Insurance costs are rising, carriers are leaving the market, and parents are demanding more. Here’s what every youth sports operator needs to understand and do right now.

When Jeremy Goldberg, President of LeagueApps, signed his daughter up for a youth sports program, he noticed something a little unsettling. 

At school, she couldn’t set foot on a court until background checks were complete, medical forms were reviewed, and safety protocols were confirmed. But in the community youth sports context, none of those protections existed.

“It started to get me thinking,” Goldberg said. “What are the opportunities to make youth sports safe? And as we start to have more and more conversations, I realize this is a conversation that’s happening more and more across the country.”

That question anchored our recent webinar, Navigating Risk in Youth Sports, featuring a panel of industry leaders:

• Ken McGinley | SVP of Customer, Vertical Insure 

• Jennifer Peacock | EVP, Sports Partnerships, Vertical Insure 

• Seth Lieberman | CEO, Ankored 

• Tyrre Burks | Founder, Player’s Health 

• Jeremy Goldberg | President, LeagueApps

We took a look at what’s driving risk in youth sports, what it’s costing organizations, and what you can do about it. Here’s what we’ve learned.

The Market Is Contracting and Costs Are Climbing

If your insurance premiums have gone up recently, you’re not imagining it. Tyrre Burks of Players Health has been witnessing this unfolding in the youth sports insurance market for the better part of a decade.

“There’s been a contraction of the amount of carriers that actually want to write youth and amateur sports,” Burks explained. 

“We’ve gone from a couple dozen carriers down to only a handful. And when you have a contraction of the market like that, two things happen: costs shoot up because there’s no competition, and coverage limits dramatically decrease.”

Ten years ago, a youth organization could obtain $5–$10 million in sexual abuse coverage. Today, getting a $1 million limit is considered fortunate. At the same time, premiums have more than doubled. The reason is because high-profile cases in gymnastics, Penn State, Boy Scouts — created enormous losses across a pooled risk system. With fewer carriers absorbing more claims, everyone pays more.

“All of that cost is now being transferred to the parent,” Burks said. “It’s baked into the registration fee.”

This creates a compounding problem for operators, because higher insurance costs mean higher registration fees. And higher fees mean more price-sensitive families. More price-sensitive families mean more refund requests and chargebacks — which, in turn, make the financial picture even harder.

Three Macro Forces Every Operator Should Understand

The insurance squeeze doesn’t exist in isolation. Seth Lieberman of Ankored identified three broader forces reshaping the risk landscape:

First, youth sports is a $40–60 billion industry in North America. 

As the industry grows, so do the number of lawsuits and incidents. Growth is broadly good, but it brings new complications.

Second, reporting is increasing. 

Not because abuse is more common, but because people are more willing to come forward. Lieberman noted that SafeSport’s CEO told him reported incidents are up 25–30% year over year. More reporting is a sign of progress, but it does drive up claims.

Third, regulation is a patchwork. 

There’s no strong federal framework governing youth sports safety, so 37 states have enacted their own laws. That creates a maze of compliance requirements — and gaps. “All well-intentioned,” Lieberman said, “but it creates friction, cost, and challenges.”

These forces are structural and they’re not going away. Organizations that understand what’s driving them are better positioned to respond proactively.

What Happens When Organizations Get This Wrong

The consequences of under-investing in risk management aren’t abstract.

“The first question asked when a claim is filed is: was the coach credentialed? Have they gone through training?” Burks explained. “If that hasn’t been done, it’s automatically negligence — and it’s going to be a limit loss.”

In plain terms, if a coach wasn’t background-checked or trained, and something goes wrong, you’ve likely already lost. Lawyers are trained to pursue the maximum available coverage limit — and without documented compliance, there’s little to defend against that.

This same logic applies to physical safety requirements. In New York and California, organizations must have AED devices within three minutes of any playing surface and ensure staff are trained in cardiac emergency response. If an athlete suffers a cardiac event and that requirement hasn’t been met, negligence is presumed.

“These are bare minimums,” Burks said. “And they are the first thing we look at when a claim is filed.”

What About Registration Protection? 

Ken McGinley of Vertical Insure added another layer of financial exposure: registration revenue. 

When a player gets injured midseason, the conversation about refunds — especially on a $2,000 registration — can get uncomfortable fast. 

Without registration protection in place, organizations often face a near-impossible choice: eat the refund cost or damage a family relationship. His data shows that offering registration insurance cuts refund requests, conversations, and lost revenue by more than half.

There’s also the issue of payment plans. If an athlete is injured halfway through a season with $1,000 still owed, most organizations either write it off or have an awkward conversation. 

With the right policy structure — what McGinley calls a “loss payee” arrangement — the remaining balance can go directly to the organization. “They’ve seen what happens without it,” he said. “Once they have it, they can’t do without it.”

What Happens When Organizations Get This Right

The risk conversation tends to focus on downside protection — and that’s warranted. But Lieberman was emphatic that there’s a meaningful upside for organizations that take safety seriously.

“Organizations that lean in to safety and compliance early are going to grow faster and be bigger and more profitable,” he said. “And those that don’t may not even be in business in five or ten years.”

He’s already seeing the early signs. Organizations doing this well are growing faster, because parents notice. They choose programs where safety is visible. 

They pay premium prices for premium environments. 

Burks confirmed that organizations demonstrating strong compliance practices can negotiate lower premiums. “You’ve done all this great stuff? Let’s figure it out — maybe we can bring it down,” he said, describing the conversation those organizations get to have. The result is better margins, not just better optics.

Goldberg continued, “If you do this right, it unlocks everything else. If you don’t, it prevents you from doing any of it.”

Youth Sports is a Business that Needs to Manage Risk

One theme ran through the entire conversation: many youth sports operators don’t think of themselves as business owners, and that gap in mindset is part of what leaves them exposed.

“This is a business,” Burks said flatly. “And somehow we’ve villainized that in sports revolving around kids. But if operators saw this as a business, they would think about all of the aspects you think about when starting any business — financial management, risk management, insurance. These are the first things you think about. In sports, they tend to be the last.”

Peacock echoed the point, noting that a major gap between club operators and families is communication. “Over-communicate,” she said. “If you’re in it day-to-day and doing it, you expect everyone else knows what’s going on. That is just not the case. 

Communicate why costs are increasing, what guardrails you’re putting in place, what your culture looks like. Families are paying you to educate their children in sports. They deserve to know.”

Lieberman added that this framing applies equally to nonprofits and for-profits, rec departments and elite travel clubs. 

A parks and rec director told him: “We view our town’s families as our customers. Even though they’re basically stuck with us, we don’t take that for granted.” That’s the mentality.

Practical Steps You Can Take Now

The panelists were clear: this isn’t about doing everything at once. It’s about consistent, iterative progress. Here’s where to start.

Train every coach and volunteer in abuse prevention

This doesn’t mean making them responsible for solving crimes. It means ensuring they know what to look for and understand the see-something-say-something standard. Ankored and Players Health both offer credentialing and training programs integrated into compliance tracking.

Know your state-specific requirements

Concussion training is required in all 50 states. SafeSport training requirements vary. Lindsay’s Law (cardiac arrest protocols) applies specifically in Ohio. Players Health has completed a 50-state analysis of required training and background screening requirements — ask them for it.

Protect your registration revenue

Enabling registration insurance through a platform like Vertical Insure is one of the simplest risk management moves available. It reduces refund requests by more than 50%, strengthens your chargeback defense, and removes the need for uncomfortable conversations with injured or withdrawing families.

Track incidents

Create an incident reporting form and review it regularly. Slip and falls, behavioral issues, weather incidents — you can’t manage what you don’t measure. “You have to have a baseline,” Burks said. Use that data to decide which policies to prioritize the following season.

Do an annual policy review with your broker

Your risk profile changes as you grow. An organization that’s doubled in size over three years has meaningfully more exposure than it did before. Your broker should be reviewing your coverage annually and flagging new requirements relevant to your state and sport mix.

Make safety a continuous conversation, not a one-time check

Certification at the start of the season matters. So does a weekly communication to coaches reinforcing what to watch for. “Real behavioral change,” Burks said, “is happening weekly.”

Don’t Try to do Everything at Once

The forces driving risk in youth sports — market contraction, rising claims, and growing economic pressure on families — aren’t going to reverse on their own. But they’re not insurmountable, either.

Burks offered the simplest possible summary of how to approach this: “Read your mission statement and live it. If you’re really living your mission statement, this is a priority.”

Lieberman’s takeaway was equally direct: “Do you sleep well at night? If you’re not sleeping because you’re stressed about this, that’s the signal. There are a lot of resources out there. We’re happy to point anyone in the right direction.”

McGinley’s advice: don’t try to do everything at once. “Pick something, focus, do it well, and move to the next one. It’s important infrastructure — and your organization is going to be protected.”

The organizations that prioritize risk management are going to be the ones parents trust, coaches want to work for, and communities rally around. At the end of the day, our collective duty is to protect kids and ensure they have the best sports experience possible. 

FAQ

Why are insurance premiums going up even when my organization hasn’t had any incidents?

Youth sports insurance is a pooled risk market, and high-profile abuse cases drove enormous losses across a system with fewer and fewer carriers willing to absorb them. When the carrier base contracts, there’s no competitive pressure keeping prices down — so costs rise across the board, regardless of your individual claims history.

What types of insurance should a youth sports organization actually have?

At minimum, organizations need general liability insurance (which covers lawsuits if someone is harmed) and accident insurance (which covers medical costs for injured athletes). Coverage limits will depend on your size, sport, and state, but given that a single negligence finding can exhaust your entire policy limit, documented compliance practices are what protect you when a claim is filed.

What factors determine how much my organization pays for insurance?

According to Tyrre Burks of Players Health, the primary drivers are number of athletes, sport type, athlete age, policy length, and the coverage limits you select. However, organizations with documented safety programs have leverage to negotiate.

Does online or video training satisfy insurance and compliance requirements?

Generally yes, but there’s an important distinction between training and certification. When reviewing any insurance or compliance requirement, be specific. Ask whether they require training or formal certification, because the answer changes what you need to do.

What is Lindsay’s Law, and does it apply to my organization?

Lindsay’s Law is an Ohio-specific law requiring cardiac arrest awareness training for anyone involved in youth athletics, and video-based delivery is accepted. Players Health has completed a full 50-state analysis of required training and background screening requirements. Reach out to them directly for the breakdown relevant to your state.

Does completing training actually change behavior, or is it just checking a box?

Certification is necessary but not sufficient. Organizations that are truly effective reinforce safety through regular communications to coaches and families throughout the year, not just an annual sign-off.