs and players must pay heed to the potential liability that may arise from scenarios in which the conduct or actions of players engaged in gameplay may cause damage to property or injury to other persons.

Any clubs who wish to postpone fixtures in light of this announcement are invited to contact their opponents and the SEMLA Fixtures Secretary; the SEMLA Executive cannot, and will not, penalise clubs who require the ELA Public Liability insurance position to be made clear prior to participating in any further fixtures.

Whilst it is understandable that this announcement will cause concern and give rise to many questions, I would ask that Clubs please give the ELA time to respond to the urgent enquiries made by the SEMLA Executive relating to this subject. It is everyone's desire to see lacrosse played regularly, but this matter must resolved so that all players may participate safe in the knowledge of their exact position with regards to insurance. Please await a further announcement for clarification of the position, which will be made once a definitive answer has been received from the ELA.

Kind regards


Kieran Balmer, SEMLA Secretary,
on behalf of the Executive Committee and Officers of SEMLA"

[Ash]

Before i speak i do so as an individual and not as a representative of my club.....but in any case I don't intend to say anything to contraversial anyway or based on fact from the ELA website, so it doesn't really matter.

As its out there....I am with s24 and RA tha this is entirely unsatisfactry.

This caught me as a bit of a shock yesterday, but how something can be under enquiry for any significant period of time is beyond me as this isn't a complex matter..........either the insurance is fit for purpose or it isn't. If a member body has questioned it, or the ELA are uncertain of its quality/coverage then it should be passed immediately to a professional for urgent assesment if there are not people with the right specailist knowledge of the matter in house.

The ELA website states:

"English Lacrosse Membership FAQ

It is free to register as a basic member of the English Lacrosse Association. This memberships will provide you with the following benefits:
•Full Public Liability Insurance
•Ability to play in all English Lacrosse leagues and competitions
•Use of basic member areas of englishlacrosse.co.uk
•Access to English Lacrosse development staff and resources
•Right to apply for English Lacrosse funding, such as Minor Grants
•Support from English Lacrosse staff
•Option to receive communication from the English Lacrosse Association (Lacrosse talk, Shooting Strings, The Draw)

Do I have to register with English Lacrosse to play ?

Yes, you will need our public liability insurance. It is also a requirement of English Lacrosse Leagues that your are a registered member of your host club. Clubs can be penalised for fielding unregistered players.
How much does it cost to register ?

The basic membership registration is free.

What information do you need ?

We require a certain level of details to enable us to provide insurance, communicate with you and report to Sport England on our sports participation figures. We will never pass any personal details onto a commercial 3rd party. From time to time Sport England may contact you for general information regarding playing or volunteering within lacrosse, this will help English Lacrosse improve its service as a governing body."


Either the policy is "full public liability insurance" or it isn't. This could be established by someone with expertise in the insurance industry in no time at all, and either a statement issued that the insurance it fit for purpose following assesment or a new policy has been taken out that brings adequate coverage.

If a member body has queried this and this has not been looked at as a matter of extreme urgency then that is entirely unsatisfactory, especially as subscriptions are paid on this basis and if it isn' there is a significant liability potentially being created that the governing body that states that full public liability insurance is provided . There is literally nothing the ELA does that is more important than checking that its players are adequately insured and that the teaching of lacrosse is done so safely.

My match is cancelled tomorrow (rightly so) I will be incredibly displeased (to put it politely) if next weeks is too, when this is easily investigated and resolved.

[gazmanofhull]

Having read this thread I then checked my emails to find the minutes of the NEMLA Management Meeting. I was very surprised to find that this issue isn't even mentioned.

MG, as you were there last night, why was nothing said about this matter and why has nothing similar to Kieran's letter been sent to NEMLA clubs? I don't imagine every NEMLA club have someone on laxforums, so many may be unaware of this situation.

[samaleyo]

Having read this thread I then checked my emails to find the minutes of the NEMLA Management Meeting. I was very surprised to find that this issue isn't even mentioned.

MG, as you were there last night, why was nothing said about this matter and why has nothing similar to Kieran's letter been sent to NEMLA clubs? I don't imagine every NEMLA club have someone on laxforums, so many may be unaware of this situation.

I believe that's because one of the Southern Clubs recently tried to make a claim, and was told they weren't covered, which is how this whole matter has come to light in the last few days.

[dom#10]

so whats the deal? are games still allowed to go ahead?

[Ash]

It's up to individual clubs, players and referees and their assessment of risk and liability. Some have chosen not to play, some are playing, others have other provisions in place, it's up to the teams involved in a game to decide!...there is no ban on playing this weekend if that's the question.

[dom#10]

It's up to individual clubs, players and referees and their assessment of risk and liability. Some have chosen not to play, some are playing, others have other provisions in place, it's up to the teams involved in a game to decide!...there is no ban on playing this weekend if that's the question.

it was, cheers ash

[Moaning Git]

It was not mentioned at the NEMLA meeting as the issue only came to light today!

As I understand it the whole issue is under investigation and a response has been promised by middle off next week. And if you don't get the answer you want folks are we going to cancel the whole season?