Sports and Recreational Expert

A Sports and recreational Expert provides independent opinion on the instruction, supervision, organisation and management of risk in martial arts, combat sports, fitness and recreational activities. The specialty is particularly relevant to personal injury claims where the court must determine whether an injury arose from an inherent risk of participation or from an avoidable failure in coaching, supervision, equipment, facilities or safety procedures.

The field may include boxing, mixed martial arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, kickboxing, Muay Thai, karate, taekwondo, self-defence training, personal training, gym-based exercise and organised sporting events.

Combat sports involve recognised physical risks, but participation does not amount to consent to every form of injury. Questions may arise where a technique was prohibited, performed after a stoppage, applied with excessive force or used on a participant who lacked suitable experience. Claims may also concern poor participant matching, inadequate supervision, unsafe facilities, defective equipment, late referee intervention or inadequate emergency arrangements.

Experts in this field may assist in cases involving strokes or aneurysms following a rear naked choke or strike to the head, blunt-force head trauma in boxing, torn anterior cruciate ligaments, spinal fractures, quadriplegic injury following an overhead wrestling throw, broken ribs following kicks, and death arising from complications of blunt trauma. The expert considers the activity, rules, coaching methods and safety systems. Medical diagnosis, causation and prognosis remain matters for appropriately qualified clinicians.

A significant part of the expert’s role is to assess how the activity was taught. This may include whether the instructor demonstrated the technique properly, used appropriate progression, made the intended contact level clear and intervened when control deteriorated. Participant matching may be assessed by reference to age, weight, strength, experience, technical grade and ability to exercise control.

In competition cases, the expert may review participant eligibility, matchmaking, weight and experience categories, medical arrangements, competition rules, protective equipment and referee conduct. They may consider whether a bout should have been stopped earlier or whether prohibited techniques were properly identified and controlled.

The expert may also be instructed in civil claims concerning the organisational duty of care towards children, including failures in safeguarding systems, recruitment, supervision, reporting pathways and complaints handling. The expert does not determine whether abuse occurred, but may assess whether the organisation had reasonable systems to prevent, identify and respond to foreseeable risks.

Relevant evidence may include witness statements, accident reports, CCTV, mobile footage, risk assessments, coaching manuals, lesson plans, instructor qualifications, event rules, safeguarding policies, equipment inspection records and emergency procedures.

In civil proceedings, the expert must comply with CPR Part 35 and Practice Direction 35. Their overriding duty is to assist the court. The report must be independent, identify the evidence and assumptions relied upon, explain the methodology used, address alternative factual scenarios where necessary and remain strictly within the expert’s area of competence.